I'm looking at a small monitor, but to my eye that bow scroll looks pretty daggone good. I'd never heard of the Future/pottery clay idea (one learns something every day in this Forum), but on the strength of this model it looks like a good one.
Years ago one popular way to deal with such problems was to mix "gold powder" with Elmer's white glue. "Gold powder" was a very finely-ground substance sold by paint companies (the late, lamented Rose Miniatures had a particularly nice series); you were supposed to mix it with the same company's varnish to make nice, shiny gold paint. I haven't seen anything of the kind for many years. If you mixed it with Elmer's instead of varnish, you could put a blob of it on your model, let it dry for a few minutes, and then shape it with a toothpick. As the glue dried it became transparent, so the only visible color was that of the gold powder. The trick actually worked pretty well, but it looks to me like the Future/clay mixture works better - at least in the hands of a highly skilled modeler.
Tom L. confirms my impression that the Combrig kits are among the nicest resin ships on the market - and the biggest bargains. Given the state of the Ruble, one has to wonder how well the superb Russian craftsmen who make the masters are doing financially. I hope the company is doing well; it certainly is making a welcome contribution to the world of ship modeling.
Youth, talent, hard work, and enthusiasm are no match for old age and treachery.