[Lex]

Thank you for following this build. I realised the time I will be (and already have) invested in this build, and thought it's not okay to make this a half-hearted effort. The hull gave me confidence in continuing, unlike my Fuyuzuki which a friend had simply told me to finish off quickly and move onto the next build - the build quality was not worth any more effort in their eyes.

@Don, I feel somewhat sorry for having to paint over Zio's model, which was not the original intention. To keep the style consistent I expect everything superstructure will be painted from now on too.

Before continuing on the hull, a small update elsewhere. The dual 203mm turrets have been made. I have used 1:350 barrels intended for plastic models (probably Trumpeter's Zara, can't remember). Of course, these will be too long at 1:400. Not too noticeable on secondary turrets, but prominent enough to warrant another look on the main ones.

Fortunately, they only contain the length outside of the blast shields. So if one insert them directly into the turret, their length is spot on at 1:400. One only need to add their own blast shield afterwards. The openings on the rangefinder might need some 3D detail as I will be painting over the surface, but otherwise the turrets are very simple to make. These are top-heavy due to the barrels and tended to topple on their own, but this will not be an issue once I fix them to the hull.

There is also the little ladder at the back of the turret which I am using PE for. My first ever use of a PE part, it is easier to shape than I expected. Zara had its motto(?), 'TENACEMENT', painted on the turret side, that will have to be replaced by decals at some point.

Zara's 8'' guns are located unusually close to each other, a feature common to Italian cruisers. This meant that the turret, as I remember reading, had quite an awful dispersion at range if a full salvo is fired, due to the interference with adjacent barrels. I was not sure about the merits of this design, could it be space- or weight-saving?