More progress!
Now these days I have a pretty wide assortment of styrene rod, tube and strip. In fact there's not a lot I don't have when it comes to the very small sizes (BFG scratchbuilding is to blame for that). Traditionally I've generally built masts and antennae from styrene rod, and with the acquisition of my lathe I would turn down bits of the rod to get more interesting shapes. Turning 1mm styrene rod doesn't work spectacularly, so I was never thrilled with the result.
I knew that in order to get away with a single barrel for the turret atop the SC prow I would need to have a fairly interesting design, otherwise it would just look lame. I had planned to use 1mm styrene yet again but then I had an idea. I recently bought some 2mm diameter brass rod (to use with my home made bases) so I figured "hey, why not turn this down into a fancy barrel shape?".
So I did. Brass machines really beautifully. Even using the incorrect lathe cutting tool for this purpose I was able to get a fantastic, smooth result, with a couple of steps in diameter (1mm - 0.75mm - 0.5mm). Here's the result atop the prow (note that the turret is a separate piece):
Actually the turret seems to be sitting a little high in that pic - I think it's just not seated properly.
I've also made some progress on the rear and underside:
I'm very happy with the progress thus far. There is actually more detail than these terrible shots of naked styrene reveal. One thing I noticed though is that the GW SC model has this bland expanse of area on its underside just behind the prow (as you can see in the second pic). It's the same if the stock prow is fitted. I think I'm going to have to make a little piece to go in there and fill the gap along the keel a bit.
Next up is the main forward antenna-that-looks-like-a-gun. I'll be using my new brass rod trick for it
Oh yeah I can make that....