We Have Masts!
The tricky part of this whole thing was anticipating what Revell wanted me to do, and then trying to cut, trim, file or carve the parts so that they would actually do that. You have to have a conscious commitment to test fitting every part and then thinking about why it doesn’t fit, then trimming it carefully to make it fit. And you have to be mindful of alignment.
Hey! You in back! Let’s get with the program!
The next step will be painting these junctions (oh wow, that is the LEAST nautical term I’ve ever heard).
Once that painting is complete, then I’ll add more deadeyes and, sooner or later, start to rig. I’m going to make the rigging into part of the assembly, adding in lines before I glue on things that get in the way. For example, I’ll wait to add the yards and sails until the standing rigging is done, and I’ll probably add the shrouds and ratlines last because I’m using the lubberly plastic parts.
Should be fun!
Fantastic progress. I agree that these older kits require some interpretation of the instructions. I only have so much patience for that, but you are doing a great job. The rigging should be interesting. I hope you are able to complete the model this time.