Hi everyone! You'll mostly find my models posted under Aircraft subforums, but I love ships and after building USS Cole a few years back, I have gathered some courage and started another build, this time Flyhawk's excellent HMS Aurora kit.

Buying a wooden deck, you also get a brass anchor chain. While it would improve the looks, it is unfortunately way overscale for this project - as you can see, almost 3 times the size of a plastic moulded one. I will replace it by a smaller one later.

First time using wooden deck and I have to say I am IMPRESSED! This was just a dryfit to check the fit and it's perfect. Also the deck itself is very thin, so the deck details won't dissappear too quickly.

Although I'm building a water base mounted ship, some parts of the lower hull will still be visible, so I've decided to glue the hulls together. Some sanding and puttying was required along the seam, but nothing drastic.

Using black primer as a base, I first sprayed the antifouling red.

Followed by G45 Light Grey and B20 Blue. The authenticity of colours is questionable. I can't get the dedicated Sovereign Hobbies Colourcoat enamels so I've eyeballed their paints and used the closest ones in my paint stash.


After a pinwash and some rust streaking, the hull looks pretty convincing - to my eyes at least.

Vacation is over and it's time to resume work on Aurora! Superstructure is starting to rise up from the decks.

With the building also came the challenge of working with small photoetched parts. Not everything is yet finished up front, but she's shaping up slowly but surely!


A bunch of little details was added to the bridge area; ladders, railings, searchlights, Oerlikon 20mm guns,...

If someone is wondering how big is this model - compare it to 50 Euro cents coin

Buying a wooden deck, you also get a brass anchor chain. While it would improve the looks, it is unfortunately way overscale for this project - as you can see, almost 3 times the size of a plastic moulded one. I will replace it by a smaller one later.

First time using wooden deck and I have to say I am IMPRESSED! This was just a dryfit to check the fit and it's perfect. Also the deck itself is very thin, so the deck details won't dissappear too quickly.

Although I'm building a water base mounted ship, some parts of the lower hull will still be visible, so I've decided to glue the hulls together. Some sanding and puttying was required along the seam, but nothing drastic.

Using black primer as a base, I first sprayed the antifouling red.

Followed by G45 Light Grey and B20 Blue. The authenticity of colours is questionable. I can't get the dedicated Sovereign Hobbies Colourcoat enamels so I've eyeballed their paints and used the closest ones in my paint stash.


After a pinwash and some rust streaking, the hull looks pretty convincing - to my eyes at least.

Vacation is over and it's time to resume work on Aurora! Superstructure is starting to rise up from the decks.

With the building also came the challenge of working with small photoetched parts. Not everything is yet finished up front, but she's shaping up slowly but surely!


A bunch of little details was added to the bridge area; ladders, railings, searchlights, Oerlikon 20mm guns,...

If someone is wondering how big is this model - compare it to 50 Euro cents coin

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