1/350 USS Cole DDG-67

19/2/24
That's close enough to a circle for me! It's easy enough to cut one at 1mm thick, but it's a mission to then peel it up, and place it down somewhere else! Happy enough with that. There are some other bits that will be a nightmare to mask, so I'll use the decal for that bit, and use a paint brush later on it if needed to better colour match the white. 
 
 

That is coming along nicely Alister, looking forward to seeing it complete. Would love to build a ship one day.

Great work with those masks, that must have been a bit fraught cutting those circles. Can't wait to see more.

Thank you guys. 
Yes, the circles were a real headache, but got there, and close enough for me. More masking is ahead for me this weekend (when life allows it!), but I am also starting to think about getting this all put together on the hull now, as that's getting closer to happening. Really enjoying myself. 

I've made a bit of progress that I haven't given you an update yet for sorry. I have family visiting from overseas this week, so I'm away from the model desk and computer more than usual. I'll catch up on current progress next week. Still tinkering away with the build stage, sanding the joins on the deck, and getting closer to the next paint stage. More to come.

Update inbound
A bit of a catch up on progress is needed, and an update on this project as well. 

Firstly, let's see what has been done. 
The flat deck is in three pieces, and builds relatively well. The three pieces are required as it steps down slightly at the rear of the deck for the helicopter landing area.
 

Next the main three parts of the hull are brought together. Deck, above water line hull, and below waterline hull. I have cut the centre support in the middle of the above waterline hull in order to try and help it fit better..
 

And these three are all glued together.
 

The fit is far from perfect. It's not terrible, but a lot of sanding is needed to get a smooth finish between the top and bottom half of the hull, this is even now still a work in progress. The gap between the decking and where it sits inside the top hull piece is also really obvious. This needs filling in places, and sanding everywhere, around all the small details sticking up from the deck, making this job harder. This is quite a hit to the mojo on this project! But, this is the final hurdle, and once I get it sorted, everything will get that much easier. 

And here she stands today, with the above deck structures just sitting in place at the moment (they will need more filling and sanding when fitted)
 

BUT, an update on the project is that she has to be set aside for now. I've had a new kit arrive to build as a "review build" for The Modelling News online, so I will be making a start on that in coming days. I've hurt my back this weekend so I can't sit down at my desk for more than a few minutes at a time. 
I'll start a follow as I build thread for that, and come back to the Cole when I'm done. It's just a small WW2 fighter, so shouldn't take too long to build!