| Decals I made the Pommern name plate, Griffin shields for the Bugzier (bow ornament) and Heckwappen (stern ornament), and the life preserver rings (two sizes) in Photoshop, and printed them on our Canon Pixima IP600D photo printer onto Experts Choice white decal sheet (item 120) for an ink-jet printer. Then all I had to do, was cut them out, soften in water, and slide the decal onto the ship name plate, shields, and the life preservers. |
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| Printed Decals I did experience an unexpected problem with the decals. They went on nicely, and I followed the instructions of applying a thin layer of Solvaset to suck them down, however, the first decal I applied it to immediately disintegrated! I experimented a bit with spare decals, same result. The Solvaset was like acid. Another problem, was that the glue on the back of the decals was not holding, and they were lifting off. I solved this by running cyanoacrylate glue along the edges, which effectively glued them on. Overall, it was a minor inconvenience for the end result which is far better than I could have hoped for. |
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| Griffin Shields Finally I arrived at the final step; to make the three griffin shields and mount them to the Bugzier and Heckwappen. You can see in this photo how tiny they are, but how nicely they turned out using decals. |
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| Well, after 10 months of work (of which very little got done in the summer) the hull was completed except for the stern flag pole as I am having trouble figuring out the height. Rather than hold the update any longer just for the flag pole, I will add that later. Are you ready to see what the completed hull looks like? Click next to see how it turned out...... |
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| Completing the Hull Intro / New Rudder / Fixing the Casemates / Booms / Stairs / New Sponsons / Bugzier/ Portholes / Deck Fittings / Railings / Decals / Final Product |