Colonial Paddle Steamer

This fabulous kit has been in my collection for far too long, lying unassembled and unloved in the pile of procrastination, until last summer when I was determined to put on a game for my good friends Bullcher Feb and the Dark Templar.  I had a notion that I wanted to return to the Congo, a rule set that we had all enjoyed a few years back, and what perfect way to explore the dense jungles than by a riverbourne cruise in a paddle steamer.

As with all 'Sarissa Precision' kits there is a quality that exudes from this model, it is simply so well designed that I knew it was going to go together well.  When starting a build there is also a sense of apprehension as there will always be a point when you have to make a decision about playability over construction and as I tend to do so much of my planning on the fly this moment often cripples the construction process by causing me to overthink to point of inactivity.  There is also a point in every build, and I appreciate that this might be just me and my fat fingers, when there is a sickening snap as some integral part of the structure is fractured or broken due to my stubbornness to yield to the fragility of MDF!

So it was with this build.  I had taken the boat to school to work on in the evenings that I wasn't on duty, all was proceeding well when I had to make a decision about whether to stick the decks together along with the roof panels.  In the end I decided against it believing that it would make it easier to paint and accessorise when I got home.  Following this hiatus a sickening snap was heard as I tried to drive home part of the substructure, but my familiarity with this type of kit allowed me to adopt a far more pragmatic approach than to throw the model across the office and simple repair was effected without any obvious loss to aesthetic or dignity. 

It is a shame that the same couldn't be said for the cardboard funnel, which I butchered beyond all possible explanation.  This would clearly need a little more thought later in the process.  Finally completed the launch returned home and sat idly by as I found new dustractions*, but as the playdate loomed ever closer it was clear that I needed to get it finished.  It was at this point that I realised that my poorly assembled funnel was also poorly sited causing it to look as if would topple over in a stiff breeze.  I briefly considered removing the offending piece and building it again from scratch, but instead decided to embrace my mistakes and incorporate them as part of the wear and tear of a working vessel.   

*Dustraction - a new, shiny hobby related project that after initial excitement is relegated to gather dust.

I had great plans to accessorize this fabulous kit to within an inch of its life, but I was rapidly running out of time, so instead limited myself to some rigging, to hold up the toppling funnel, and a tarpaulin for the rear deck.  All of this was undercoated so that painting could start.   

The painting itself was a breeze as having primed the model, I fired up the trusty airbrush and attacked the hard to get to areas with a light grey.  The planks were then drybrushed and with some accents of colour it was complete.  The weathering was achieved by using various washes, but looking at it now I could probably have pushed this a little further.  Still all things considered a passable job and great to see the model assembled and painted - now on to the characters needed for the expedition! 

The ever growing flotilla of 'Sarissa Precision' kits.