I recently came up with a simple and effective solution to an annoying problem, and thought I'd pass it along in case anyone is (forgive the pun) in the same boat.
In backdating Revell's venerable 1/240 four-stacker destroyer (WARD, CAMPBELTOWN, et al.) to a WW1 configuration, I was puzzling over how to represent the characteristic "fluted" shape of the crow's nests on the masts:
After a few tries, I came up with the following: I used styrene tube stock, but rod would work as well. (Please forgive the crudity of the artwork.)
I used punched discs for the bottom and the "lid"; check your sources for the latter, as some were, so to speak, "topless."
This may be a well-known technique, but I didn't remember seeing it in a mag or here in the forum before. It's one of those little eye-catching bits of detail that really stands out.
Regards,
Greg