FINISHED!!!!!!!!

Well that's it

The ship is finished and in place in the living room

The last job was to prepare the lifebelts 

Once they were done I just had to glue them to the cotton of the railings

NOT an easy job actually

Then after a good check round and fitting the main stack support ropes it was finished

I took it and put it in place 

All it need now is a support underneath to stop it tilting

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Getting very close now
The next job is to fit all the railings that go on the outside decks
This involves cutting pins to size and gluing them into drilled holes

Once the pins were in place I had to attach the cotton that was to form the railings

I did this by dabbing a little CA glue to the cotton and winding it round the pin to hold it in place

Next the cotton had to be painted white

This turned out to be tricky as the paint showed up any loose end and it made it look a little untidy

Here is the ship[ with the railings finished.  ajust the lifebelts to paint and fit and it will be about done

Although the Spirit isn't quite finished I have made a start on my next build.  The OcCre London Tram

If you are interested in following that blog it is micklen-tram.blogspot.co.uk

Enjoy

It's really starting to come together now as I worked on the bow and the stern
First I made the gangplanks and the struts that hold them, up

These little eyed rods held things together and made places to tie to

Took a minute off to finish the engine room.  It only needed the bucket gluing in 

Then I made a real start on the gangplanks doing the ropes and pulley system that raises and lowers them

They did look quite nice when finished

Then finally today to again make a very worthwhile day I fitted the paddle wheel and all the linkage

It's really starting to look like a paddle steamer now and I am well chuffed

Been hard at work started with fitting the main smoke stacks

I found the brass rings very difficult as I had to make them out of brass wire and to get the perfect length to make the circle was next to impossible

Next were all the support planks that in the real ship held the decks up

There are a lot of these and would of course have been bolted to the decks

In the model one section had to be made removable so that you could more easily get to the rooms that could be viewed inside

And with those supports came the railing to basically try and stop people falling overboard.  These are cast white metal and painted white

On the first deck the railing were much simpler and just wooden planks 

Also there had to be gaps where the gangplanks could be used and chains were put across these gaps.   

In amongst all of this I fitted the paddle boards to the wheel and also started painted some decorative items

After completing the railings I started painting the stretchers and the derrick masts.  Not sure just what the stretchers did but the derrick mast held the front platforms and allowed them to be raised and lowered

Here you can see the poles finished painting and also the fancy bits painted white and fitted to the bar deck to pretty it up a bit

The final thing this time was to finish the wheelhouse roof, planking it out, drilling a hole for the stove pipe and fitting the whistle

Definitely getting somewhere now

I next did a bit more work on the wheelhouse, putting the wheel in place and fitting the window cills

I just shaped the ends of the cills with a file to give a bit of interest,  I put some skirting board in as well to finish things off a bit

Then I finished off the main stacks and got those in place

I wasn't totally happy with the brass rings that I had to make from wire.  Other models actually have premade rings

Next were the wooden struts that held everything together including a removable section to make viewing the removable walls better

Finally a close up of one of the chains that can be removed to allow gangways.  The rings on the pins were opened slightly to allow the chain to be hung on and be removed if wanted

Just a bit of painting today, working on the smokestacks, wheelhouse, big wheels and undercoating the rails and motor

Also you will see at the back of the second pic that I have made and painted the banisters for the stairs

I am a little bit held back at the moment as my glue bottles have gone beyond their sell by date and I am waiting for new ones so I can glue really accurately which I need for all the up and coming small stuff

Next job was to get the top deck planked and then I made a start on the skylight

Finishing the skylight, which was scratch built with a PVC window, I assembled and fitted the grids I had already painted, where the smokestacks on that deck sit

Next was to begin work on the smokestacks and also the stairs of which altogether there are 5 sets not counting the grand stair case at the front

The stairs run between the decks and when finished will be all white.  Important to keep the grooves clear of paint so the steps fit well

Few more of the stairs with one fitted out awaiting paint

Next I made a start on the main smoke stacks, bending the brass rings that sit on them using the round pliers.  The undercoated items above the rings are part of the decoration that goes on top of the stacks

Then finally today I got the wheelhouse walls ready for planking, but I am running very short of wood strips so that may have to wait a bit