Deck 7 Forward...

After finishing off the aft section of Deck 7, I focused my attention forward and completed much work along the outer section of Deck 7. This is the forward starboard side of the ship. Here are the other photos!

That's not clever - a ladder blocking an emergency exit!

Ah, that's better! You can clearly see it's an emergency exit now.

Port side, lifeboats 2 and 4 will hang above here.

More progress on the same section.

Port side complete.

Starboard side complete.

Deck 7 Aft...

I had a productive weekend and first half of this week as I continue to work on my Africa Mercy model. All of the superstructure of Deck 7 is now in place, and the outside decks aft of the bridge are being worked on. Here is my progress in pictures. :-) The Dining Room table is my temporary work space currently.

Working on the Deck 7 external walls.

Starting aft and working my way forward.

Midships section of Deck 7.

All sections now gluing.

Strips of green paper form the green deck paint.

These ladders were quite a mission to make...

But I was quite happy with how they looked, once glued in place.

Emergency exit stairway from Deck 6.

Emergency Generator Room and Carpentry shop areas of Deck 7 port side.

The partially-enclosed area of Deck 7.

Stairs joining Deck 7 with Deck 8.

Lots of toothpicks, painted white, drying in the sun. I wonder what they'll be used for?

Ah, there they all are!

Almost done with the aft of Deck 7!

Starboard side.

And finally, the port side view.

Ship Happens...

A productive end to the week as all of the hull has now been glued together - forming one massive model Africa Mercy! I stuck on strips of blue card stock paper to create the effect of blue paint on the hull. I have been working on this model for two and a half weeks now, and the end is nowhere in sight. At least it's keeping me busy! :-)

Gluing the hull together.

Seeing how the blue card stock looks on the hull.

The full length minus blue hull paint.

And then with the blue added to the hull.

Starboard side branding.

 Stern with blue stripe.

Port side view.

And finally, the view off the starboard bow.

Bridge construction...

It has been a slower week in terms of model construction. I have spent the majority of my time sourcing more materials and scribbling ideas on how to make this build even better. I may even add electricity to the model, with working navigational lights in the future. But for now there is still much to do on decks 7 and 8, and a fitting place to start is the bridge. I worked on it this past Monday and I was very happy with the result! :-)

The bridge is higher than the rest of Deck 7 and so it has to sit on a stand.

The floor of the bridge with the walkway around the outside.

Seeing where the best position will be.

Sides of the bridge ready to have their windows put on.

The windows of the bridge.

Aft of the bridge.

Putting the ceiling (deckhead) in place.

Starboard bridge wing with green navigational light.

Port bridge wing with red navigational light.

View from off the starboard bow.

And finally, the view from off the port bow.

A ship takes shape...

I had a very productive day on Friday (16th May 2014), including assembling the stern and bow areas of my model ship. The process took me longer than expected, but I was very happy with the result! I still need to work on decks 7 and 8, make the funnel, masts, cranes and lifeboats, and add the blue paint on the hull. So it will certainly be a busy next couple of weeks! Stay posted for more!

Working on the stern section of my Africa Mercy model.

The model stern alongside the real deal on the laptop screen.

Completed stern section (for now). Time to move on to the bow!

Putting the bow into shape.

 Still not quite right.

That's more like it!

Bow section largely complete.

View looking forward inside the model.

Full length of the model with the bow and stern connected by the midships section of hull.

Starboard side view.

View from above.