Opus Magna, blocking.

This weekend I have finally gotten some stuff done on the Opus Magna, and it felt really good. This is a long standing project for me, where I have been held up by some mechanical integrity issues of the model. Once I got to a certain point in the build I realized that it did not stick together as I had envisioned. So I took it apart and re-thought the assembly process. Sadly this meant that I had to discard some parts I have already build and I needed to re do these to fit the new way of putting ting together. Well that sort of became a block for me and the Opus has been sitting around for some time. I have done a little here and a little there but i have not maid any major progress. Well I hope that this new found enthusiasm for the project will stick so that I can get all the major blocks built.

So I started with sealing the front end and the back end of the main hull. The front was just missing a plate joining the left and right side of the bow. Now they are attached and I need to add some strengthening plates here and there on the inside but mostly it is now as it should be. I am thinking about adding a bolter array to this section as well but I am not sure...  I will also have to see how it interact with the bow section above.

For the back I had the idea of having some loading bay doors that could open, made from a scenery set. This has been sitting there, dry fitted for ages, so it was just a quick fix to cut out the doors using a jewellery saw and then putt in some pins for the hinges. I also trimmed the edges a bit to fit the rest of the hull but otherwise it is pretty much standar.

The sections I needed to rebuild where the two centre sections that initially held up the sides together with the front and aft sections. since this is no longer needed have rebuild them, adding some staging platforms outside the doors. I am not done with these yet, as I need to add in some flooring sections out side the doors on each side. I also need to build the right side of the second section, that will be beneath the iland and that will host a battery of strategic missiles and launch tubes. I am using a Stormtalon to check that it can fit in the hangar bay with all the new additions. In the end I think the hangar bays could hold something like 13 to 15 Stormtalons. 

Once this is done I have all the major block build again and can start adding details to them with out having to worry how they will interact with each other.