Of course you have already seen how a "Combined Type" bow was impressioned from a scratchbuilt master:
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However, that earlier master did not take into account the substantial additional length required to accurize the Revell kit bow, which is significantly greater challenge:
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This does not even account for the fully (approximately) inch-long extension of bow length; needed at the keel, flight deck and all points in between. Thus, with the above casting insufficient to encompass the required correction - whose weight, all in one solid resin piece, would be prohibitive (for several reasons), in any case - the upgrade was redesigned as a multi-piece correction:
Click on Image to Enlarge
To simplify installation, parts were form-fitted to the OOB Revell bow via "reverse-molding" - as previously described, using "Mold BuilderŪ" brush-on latex rubber (white gel, at bottom right) as a barrier/release agent, between plastic and resin - to mold resin surfaces directly to the kit contours.
A start on the rest of this correction - hull sides and substantial (though as-yet undecided) length of flight deck - was made with additional molding of the scratchbuilt prototype:
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Castings produced in these molds will not be long enough to accommodate the new, additional length required, but should provide a very useful start on the final hull-side upgrades of sufficient length. Likewise for several moldings of flight deck sections:
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Look for work on all these upgrades - Long-, Short-Hull and Hurricane Bow (as well as a raft of other) corrections - to make significant progress, in upcoming weeks.
Cheers,
-Matty
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