The rudder hinges were cut to the correct lengths to fit the rudder and the stern post. More nail holes needed to be drilled into the tiny hinges. The hinges provided with the kit were the wrong length and had the holes in the wrong places for this ship, being as they are standard Corel parts for several models.
After being customized, the hinges were fitted to the rudder. Tiny black pins were shortened with a side cutter and the holes were pre-drilled with a micro-drill bit in a Dremel tool to prevent the wood from splitting. Each nail had CA adhesive applied before being tapped into the rudder with a small tack hammer and held with small needle nosed pliers. The same technique was used to attach the hinges to the hull.
The emergency steering chain was blackened to make it look like iron and it was attached to eyelets glued into the rudder similar to the nails that hold the hinges on. The decoration was slipped over the chain and the chain was glued into the holes in the transom. When dry, the decorative chain portals were also glued to the transom.
Installation of the bow towers is begun. The port tower was completed today, and the starboard one will be installed later. The tower assemblies were completed earlier and not the arduous process of making the mounts that attach them to the hull needed to be done. I took some mahogany and cut two thin strips that were custom filed to fit the hull on one side, then to mate to the tower on the other. Thin strips of mahogany were cut with a scissors to make the top and bottom sides of the mount. Lots of test was done to make sure the mount fit the contour of the hull and wales and the tower.
The side of the mount were CA glued to the hull after studying the blueprints for correct position. The electrical wires for the yellow LED were cut to a shorter length to allow them to fit properly in the mount. A hole was cut into the side of the tower for insertion of the LED. The LED fits into a hole bored into the top bell of the tower, such that the light is dimmed a bit by the hole which the LED is inserted, making the tower lit from above by less direct light. That way, I won't have to paint the LED to dim the light. A test fit of the LED in the tower shows how much light it produces in this configuration.
The LED is connected to the wiring using two solder & seal connectors that had the seal portion cut off, leaving only the solder part of the connector. There was not enough space in the mount for the entire connector, and the seals are not needed anyway. A heat gun was used to melt the solder and make the connections. I like these connectors! They take the frustration out of soldering. The LED was test fitted into the mount. Then the LED was glued into the top of the tower bell with CA glue, and the tower attached to the mount.
When that dried, the tower was attached to the mount with PVA (Titebond III) and held with rubber bands until it dried. I'm very pleased with how the lighting turned out.
