Building the Orange Hobby HMS Hermes (Falklands fit)

Some dusty work was needed to remove the pour stubs 

I added a bit of sheet to gain more freedom in depicting the vessel in a seaway. 

I needed an attachment for the mounting screws. 

Early Orange Hobby kits suffered from a persistent mold release agent severely impeding paint adherence. I liberally used silicone remover, but did not fully succeed. 

I tend to start with a "piece de resistance" assembly, with the rationale that if I botch this one I might just as well bin the kit. Luckily I managed to get it done. 

Just a wee pointer as to how small these PE parts are. There are literally scores of these floodlights. And yes: I skipped the bridge window wipers. For the sake of what remains of my sanity. 

Here the little cuties are beginning to festoon the island.  

Workign on the base was a welcome respite from that uber-fiddly PE stuff. 

Just one page of the several dealing with the island. Go figure why it took me half a year to build this kit. 

Adding colour to the base, and strcuture, is fun. 

Ready for the gloss coat. 

Prior to decaling, I needed to mask and spray the deck, using this copy of the decals for size.  

Despite my best efforts, the paint wouldn´t really stick. Mwahaaahhaaa ... 

After some repairs. 

And after adding the decals. I would have preferred the dry transfers OH used in other kits. 

Getting there. 

This ship was seriously weathered after the long period at sea in heavy weather.