Landlubber Mike

Wow, nicely done! Stellar work!

Looking great Alan! Nice quick build!

Thanks Alan! The kit out of the box makes for a nice model, but it is based on an older Sword kit from 2003. The nice thing about the Eduard boxing is that you get some resin parts as well as a small PE fret, so if anyone is interested, that is the kit I would buy. You don't necessarily need the other PE set from Eduard or the CMK set (if you can find it), but they do add some nice details. Really, the canopy is the toughest part to fit. Everything else goes together fairly well with a little work. The landing gear is just an odd set of parts, but are fairly accurate - I just don't see how sturdy it will be over time. The tail wheel is probably the one part that is completely wrong, but at this scale, it's probably the best they could come up with in plastic.

Thanks guys! Guns at this scale are usually the trickiest, given the size and lots of parts. I've gotten a little better at putting them together over the last few models. Now at this scale, you will barely be able to make out any details with the naked eye. But, they still look a little crisper to me than the kit plastic guns.

Fantastic subject! Hopefully at 1/144 it shouldn't be too much of a space eater.

I ended up putting in a little time on this project the past couple of days. It's a nice kit, but the instructions - which are all pictures - aren't exactly a step-by-step guide. One of the problems especially has been that the kit doesn't include any information on the date of the ship (and it's corresponding configuration) or even what the colors are. Thankfully, there are kits from Aoshima of this ship in early and late configurations (this is a late configuration) with good instructions which has made things easier. Otherwise, the Five Star kit - with the resin hull and other parts as well as PE and brass items - seems to be a big improvement over the clunkier all-plastic Aoshima kit. Here is where I am with the hull at the moment. I've added the various doors, the anchors, and the starboard area under the bridge. Interesting thing about the Akitsu Maru is that it was designed to carry planes as an escort carrier as well as vehicles for the IJA as a Type C landing craft depot ship. The planes were carried on platforms above the wooden deck you see in the picture below (and under the flight deck), while vehicles were carried in the hull that exited through doors that opened in the stern (you can see one of the four doors in the picture). The ship also could carry landing craft in the hull, where the well deck could be flooded so the landing craft could float out of the ship. I decided to also tackle the mortar - tiny little thing made up of eight or so parts... ...and eight of the AA guns: The other 1/350 and 1/700 ships were a bit easier in some respects when it came to construction and painting as you could pretty much fully assemble the ship, paint the deck, and then paint the rest of it dark gray. This is a little trickier in that you have to construct and paint in stages, as some of the interior parts (such as under the flight deck) are clearly visible but need to be painted in different colors. This ship, like many of the IJA ships, were painted in a camouflage green as to the exterior, while the interior parts were probably not painted as such. So my next step is to add the platforms under the flight deck and the stored planes, and then I can work on adding the flight deck, bridge, stern platform and other exterior items. Thanks of looking in!

Between fit issues, accuracy issues I can't unsee, and issues like the landing gear (see below), I keep losing the will to want to work on the kit. But with the extension of the group build on LSM, I feel like I should get this one completed. This kit wants to fight you the whole way, but I've managed to get the construction for the most part completed. The wing took a lot of work to add the various CMK resin parts and PE handles, etc., but it's looking ok I think. After looking at pictures, I decided to move the antennae. The kit has you add it dead center (and standing straight up) in the front between the two engines. It looks like the antennae was actually off center to the right and angled forward, so that took a bit of work. I did get the wing primed, and I'll start adding some pre-shading before painting the upper surface yellow. I'm debating whether to use the kit decals or just try to paint the US insignia on myself. Given the amount of work needed for the top surfaces of the wing, I'm going to take the approach of painting the top of the wing before installing it onto the fuselage. I ended up modifying the nose of the plane to better match what I think I see on pictures of the real thing. I added stringers to the lower section - these were apparently added to strengthen the front (bow?) after water landings caused damage on the earlier models. These were a bit more pronounced than the PE parts in one of the Eduard sets so I built them out of plastic rod. The kit and Eduard PE also seemed a bit off when it comes to where the stringers met at the nose - the yellow taped section seems to be a very small window. So, I replicated that section as best I could. Next up, I am going to tackle the landing gear. The kit parts are very thin plastic, and I worry that the heavier weight of the model with the CMK resin parts is going to cause problems. Plus, the landing gear in the kit is a bit oversimplified. So, I'm planning to use metal rods where I can, epoxied into the fuselage, to help give it a bit more strength. Also, the tail wheel is completely wrong, so I'm going to try scratching that as well. Thanks for looking in!

Yeah, I think I spent about 1/3 of that when I got mine a few years ago. No clue why it's so expensive now.

This is what I have - I don't recall spending this much on it, but it's very sturdy and holds pretty much everything I need for my plastic models (tools, glues, etc.). The handle makes it very easy to move around. https://www.amazon.com/LA-LMG-WO-18-Mobile-Workstation/dp/B086VRBZR5

Masterful work Igor!! Amazing job!

Wow nice display case! Will really set off the model!

Fantastic job Patrick!! Really great model!

Good to see you again Igor! Nicely done!

I have a similar MDF tool holder for my plastic models. It allows me to work upstairs in my kitchen and hang out with my family, rather than work in my workshop. Best yet, it's portable, which allows me to move it in and out of the kitchen as needed. Seems like you are looking for a similar solution, so if you think this meets your needs, I'd consider it.

Cool build Andrew!!

That came out great Craig! Prisine work on the decals my friend, wow!

Amazing build as always Gary! Those bunker plates came out fantastic! Thanks for sharing your modeling techniques with us mere mortals.

I've done the hot water trick (and hair dryer trick) on thinner resin parts and things worked out just fine. My parts again were much much thinner and had a bit of flex to them. Your resin looks a lot harder with little flex, and anyway the hull looks way too thick to get any bends out of it at this point. First question though - do you know if the deck is supposed to be perfectly flat, or is there supposed to be a slight camber to the deck at the bow and stern? That could be why the hull is shaped the way it is. Though, in your pictures in post #44, the top of the hull doesn't seem to have a smooth line - straight or curved - but had what looks like little valleys that don't conform to the general line of the top of the hull. That being said, if the hull is the problem (i.e., the deck is supposed to be perfectly flat), I'd try to sand the middle section down a bit so that the deck fits a little better. I'd then glue down the deck with two-part epoxy. Once cured, I'd glue in plastic card shims, use a two-part epoxy putty like Tamiya's to get all the tiny gaps filled, and then sand everything so that you have a smooth hull. If the deck actually needs to have a camber to it (i.e., the hull is correct), I'd try the hot water technique to get a curve in the deck. Then I would use a strong two-part epoxy to glue down the deck while it is clamped to the hull. Good luck!

Wow, looks great Nils!!

On my 1/700 and 1/350 ships, I did the rigging after I was done with the construction, painting, and weathering - i.e., was the last step. Part of my thinking was that I spray a matt clear over the model once the painting and weathering is completed to unify the finish. I wasn't quite sure how the rigging material would react to the clear. Zinnia looks great!

Law of supply and demand... People use them in other hobbies besides model ship building. With nothing comparable on the market, I can see how these are getting bid up.

Great work Gary. That engine looks like it could be an award-winning stand-alone model itself.

Another beauty Scott! CSM does seem to make some really good kits.

Beautiful aircraft and fantastic model. I still can't get over how you can do everything you are doing in card - really impressive!

Just catching up with your log now. Really nice job!