Back to the boat

Yes, I weakened. With the destroyer showing such promise, I knew that one more big effort would see the hard work out of the way. So, with the Arado project just started and in its undercoat, it was 'all hands to the pumps'. Actually, the railings.

I realised that fitting the railings would be a long, tedious and frustrating job. I recently read a build article on this kit, wanting to see how someone else had resolved this one. The modeller had simply added stretched sprue to the stanchions. From a distance it looked very effective, but on closer inspection, the sprue looked heavy and unconvincing. So it's back to the fluffy twine from the kit. Is it awkward? Time-consuming? Fiddly? Damn right it is. But I did develop a system; after tying off a length of furry twine to the first stanchion, I ran it along the next four or five and then superglued it in place. The glue takes a minute to set so I attached a small bulldog clip to the loose end to keep it under tension. While that was drying, I started the process again, one tier up.

Did I hear someone say that sounds too easy? It's just easier. Later I'll have to varnish the twine to get rid of the fuzz and make the railings look finer. A bit monotonous but worth it for the final look.

Back to airplanes soon. Hmmm.