The lower superstructure is constructed using 4mm thick balsawood sheet, glued together with PVA wood adhesive. The structure is made up from a series of boxes of various widths. At the front of the structure, seen on the left in the photo, is a platform made from to ellipses cut from balsawood.  Thin plywood is bent around the formers to construct the curve of the sides of the platform.

Lower superstructure from balsa wood

Plywood deck in position

Once the lower superstructure section was complete the first level deck was cut from marine plywood and glued in position. this gives a sound basis for the construction of the rest of the superstructure. This deck will be planked, like the main deck at a later stage.

Keeping the structure as light as possible is always a concern, so again the superstructure is broken down into a series of balsawood boxes. Thin plywood was utilised to form any curved areas, because of its natural ability to bend without splitting  Each of the platform decks are cut from marine plywood, because it is stronger than sheet balsawood. 

Rear superstructure from balsa and ply

Basic colour applied to superstructure

At this stage I have painted the model in the basic colours of the camouflage scheme. First the wood is sealed and sanded to remove the grain.  The two layers of undercoat paint are applied, which is lightly sanded between each coat, to give a smooth finish for the final coats of paint. The basic superstructure is paint in a mid grey, with the decks being stained in a navy blue. The final colours will not be applied until I have received the exact paint colours from White Ensign Models.