I purchased a model kit of the USS George Washington (CVN-73) (Academy, 1:720 scale) a while back, wanting a model of the ship I served on (2010-2016) as a memento. Finally openning the box recently and working on it for a bit, when I got to the island I noticed it was wrong - further research proved that what I'd gotten was actually a model for the USS George H.W. Bush instead, with parts to make the kit into the Nimitz instead, at least in part. I still don't have 100% of the island and I'm also missing CIWS mounts and a few other pieces.
I think I can make CIWS on my own - pieces of flash I have can be cut appropriately. Still, the island needs some work. I can move some stuff around, but the along-side bridge I'd have to slice off of one set of island pieces and glue to another, cutting into that one as well. I'm a bit worried that it'll look like crap; I'm an amateur and have neither the tools nor skills to do anything fancy, nor do I want to sink money into this project.
Other than that, I'll have to mold some stuff I have to make other peices, like a port-aft-catwalk, work. Any suggestinons on how to go about bending pieces, cutting and slicing pieces, then making it look nice afterwards?