Long-term feature article by Julian Seddon
Introduction…
This project is very much a learning curve for me. It will continue for as long as it takes to complete it (of course!) but I shall be building other kits for reviews at the same time. So, follow this build to watch me struggle with the brass and pass on to you all that I find out during the shaping of it.
Although I enjoy painting I am far from certain about the order to paint parts bearing in mind that as the build progresses there will be an ever increasing amount of detail attached to the kit plastic.
I am sure that you will have the same trepidation about approaching a build like this and my approach will be to suffer all the problems and go through them with you as I (hopefully) solve them.
Look at Les Venus’s review of the kit for the basic kit. It is pretty comprehensive.
I purchased both White Ensign and Pontos upgrades for this kit. The Pontos one was a lot more expensive at around £85 at the IPMS show last year. It is however as impressive as its price. The only real criticism I have of it is that the instructions are very small and it is quite difficult to figure out how certain parts fix together. However, it does all seem to be there and some careful reading should help.
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I have started with a warm up, that is, building the small parts. These can be set aside pending paint later. The reason I am doing this is that it gives me time to familiarise myself with the instructions as I hunt around for the sections I am building. Nevertheless they are small (in fact tiny as you will see in good time) but each one is a complicated little model in itself.
Let’s have a look at what Pontos offer:
The first item is what looks like a very impressive wooden deck 
It is very thin and is designed to fit over some of the kit’s deck accessories. As there are no instructions to the contrary I am assuming that this is self adhesive. There are instructions (calming I think) for unsuccessful attempts at installing it. These go right down to a recommendation that if you don’t get it totally right you can cut individual boards out and stick them in. What have I let myself in for?