Thank you Clare
.
Rather than go the "wrapped in foam" route, I made the stand and glued it permanently to the hull. This was also temporarily glued to a piece of balsa longer than the ship, which allows me to turn it on my workbench without fear of accidentally hitting anything. I made the two supports from card in the shape of "I" beams.
All the slight gaps and joins in the hull have been filled and touched-up using watercolors. I managed to match the paints rather well, and am happy with the results.
Cheers, Danny