This model looks sooooo gorgeous… I know you finished it a while ago David, but I wanted to ask - how did you go on about installing the pedestals? I want to mount my 1/147 Connie with two of them like you did, but the keel is just short of 4 mm (model is 63 cm long) and I’m afraid it may become too brittle after digging holes through it (hull halves aren’t assembled yet). What kind of bolts did you use to secure the pedestals? Thank you!
Thanks, rdiaz!
Let’s see if I can explain how the pedestals work without confusing you 
So, once I got the hull halves assembled (but before the decks go in), I drilled tiny holes at the proper spacing in the bottom of the keel, then gradually used larger bits until the holes were wide enough to accommodate the screws (I think they are #8 machine screws)…the screws need to be long enough to reach from the bottom of the display board, through the pedestals, and up into the inside of the hull with ~1/2" length to spare.
In the hull, I took a couple of 1/4" thick wood squares (a couple inches square or so), drilled holes in them for the screws to fit through, and put washers and nuts on to hold the pedestals tight…kinda like a sandwich!
It’s true, the keel is way too thin to hold the model up with any stability, so I use long screws through wooden blocks to hold it all together…the top forks of the pedestals are held tightly up against the hull on either side of the keel, and the small wooden blocks inside push down on the hull, and that’s what keeps everything pinched.
Hope that makes sense!
Yeah, that makes sense, thank you very much! Guess the danger of snapping the keel would be even less if I make carefully aligned “half holes” on each part before they are put together?
My idea was indeed to fit wood or styrene blocks inside the hull for the screws to bite into; but the part I’m most afraid of is drilling through the thin plastic keel with my spiral hand drill, even if I start with tiny holes and then go up in size. The width of remaining styrene around the holes might be less than 1 mm, quite thin. I guess if I mess up I can always fix with some putty…
It’s true, the keel thickness is likely not equal to the width of the screws…I’ve had slight chipping when the bits get to right size, but fortunately it was contained within the area that was covered by the pedestals forks, so any missing keel material is invisible (at least on my models)…
I’m sure you’ll have no trouble getting good results.
Thanks David. The idea of using long nails, or brass or steel rod rather than screws, so I can drill smaller holes, has also crossed my mind - that might work to avoid chipping.
How about epoxying small nuts inside the hull along the keel to accept machine screws?Should work.
That could do, but 2 mm screws that are at least 5 cm long are hard, if not impossible to find. Anything with bigger diameter and chances of keel snapping or chipping will increase tremendously. I’ll see what I can come up with. I’d start a build log but I’m afraid my lack of skill would make it rather uninteresting 
Thanks!
They have them a Lowe’s in the special hardware sections.
There’s really no great trick to drilling a hole in the bottom of a plastic hull - though the whole job will be a lot easier if you do it before or right after gluing the hull halves together. Start with a small drill - say 1/16". Use an electric drill or, better yet, a Dremel tool; the bit is less likely to crack the plastic if it’s spinning fast (though not fast enough to melt the plastic). With a small hole in place you can enlarge it with a larger bit, a file, or even an Xacto knife.
It’s vital that the screws (or whatever else you’re using to secure the pedestals) have something solid to go into. Last time I had such a project I super-glued a pair of nuts to the underside of the deck (lining them up carefully with the holes in the keel). I stuck pieces of plastic to the deck next to the nuts, to make absolutely sure the latter wouldn’t come loose. If that’s not practical for your model, Dave’s idea of sticking a piece of wood inside the hull will work just as well (provided you don’t intend to take the screws out too often). Just make sure the wood is really stuck.
Another problem you’re going to have, if you use commercially-available pedestals, is that the slots in them will be too wide. You can glue little pieces of brass, styrene, or wood (the harder the better) to the side of the keel to make the pedestals fit. When they’re trimmed to length, they’ll barely be noticeable.
Hope that helps a little. Good luck.
Good advice, John.
And at the end of the day whatever happens down there is usually not too noticeable.
Thank you very much for the insight, jtilley. I’ve found brass pedestals with a keel slot that is 3,8 mm - just about right. I think Amati makes them. I have no Dremel nor money for one right now, but maybe I could use a small round file to make the hole before the hull halves are assembled together.
Philo426, I’m from Spain, so no Lowe’s - but I’ll keep looking Thanks a lot!
Any second-had appliances places (especially ones that do repairs)?
Back before Dremel came in variable speed we would find plug-in sewing machine pedals to control them. That, and a regular corded drill can get you closer than hand filing.
Oh, and your English is most commendable–far better than my Spanish.
Another option if I may intercede, is the method I am using on the Nina and Pinta. I drilled holes in the keel and then used screw/bolts for holding the model in place. Covering the nails are brass tubes that are the same width as the keel. I then cut the tubes to the desired height, slip them over and epoxy the top portion of the screw that will be inside the model.
The base is bass wood stained light. Since the Nina and Pinta were simple merchant ships, I chose a base that was simple so as to not take away from the models.
I have used brass pedestals on other models I have done when the scale is appropriate. You can ruin the overall effect of a beautifully built model if the stand or pedestals are too large or too small.
You can also see that the keel cracked a bit just behind the forward hole, but a little green putty, sanding and repainting made it disappear.
Just my one cent.
Steve
Great stuff, docidle! I’m also building the Pinta and finished Revell’s Santa Maria a few weeks ago (my first ship model). Might experiment with mounting the Pinta this way…
The Constitution is 630mm long including bowsprit and spanker boom, so I think the 26/29 mm pedestals (with 3’8mm slots) will be fine.