I found that architecture students use a thick cardboard for making models of the buildings they design. The thickness is just about right for a structure one deck high. I take a sheet of that material and cut out parts for each upper deck level that needs to be added. I have also used small bits of cut up playing cards for overhanging decks without structures above them. A folded piece of cut up plastic coated playing card also makes a good open bridge wing extension. Funnels can be made from a lot of different materials. The ones I favor now are pieces of plastic drinking straws which come in several sizes. smaller funnels can be made by cutting a piece from the protective guard used on small paint brushes.
Large masts and king-posts are simple straight pins. I use my needle nose pliers to push them into the hull and then cut off the heads of the pins. Vents can be made from the same straight pins. Use the pliers to bend the pins while allowing enough length from the point to push it into the wooden hull. Cut off the rest of the pin while leaving just enough past the bend to make it look right. I have a supply of thin wire to use for making booms, and sometimes gun barrels. I use a jewelers hand drill to make a small hole at the base of the mast and set the boom in place using super glue.
Painting is the last step.
I have recently been concentrating on ships with First World War camouflage patterns, sometimes referred to as dazzle camouflage. I usually paint with acrylics using a 5-0 brush. I paint one color at a time, starting with the lightest and progressing to the darkest. Most of the time I allow 1 day between colors.
The derrick masts on the collier were made from flat toothpicks. The lifeboats are from a set of spare parts. Gun mounts, when needed, also come from a set of spares.
Wetherhorn 