[SJPONeill]

CT, how thick were the armour iron bars? I'm just wondering if they could not be prinyed on relatively light paper and folded around a strip of .5/.8 card. This would (touch wood) give a scale thickness, also reduce exposed edges, and also provide a 'seam' between each bar. This would enable post-contruction weathering with washes and powders to the level that the modeller requires?

All navies seem to have a 'deveil makes work...' philosophy so I think that any ironclad that spent any period of time tied up would be kept in relatively good condition (visibly anyway) to keep the crew out of mischief. In 1/72, it would probably be easy enough to find some figures that could illustrate exactly that maintenence/discipline process...

Simon