mikegr

thats a lot of great work on the prototype boat

The progress in 3d is going on. I put all things together as a preview although I will print the cranes in separate pieces.

However it seems that i prefer spend time on this and avoid to concentrate on a more challenging project. To built the deck frame, present on all cargo ships of the time instead of rail bars

Because of the curvy shape that follows the hull, I'm not sure how to design it yet. And still I am worry about the overall fitting of the triangle supports to the deck. A last worry would be to find a glue for resin that won't also make a mess to the deck.
For scratchbuild this piece I face the problem of finding the proper material. Metal strip would be too thin to handle and the tiny supports too hard to be made equally. The overall look of it may not look satisfying to my eyes.
Balsa over 1mm would be more stable and still easy to work but too thick while thinner would be very optically ideal but easy to break unless fortified with some material like gel coat.

I almost done with Hatsushimo

Need only to paint, add boats,  rigging and weathering. I used general ww2 railings. Hopefully when visit Malaysia this winter again will stock up with supplies from nearby China and Japan.

I will paint it with IJN Gray later along with Amatsukaze

I am test fitting the cargo holds while experimenting in 3D design amd printing.

On 7/8/2022 at 9:04 AM, RGL said:

3D and PE are very different creatures, Flyhawk does great PE to a point but the complexity is somewhat a different level 

I think Flyhawk produces the best plastic in the market, turrets, funnels, airplanes, all comes in great detail even in 1/700 scale, plus the PE

Now for the 3D parts I found myself enjoying design and print my parts. I

This may take more time than scratchbuilding but while increasing my design skills hopefully the overall time will be shorten. Results are satisfactory although there's always space for improvement

The detail difference in the turrets even noticeable in not something that cant be reproduced in plastic. If Flyhawk would release a 1/350 Roma i'm pretty sure it could compare with the fine Micromaster product

On 7/7/2022 at 4:09 AM, Old Collingwood said:

If any of  you guys are  crossing the pond or even coming over to the Uk  - I deffo  suggest a day at the Tank Museum  its that good, Superb exhibits  a fantastic  shop  (where you can stock up on your tank models)  and a good  rest/food area  with  rest rooms.

 

OC.

i really hope one day to visit back London and tour the RAF Museum, HMS Belfast and the Naval Museum nearby.

I done added some extra details. I also found out that I was rebuilding Hatsusimo not Amatsukaze as I thought. Therefore the mistake with the rear turret. 

Back to the plan, second rear turret replaced again with AA gun.😁 Better concentrate on one ship each time.

Added ladders,  doors and few other PE details. Then I sprayed photo etched primer. Now will finish up details by adding rails and prepare for final paint

2 hours ago, lmagna said:

Sometimes it is hard to detract or praise a design without raising the ire of the people who stand on the other side of the issue. But judging a design based on a single design fault or the ship's mystique, or factors that could not have been anticipated twenty or more years earlier or not using the same criteria across the board is also faulty reasoning and a disservice to the reader, especially the novice. Based on the reviews of this book it looks that possibly Anthony Preston may not have done his homework as meticulously as he could and should have. I could be wrong but in this case I will be skipping it so I will probably never know.

It depends on the criteria used. If we take under consideration the purpose of built, then Bismarck was a disaster as her task to destroy enemy merchant vessels was never accomplished. Had the Germans used its steel to produce several dozens U boat instead, the war in the Atlantic may would have a different outcome.

Same for Vanguard , that was built to fight in a war that finished too early for her.

But if you consider the technology involved things may appear different.

Bismarck was the Yamato of its time being the most armored ship ever created with 42% of its weight dedicated to armor.

Vanguard built finally in 1946 was a state of the art ship with the most extended battle damage control.

Yamato, Bismarck, Mogami.

All these seems to be in the black list for Antony Preston. Not that we, modelers, care much though

https://www.worldcat.org/title/worlds-worst-warships/oclc/52131104

20 minutes ago, lmagna said:

With rifle butts attached to the sticks and bumper balls on the tips? 

Yes it is a bayonet fight variation, called Jukendo in fact

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jūkendō

But my wonder is different.

Are these big kits really complete?

Or extra PE are required to get the most details out of them?

59 minutes ago, lmagna said:

 

 

Not certain if those people on the picture are naval or army but it does look like they are practicing Bayonet drills.

Not even.

This is Kendo

12 hours ago, Roger Pellett said:

Lou,

 

I have also read about the Japanese having to use raw crude oil as fuel.  This was a major factor in the loss of a carrier at the Battle of Philippine Sea.

 

As it comes out of the ground, crude oil is a mixture of several organic compounds.  Some of these are light enough to vaporize at atmospheric pressure.  The refining process removes these light fractions which are sold as byproducts.  

 

At Philippine Sea, a Japanese carrier was torpedoed by an American Submarine and a fuel bunker ruptured releasing these volatile fractions within the ship.  An ignition source touched them off and the resulting explosion caused the loss of the ship.

 

Roger

I have heard also about making alcohol from potato processing that was used to fly their training planes. 

Not sure about the carrier you mentioned. Perhaps Taiho or Shinano.

Both they were easily sunk but a single torpedo hit. This is caused also by lack of training in damage control. In contrast to American crews IJN sailors used to spend their training time on more traditional practices

First prints were successful in general although had failed attempts. Correct printer settings takes time to be learnt. Design online is fun though

Same style upgrade for the searchlight tower. Here I drilled the light with mini drill and round file. I dropped a little amount of epoxy resin, hopefully to have a transparent light effect.

 So I did a bit of scratch built on AA platform. I replaced the frame with PE canvas style. I also added supports but look a bit long. Will be shorten in the other platform. I used brush hair for this.

Guns were replaced. I have PEs but I'm not sure how they will look as they are quite thin. Maybe fit them on the other ship.

On 6/15/2022 at 6:39 PM, ccoyle said:

I'm acquainted with Super-Hobby but have never ordered from them. They carry card models and usually have a good number of photos of the actual kits, something that most retailers don't usually do. I hope you have a positive experience with them.

I would rather worry about Aber itself than supper hobby.

The 1/700 railings I bought was a joke, they could bent even with the touch of a brush.

I expect in larger scales to be better. Got universal grills and other PE parts for larger scale, seemed ok.

I checked drawingns and pictures of Amatsukaze only to find that mast is quite different. So I scratch built a new one using real 0.4 mm solid steel rods.

A bit hard to cut but hold much better with CA glue comparing to brass maybe cause of less shiny surface. I added the secondary mast and a third 5" gun aft as seen also on box of kit but for a reason in plans there was a triple as gun instead which I replaced.

Finally I added front funnel with some pipe details

I restructured the bridge by cutting and adding windows, portholes and hatchdoors.  Then I scratch built masts using soldering for the main frame  and CA glue for the smaller parts around the tripod base

Brilliant work.

While I am almost done with the cargo holds, meantime I designed some parts for 3d printing

I did some work on torpedo tubes. Then replaced the 5" guns with some better ones and added some detail. These are from different manufacturer thought so they are not exactly the same. I will use some epoxy primer as copper is very resistant on paint especially acrylic.

 First work was to drill portholes and funnel which were solid.

I used a battery operated dremel tool to speed up work and 1 mm tape as a guide for straight line.

It was a big problematic work as on high revs caused heat to melt the plastic and refill the hole! I have seen this in the past while cutting plexiglass with table saw, the temperature produced  caused the pieces to be soldered together.

Also I found some torpedo tubes from my stash with decent appearance to replace the ones in the kits.

a model inside a model. spectacular.

Italian shipbuilders where always paid attention to design and luxury. Even at warships and merchant ships. Not to mention their luxury passenger liners and yachts where they can fit a 3 bedroom house In a 10 meter hull. The food also is of high standard.

Comparing to Japanese and other Asian built vessels, which are modern with high automatization standards but with less comforts and deticated space for crew.