Landlubber Mike

I saw that in my FiveStar set for the 1/700 destroyer I built. Hair-thin PE that bends from just breathing on it.

Great start Glen! Looking forward to following along. If you need any plan details, etc., let me know and I'm happy to help.

My PE prep process is slightly different. I usually soak the frets in water with dish soap, though sometimes I've forgotten and I'm not sure I've seen any different results. I've had success using Mr. Surfacer and Vallejo primers in the past, but Vallejo can flake off with masking which can be annoying. I did try that Mr. Metal Primer once, but forget what I was using it on. For most subassemblies, I'll first attach the PE and then prime and paint. I figure that the primer can help fill in minor gaps left from the PE not fully sitting on the plastic, PE folds that aren't perfect, etc. For things like railings, I've primed and painted right on the fret and then attached it to the model. Since railings are just about the last thing to go on, it's just easier that way and like Craig said, you don't want to paint the railings if you have a wood or linoleum deck or other colors on the model that differ from the railings color. And again like Craig said, you can touch up any parts where the brass shows, glue spots, etc. I was watching someone on YouTube yesterday who was working with PE on a ship model. He prepped the PE fret by rubbing it with an Infini 400 sanding stick. I think the idea is that primer has more surface area to stick to, and maybe to remove and residue from the PE process. But like I said, I haven't really had issues painting primer directly to PE. I'd also be a little nervous using a sanding stick on 1/700 PE frets or PE frets in general with very fine details as I'd be worried that the stick would catch some of the free floating details and ruin the part. But, the guy yesterday didn't seem to have that problem.

Nicely done!

I ended up finishing the three quintuple torpedo launchers this weekend. Only 36 pieces of PE per launcher 😳 All in all I think they came out ok. Since I'm planning on doing a diorama setting, I decided to make a few modifications. First, I opened the hatch on one of the turrets: Second, I had found an aftermarket set of torpedo launcher covers, and decided to add them to the launchers as they had a little more definition than the kit plastic, and I was able to model one of the covers open: Next I worked on the twin 25mm AA gun. There is only one of these, and Infini has you build it completely from PE. This time only 18 pieces. I couldn't get a decent macro photo on my phone, but hopefully this gives an idea. I'm really impressed by what companies like Infini can do with brass. There's so much detail it's pretty amazing. Thanks for looking in!

I believe Zoukei Mura is coming out with a series of F-4s, if they haven't already. *EDIT* ZM recently released the F-4 in 1/48, not 1/32.

Great work on a really nice subject Craig. Fantastic! Can't believe I missed this one. I don't want to bring up too many things from prior posts, but: 1. Some of the PE on my destroyer was so thin, you could breathe on it and it would bend. I'd say just do the best you can. If it works, great, if not, the detail is probably so small nobody will notice anyway. 2. On the acrylic primers, I was just PM'ing with Craig the other day. I was a big fan of Vallejo, and still am to some extent, but now that I've figured out airbrushing a little better, I think I'm going to be moving to paints/primers like Mr. Color/Mr Surfacer, Tamiya, etc. At least for bigger areas. I've gotten decent results thinning Vallejo a bit, but the annoying clogged airbrush gets frustrating. It's almost like you need to shoot lacquer thinner through the airbrush at the end of the session to ensure you have removed the invisible sticky remnants. I'm ok with the smells because I vent outside. For things like cockpit interiors and other small details, I'll probably stick with Vallejo for ease of use.

Thanks Lou! Yeah the Shimakaze used a newer form of boiler that exceeded the expected speed of 39 knots. For comparison, the IJN Yukikaze, which was commissioned about two and a half years earlier, had a speed of 35 knots. So, this was certainly significantly faster, even with the added length to accommodate a third quintuple torpedo launcher.

Very nicely done! How are you planning to display these with the ship?

Really nice work Craig! Looking forward to your return to this project.

Wow, how did I miss this one?? What a fantastic build, amazing work! Mucho respect! Looking forward to your forthcoming builds!

Quick update on the log. I finished the three main gun turrets, and started work on the Type 0 quintuple torpedo launchers. A lot of the detail on the kit parts is scraped off and replaced with PE, which adds a little more definition to the parts. I would say that the railings and ladders are the biggest improvements, but otherwise, the kit parts are fairly nice: There are three of these to build, then a whole bunch of AA guns, ammo boxes, etc. These destroyers really packed a lot on their decks. Thanks for looking in!

Looks great Joe. Way to think outside (inside?) the tackle box. 😆

No way, that was all you and your skills. I'm just happy to have been along for the ride to follow your build.

That came out fantastic! Love the overall presentation, nice job Glen!

Really amazing work Alan. Congratulations! I don't know how complicated the rigging is on the Gneisenau, but it wasn't too bad on my 1/700 destroyer (though, it's certainly a simpler ship). The elastic rigging lines that are out there these days make things very easy. Anchor one end with CA, then anchor the other with a drop of CA, and cut the tails. The elasticity is nice as you can change how taut the line is. If I remember correctly, many of the products out there can stretch an additional 1/3 or more of the length of the line. Lots of products out there - Infini, EZ-Line, Uschi, Modelkasten, QW Model, etc. I used QW's product on my destroyer which was the thinnest I had on hand at 0.047mm. You can probably go bigger with your subject.

Really nice work Jeff. Your PE work is outstanding.

I placed an order with NorthStar back in June, and the package for some reason sat for two months and then wasn't allowed to leave the country due to paperwork issues. The NorthStar folks were very nice and apologetic, so hopefully round two will go a little smoother. Definitely need to order way in advance from Russia, Ukraine, etc.

I have a 1/32 Kingfisher kit and it's going to be hard for me to replicate that look! I can only imagine at 1/350. But, I'm sure you'll do a great job on them.

Fantastic job! I have that bending tool from Micromark as well, and it's quite good. Sometimes the Micromark stuff can be crap, but this one is well built and I found it to be very helpful. Love your alias as well 👍

Great job! I'm not as into "modern" fighters, but the A-10 has always been one of my favorites. Has that mean, ready to work look. At some point I'm hoping to build a 1/32 version of it. Congratulations!

For us working stiffs in the US, hope everyone is having a nice Labor Day! Thought I was at the point where I could update the log. Slow and steady progress here. Got the hull and deck items primed and painted. I used Mr. Surfacer 1500 (black) from a rattle can as primer, and then sprayed a coat of Tamiya XF-87 IJN Grey - Maizuru arsenal. I have to say, while when first starting out I enjoyed the simplicity of using Vallejo paints, I'm now just about converted over to Tamiya and Mr. Color. The finish just seems to be nicer, and the spray is more uniform. Plus, Vallejo tends to gum up my airbrush which is annoying, so small price to pay in using thinners to clean out Tamiya from the airbrush which leaves it fresh. Not a great picture, but here you can see where I replaced the kit molded-in vent on the starboard side with a better looking one from Black Cat: I'm still trying to decide whether to attempt oil canning effects. It looks really cool, but I'm wondering how much of that effect will be noticeable if in a diorama setting. I may just try it to get experience with it. Looks like a lot of tape to paint the vertical and horizontal lines, but I'm not exactly clear on the technique. The linoleum deck pieces come in molded brown plastic. The Infini upgrade set has you scrape off the molded brass bars, and replace them with actual brass bars. For this kit, Hasegawa sells a linoleum deck sticker that you attach onto the kit parts after scraping off the molded bars. Since I had the sticker upgrade, I went ahead and used it. It's very crisp looking, and fit like a charm. My guess is that I can add a clear coat to it, and then weather it. I've also done some work on the funnels. Infini gives you quite a a lot to dress them up, from the rings around the funnels to the ladders leading up them. I'm planning to paint them with the white stripes, which is requiring a lot of planning and steps to get it right. They are halfway done so hopefully I'll have a decent result to show soon. In the meantime, here is a picture of the funnel tops dressed up in the Infini PE. I've said it before, but Infini did a really nice job with this set. Finally, here are two of the 12.7cm main gun turrets dressed up with the Infini upgrades, shown against the kit part. Quite a lot of extra detail for sure! Next to stairways, which I think I've figured out. railings like this are my nemesis as you have super tiny glue anchor points. The trickiest part for me was to figure out how to glue the top rail, which comes in one piece and extends around the full top, coming down to the front and curving around. Lots of movement had to be worked in, and it's hard dealing with a long PE strip like that. For me, it was easiest to start by gluing the middle of the strip to the back side of the turret, then slowly working each side around. Once the PE is anchored, it was easier to glue the sides down. Even then, gluing the top rail probably involved close to an hour of work on each. In total, there were 13 PE parts per turret, and took me the better part of the weekend to complete. I also made the mistake on the first of sanding off two ridges on the sides, which I thought were the kit's attempts at railings, but turned out they weren't. 🤬 All wasn't lost as I ended up gluing some 0.2mm wire to replace what I sanded off, and they looks like the original thing. All in all, a lot of work and I'm pretty happy how these came out. I still have to do the actual guns part. Infini has you remove the guns from the kit part and replace them with nice brass guns. Haven't decided whether to completely assemble the guns, paint gray, and later come through and paint the blast bags white, or paint the turrets and the guns separately, then assemble. I find it can be tricky painting white over very dark surfaces, which makes me lean towards painting them separately then assemble them. Thanks for looking in!

Interesting - I reached out to him earlier this year for masks for my Gambier Bay and he said he was out of that business. May have to try him again.

Nicely done! Looks really great! Good tip on using a practice bottle. Very smart! Looks like you just fit in the main mast. Mine was a touch tight but yours looks great.

Wow, good luck! Did you build those?