February 2, 2008 - Boat deck, or not?
At this point in the construction process, I decided
to request some opinions from my buddies at modelwarships.com. As
previsouly mentioned, the "stock" YMW Montana
kit leaves the space between the fore/after houses essentially empty, to make
room for the boat deck. I don't really like the way the superstructure
looks with that empty space in the center, so I blended a bulky 2-level house
into the front end of the aft house, just forward of the aft stack. This
house includes two additional 40mm mounts and some exterior deck detailing to
keep things interesting.
Also as mentioned, I would like to retain the boat deck
and cranes since I think the "busy-ness" of these items add a good deal of
interest and appeal to the overall ship. My current plan is to place the
boat deck on a platform which in turn is stood off the roof of the new
deckhouse, with appropriate access ladders, etc. Likewise I would increase
the height of the cranes by placing them on suitable circular pedestals (not
shown in photos), to retain geometry of the crane arms and keep everything "believeable."
So.... I'm looking for opinions on whether I should
retain the boat deck. The photos below show each view with and without the
boat deck in place. Please let me know what you think. Also, if you
think things look better without the deck, how would you solve the problem of
what to do with the boats?
Most of the components visible in these photos is sort of just sitting
there: nothing is attached to the maindeck yet. Any and all comments
welcome.
Click on any pic to see larger version.