The quick way to create a forecastle is to select the vertices of the bow using the "select adjacent vertices" button ( blue cube with the red dots near the top of the window) and then move the mouse upwards. Same goes for the stern if you want to create a poop deck. To adjust a ship's cross section, select the vertices of the ship's side with the "adjacent vertices" function and move the mouse left or right, as needed.
Try using "View --> Workmode" and then "Toggle Wireframe" so that you can view a transparent wireframe of the model - this makes following plans much easier because you can see more vertices while manipulating the model.
You may have to triangulate the model before importing into SH3/4 with s3ditor or pack3d - otherwise, the importation program will probably refuse to accept the model.
You PM'ed about railings and telegraph wires? Most of my wiring is really cubes shrunk to look like wires by using the "scale radial ---. Z axis function. If I want to give wires a parabolic shape (sagging like telephone wires do) I select the sides of the cube, right click, and use "plane cut" ---> "Z" axis several times. This splits the cube so you can bend it downwards in the middle like a real wire. For railings I use shrunken & enlongated cubes and use the "rotate around "Y" axis" function so that they match the shape of the ship hull. It can be tedious but the more time you take the better the ship looks. I hope this helps.
I agree that it's a good idea to try making ships from scratch instead of using an existing model, like I did for the "Merchant Fleet Mod" ships. It was a lot less intimidating than I thought it would be, and I wish I had started doing it a long time ago.
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