Yesterday I decided I wanted to add the PE railings to the bow and stern sections. I had done railings on a couple of 1/500 ships before, so I figured this would be a good way to get the sections ready for paint. I usually tack the railings in place using thin strips of tape, then tack the railings using super glue, then remove the tape and finish with super glue along the length of the railing.

Things started poorly when I couldn't get the railings to stick to the tape,or vice versa. I have had the railings for a while, so I thought they might have oxidized some, which prevented the tape from adhering. I decided to lightly wipe the PE with alcohol. All was going well until on the last swipe with the cloth, it snagged on of the railings and pulled it into a piece of modern art. Of course, the mangled piece was the railing needed for the forward part of the ship. I spent the next 30 minutes trying to straighten the railing out. My next idea was cradle the ship in my lap, hold the railing in place with one hand, then tack it in place using super glue. 30 more minutes went by and it was time for Plan C. I finally ended taping the model to my workbench and proceeding to hold and tack. The thin super glue didn't set quickly enough to get the railing in place before my hand needed to move, so I added accelerator to the mix. For some reason, the super glue wouldn't hold to the primer I had used on the model. An hour, and 5 attempts later, I lightly sanded the primer to give the super glue something to hold on to, I had managed to get one railing added. It took a total of 3 hours to get rails done. It was at this point that I was looking over the railings when I heard a "twang". to my surprise, the forward 2 inches of the railing had decided to return to its original straight form and had detached from the model. Shortly after, the other railing did the same. I spent another hour getting the rails in place again.

When I looked over the model after 4 hours of work, it looked like the railing had been through the nuclear test at Bikini Atoll. I have carefully placed the model and all of its parts in its box and tucked it away for some time in the future when I decide I want to try tackling it again. For now, it is on to something else while my frazzled nerves recover. Thanks for following along and I hope this partial build served as a guide for the things not to do when converting a ship model.

2 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Sorry to hear that this railing gave you so much troubles, George @gblair
A short break will definitely help to de-stress.
Still the progress so far looks very good.

I can sympathize with you on these railings George (@gblair). I placed several on the hangar structure yesterday and had the same issues with the glue only cooperating when it felt like it. And my hands have the same desire to move at the wrong time. I have not done the longer railings yet, the longest being about 2 inches so far. I have found that some small amount of preforming is needed to avoid the "springiness" you mentioned.

I hope that you'll eventually feel like returning to the APD, but your desire to step back is certainly understandable. I have felt that same calling on occasion. That is one of the reasons I have the T Bolt project going as well.

I look forward to seeing what you start on next. I enjoy the work you do and you are quite prolific, so I am sure that it will be interesting and fun to watch.