Step On

So, I've been battling with the side steps over the last few weeks.  These were a real pain on the Trent and as the Tamar ones a vac formed I thought they would be tricky but easier.  Also, I wanted to make a backing plate to run parallel to the hull sides under part 17.  In the end, I replaced the kit parts 17 with 4.8mm wide styrene strip and glued triangluar pieces to the bottom to cover the void underneath.

So here's a pic of the vac for parts fitted.

The problem was though that the steps simply flexed too much when I was blending them in to the hull with filler.  I also thought that on a working model they would not be robust enough.  So, the vac formed parts were removed and I rebuild them from 1mm styrene which I'm much happier with. 

These are now in place and I've trimmed the cabin sides to fit.  The photo just about shows the modified replacement parts 17 with the triangular blanking plates.

I had hoped to start painting some parts by now as it's always nice to have patrs completely finished.  I also had in mind to paint the red on the lower half of the hull.  However, the cold snap has put pay to that, so I've now started on the wheelhouse interior.  I'm busy improving the crew seating at the moment so more on that next time