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**Bunkerbarge** · 09-02-2008

With the steam plant modifications completed it was time to return to the model and progress the area of the raised quarter deck. This was still bare ply and needed to go through the same entire process that had been completed on the main deck. The first job, was to sand down the P 38 filler in the bulwark faces to cover the fiberglass texture and give a nice smooth finish for the detail to be glued to. Next was to cover the deck with the heavy cartridge paper supplied with the kit after first cutting it into similar sized plates as the main deck and marking out the edges with flush rivets. When the glue was dry the edges around the deck openings were trimmed to fit.

The white metal butt straps were fitted next by simply gluing to the bulwarks and trimming back after the glue was set to the top of the bulwark with a pair of electrical side cutters. The kit supplied aluminium tube was fitted with suitable lengths of chain at either end, the ends bent to fit the curve of the deck and the tubes glued to the deck and bulwarks. Bulwark stays were made up exactly as they had been for the main deck and fitted in place followed by the pieces of plastic moulding angle iron at the foot and the top.

The next job was to work on the aft mooring winch unit which was designed to be a removable unit to give access to the rudder stock. The kit suggested a single transverse beam with the wooden slats glued to it cantilever style but I had doubts as to the strength of this arrangement. Consequently two transverse beams were used with the deck slats glued across the top of them both giving a much more rigid arrangement. The box section to fit the deck opening was made from ply scrap and a hatch cover was glued to the top of that with another piece of detailed cartridge paper glued to that. The white metal winch was assembled as per the instructions after treating the capstan to a quick spin in the lathe to dress it up into a perfect cylindrical shape and the whole unit sprayed with a grey primer before a couple of coats of semi gloss Tamiya Acrylic. The deck woodwork was varnished with two coats of satin yacht varnish after the ends were dressed up to be perfectly square to each other. A coat of the deck red paint was applied to the structure and a couple of pieces of the plastic moulding angle iron was added to the rear to neaten up the fit to the bulwarks. Cut outs in the forward main beam were added for the steering chain to pass through and a detail touch was to put a flange over the entrance made from a spare white metal porthole cut in two.

Other items completed at this time were the locating of the chain wheels and the securing of the chains in position taking care that the chains looked as though they run around the forward pulleys when in fact the removable wheelhouse is quite a separate piece.

Once I was happy with the fit of the mooring winch assembly it was time to address the capping rails. The tops of the bulwarks, bulwark stays, plastic angle iron and butt straps were all dressed up level with a large sanding flat surface and the curved capping rail was marked out from the hull by pencil and cut out of 0.8mm ply. This was glued to the bulwark top and the top of the stays.

The longitudinal sections were cut from 5mm x 1mm planking and the forward upturns made from a piece of aluminium tube cut to size and glued to the forward end over the bridge bulkhead guides. The capping rails were then all dressed up by sanding the tops and the edges and blending the different pieces where they joined. Finally the semi circular plastic extrusion was fitted to the outside edge of the capping rail after putting a sharp 90 degree bend at the forward end to match the curve of the aluminium tube.

Also at this point the mooring ports were fitted by first gluing the ring on the inside of the bulwark, drilling a hole through the hull then opening it out to almost meet the edge of the ring. The second ring was then glued on the outside before finally dressing up the inside surface with round files and emery cloth to smooth out the inside and outside ring with the bulwark. The internal grids of the wash ports were also fitted by dressing up and simply gluing to the inside face of the bulwarks.

The next job was to attend to the deck detail items with the bollards requiring the most work. The bollards supplied with the kit did not appear to match either the kit supplied plan or the other plans and drawing I had of the ship so I set about modifying them to the arrangement as shown in the picture. Two strips of 8mm wide wood, one 1mm thick and the other 2mm thick, were glued together and then rounded off to make the base riser. The while metal base was dressed up and the wooden riser glued to it. Next the base was drilled through to accept the pins on the cylinders and they were then glued to the risers, once again after a quick spin in the lathe to true them up. Finally more pieces of the 8mm x 1mm were drilled through with a 6mm drill, cut across the hole and then trimmed to size to make the gusset plates which were then glued in between the cylinders. A bit of a lengthy performance but the resulting bollards are considerably more true to the plan and after a coat of primer and a coat of Tamiya satin black look the part.