2.3.20: Oh No
Dec. 8th, 2021 09:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jae_buildsI made an error multiple stages ago, and it almost cost me hours of building time in this stage. Thankfully, I was able to correct the error without too much backtracking, but it was a close call. We'll get to the details later in the post, but I wanted to state up front that it turns out ok; this is not meant to be a suspenseful blog, and I don't want to cause anyone undue anxiety.
With that ominous note, let's dive in, with the mise-en-place back before I knew anything was amiss.
I started by building the funnel; this was pretty much identical to the first one, so I don't have many detailed shots, but here, have a montage.
Next it was time to plug that hole where you can see the end of the orange pin. This was neat. I built this little multi-layer platform thing, not really fully understanding what it was I was building.
I still didn't know what it was, but it was the same size as that hole in the deck, and the red clip was aligned with the brown bar visible here.
Once I put it in place, it was suddenly obvious and amazing.
I then made a one-bench-wide similar piece for a hole on the other side of the funnel. I failed to get photos of the build of that sub-assembly, because that is when I noticed the potential catastrophe.
Back in 2.3.18, I started by building these two cross-bars, one of which (in 2.3.20) I had just clipped a set of benches to.
You'll note in the photo above that all four brown bars are facing the bow. When I went to add the smaller bench sub-assembly, the clip didn't align. Flipping back through the build instructions, I saw this.
Here you'll note the rear crossbar is clearly facing the stern.
I had placed multiple complex layers of build on top of this backwards crossbar. Turning it around was going to be a challenge. I could probably have reconfigured the bench piece to have the clip on the other side, but I didn't want to; I want this model to be built as the designers intended. To do that, though, I was worried that I was going to have to disassemble and rebuild almost all of 2.3.19 and 2.3.20, and was feeling very not good about that. I was disheartened enough about losing that much progress that, if I had ended up needing to do the backtrack, I probably would have needed to step away from the build for a few weeks.
I wish I had thought to take pictures of this process, but I was singly focused on fixing the error without losing progress or causing damage. I managed to remove a large section of deck that was not at all meant to be removed in one piece, and was very fragile without the substructure holding it together. With that removed, I almost had access to the backwards crossbar, and was able to flex another structural element just enough to take the crossbar out and reverse it. Then I had to replace the fragile deck section, which was very stubborn about not wanting to attach properly. I was fairly calm up to this point, but when I couldn't get the deck to reattach, that's when I really started to panic. Thankfully, though, as mentioned, I was able to get it eventually, after which I put the bench in place properly.
Then I added lifeboats, and section 3 was complete. (Well, I walked away for twenty minutes, took some deep breaths, and then added lifeboats. But I don't have pictures of that.)
Here's a post-lifeboat trivia break, and a completed shot of section 3.
I'd apologize more for not getting photos of the most dramatic part, but honestly I'm just glad I was able to fix it. Thanks for reading, and apologies if this entry did cause you anxiety.
Discussion question: When and how did you narrowly avoid a catastrophe? If you can laugh about it, feel free to instead share a story of a catastrophe that actually happened, but please don't use this space to tell stories you're still upset about.
With that ominous note, let's dive in, with the mise-en-place back before I knew anything was amiss.
I started by building the funnel; this was pretty much identical to the first one, so I don't have many detailed shots, but here, have a montage.
Next it was time to plug that hole where you can see the end of the orange pin. This was neat. I built this little multi-layer platform thing, not really fully understanding what it was I was building.
I still didn't know what it was, but it was the same size as that hole in the deck, and the red clip was aligned with the brown bar visible here.
Once I put it in place, it was suddenly obvious and amazing.
I then made a one-bench-wide similar piece for a hole on the other side of the funnel. I failed to get photos of the build of that sub-assembly, because that is when I noticed the potential catastrophe.
Back in 2.3.18, I started by building these two cross-bars, one of which (in 2.3.20) I had just clipped a set of benches to.
You'll note in the photo above that all four brown bars are facing the bow. When I went to add the smaller bench sub-assembly, the clip didn't align. Flipping back through the build instructions, I saw this.
Here you'll note the rear crossbar is clearly facing the stern.
I had placed multiple complex layers of build on top of this backwards crossbar. Turning it around was going to be a challenge. I could probably have reconfigured the bench piece to have the clip on the other side, but I didn't want to; I want this model to be built as the designers intended. To do that, though, I was worried that I was going to have to disassemble and rebuild almost all of 2.3.19 and 2.3.20, and was feeling very not good about that. I was disheartened enough about losing that much progress that, if I had ended up needing to do the backtrack, I probably would have needed to step away from the build for a few weeks.
I wish I had thought to take pictures of this process, but I was singly focused on fixing the error without losing progress or causing damage. I managed to remove a large section of deck that was not at all meant to be removed in one piece, and was very fragile without the substructure holding it together. With that removed, I almost had access to the backwards crossbar, and was able to flex another structural element just enough to take the crossbar out and reverse it. Then I had to replace the fragile deck section, which was very stubborn about not wanting to attach properly. I was fairly calm up to this point, but when I couldn't get the deck to reattach, that's when I really started to panic. Thankfully, though, as mentioned, I was able to get it eventually, after which I put the bench in place properly.
Then I added lifeboats, and section 3 was complete. (Well, I walked away for twenty minutes, took some deep breaths, and then added lifeboats. But I don't have pictures of that.)
Here's a post-lifeboat trivia break, and a completed shot of section 3.
I'd apologize more for not getting photos of the most dramatic part, but honestly I'm just glad I was able to fix it. Thanks for reading, and apologies if this entry did cause you anxiety.
Discussion question: When and how did you narrowly avoid a catastrophe? If you can laugh about it, feel free to instead share a story of a catastrophe that actually happened, but please don't use this space to tell stories you're still upset about.