[I originally wanted to get the replacement armament from Sirmar Fittings as you can get the whole set at a decent price. Unfortunately I emailed him twice with no replay so had to go down the Great Little Ships/DJ Parkins route. They are more expensive but to be fair are vastly more detailed]
[19/08/2014]
My order from DJParkins arrived today. Great service from him, ordered midnight on Friday, dispatched Monday, arrived Tuesday. Can't say fairer than that!
And what sets they are! The detail in the gun set is fantastic, they are superbly etched, you even get a pair of twin Lewis Guns as a bonus! The stanchions are very nice too. I got 3 packs of the rope rails which go around the engine room, fo'c'sle etc, and 1 pack of the pipe rails which go on top of the boiler house. Just need to find some thin wire to use with them now.
[28/09/2014]
UPDATE 9:
Just an itty bitty update
Got the Fo'c'sle installed and painted up, just gotta get the quarter deck sorted now.
[30/08/2014]
Another quick update, been grappling with the railings this afternoon!
The DJP etched stanchions come as 2 halves which are folded together and glued. I searched about for some very thin wire to use but just couldn't find any so I had to make do with thread in the end, not the end of the world but technically these should be Pipe Rails AFAIK. The thread will be fine for the rest though as they are all Rope Rails. Also finally got a new phone (HTC One M8) which I've been after for ages, which apparently takes rather nice close up shots
[31/08/2014]
Got a little bit more done last night.
Side walkways are on the Wheelhouse, not far off done with that now.
Also getting well on with the bridge. I'm aiming to get the whole bridge/rear Fo'c'sle area done before I get the quarter deck on as that's where all the wiring and lighting is located. Once this area is done I can actually get the wiring sorted and in.
[04/09/2014]
UPDATE 11:
Managed to get on with the 2pdr Pom Pom yesterday.
The DJP set comes flatpack with one PE brass fret and one small bag of white metal barrels.
As you can see the 2 page instructions are very comprehensive. I barely read the written one tbh and just went in all guns blazing with the diagram lol. Pretty pictures and all that.
Made the bandstand up first, the circular base and the hut/enclosure fold up from one piece, then there's another circular part that fits into that, followed by the walling which needs to be rolled. Then there's just 2 parts for the stand/support. There are other little fiddly bit but I decided to leave them off. I will also use the kit ladder rather than building the PE one rung by rung
I also tried my hand at soldering it together which actually didn't turn out too bad!
And then we have the gun. What can I say? It seems extremely daunting to begin with as you think how can all the flat little parts make up a 2pdr, but they all fit together very well. I also made the kit one up as a... um.... comparison... lol.
It was painted with my custom grey mix like the rest of the ship, while the barrel was painted Mr Metal Dark Iron. It was then given a wash. Personally I think it may be a little too dark if I'm honest.
You may also note that I left the shield off as Poppy didn't have one.
I'd also just like to say, I genuinely had more trouble putting the 4 parts of the kit gun together than I did putting the 30 odd parts of the DJP one together haha.
TBC...