Installing the Sterncastles and Decks

Since the hull is curved, I found it best to cement the rear of the sterncastles to the transom with super glue first. This will anchor the parts. Holding the sterncastles to conform with the hull, I again, used super glue to cement them in place. The decks were a real challenge but with persistence and a lot of super glue, I finally got them in place. I'll still need to fill gaps with white glue and touch up the paint.

Painting the Sterncastles

Camouflage Gray was painted on the sterncastle exterior, continuing the color of the upper bulwarks. Flat Brown was painted on the raised areas. The interior was painted Flat Insignia Red. Instead of cutting the shields from the flag sheet and gluing them onto the shields, I just painted them using colors selected randomly.

Installing the Forecastle Turrets

After painting the turrets, I installed them the best I could. Since the bulwarks between the turrets must curve to match the forecastle, this was a bit challenging. On the port side I cut the bulwarks away from the turrets and glued all three pieces on one at a time with super glue. Lots of super glue was used for this.

Installing the Beakhead

Parts 63 and 64 were painted and assembled separately. After the glue dried this sub assembly was cemented in place. The two sides of the beakhead were painted and installed with superglue. The port side did not line up with the hull as well as the starboard side. Some white glue will be needed to fill the gap.

Painting and Installing the Transome Pt.2

Installing the transom turned out to be a bit of a challenge. Cementing the main deck in place reduced the area of the stern so much that the transom would not fit. I had to dissolve the glue at the rear of the deck/hull attach point so I could spread the stern apart. The springiness of the hull at the stern required that I cement the transom one side at a time with a lot of super glue. Fortunately, this will not show on the finished model.