Stevinne

On 7/6/2022 at 7:54 AM, DennisL said:

Hi Stevinne,

Hasegawa definitely makes great kits.  I am currently building the IJN Akagi in 1/350 scale and have purchased all of the PE add on kits that go along with the kit.  It is somewhat of a PE hell once you get into it but the final results are quite stunning.  Hasegawa supplies 6 Kates in the original kit along with 3 type 99 dive bombers and 3 Zeros.  I added 2 extra plane kits a while back bringing my total of Kates to 18 and 9 zeros for the first strike at Pearl.

 

Incidentally, if you want an excellent read on the Battle of Midway and the story of Lt. Tomonaga I highly recommend the book "Shattered Sword" by Tully & Parshall.  It is written from the Japanese perspective and really gets into the difference in philosophies of the Japanese with respect to both carrier design and plane design and the factors which led to the Japanese defeat at Midway.

 

Dennis

I've got Hasegawa's full-hull 1/700 Akagi waiting in the wings with the basic IJN photoetch to add to her. I've seen some amazing builds of the 1/350 kit. The PE really does help make it a beauty, though I imagine the build time for such a kit is probably at least equal to a wooden ship. I've been meaning to try "Shattered Sword" since I've been fascinated with Midway since reading "Incredible Victory" by Walter Lord as a kid. I recently picked up this memoir of a Kate pilot for my Kindle. My biggest problem is that books I'm interested in, like models I want to build, pile up faster than my free time expands. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00THSCSS8/ref=kinw_myk_ro_title 

I'm currently building Hasegawa's 1:48 B5N2 "Kate" torpedo bomber. The plane has the markings of that flown by Lt. Jouichi Tomonaga, strike leader from the Hiryu at the battle of Midway. Her tail number is BI-310 in standard western letters and numbers. I'd say you can't go wrong trusting Hasegawa on a detail like that. Tomonaga was the guy whose plane had its fuel tanks damaged on the initial morning strike on Midway. He was able to return and land on Hiryu. When the Americans put the Akagi, Soryu and Kaga out of action and took out a large part of the Japanese strike aircraft, Tomonaga led the Hiryu's strike against the Yorktown, though the damage to the plane meant he didn't have enough fuel for the round trip flight. He managed to launch a topedo at Yorktown, though it missed, and was shot down by Jimmy Thach.  I've always thought the B5N2 was one the best-looking WWII planes, and the Hasegawa kit has been a great build. 

I remember reading somewhere that when she got to England, she had to be taken out of the water to repair damage to her copper.

Saw this today on Amazon for 99cts on my Kindle. Picked it up along with "Catastrophe at Spithead." I don't know anything about the sinking of the Royal George, so that alone was well worth the amount spent. 

I know folks like Mamoli kits. Here's my problem with them. I find the instructions very complicated, requiring me to jump to multiple sheets and the box top to figure out what materials I should be using.

Finally got back to work. I'd tried planking the stern earlier, but for some reason the glue didn't hold very well and I had some loose planks. I wound up pulling off everything I'd done, giving the plywood back plates a good sanding and starting over. This time it seemed to work. The kit comes with pre-cut gunport lids. I didn't cut the plywood backplate to accomodate them, since trying to cut a hole for the tiller proved difficult. Instead, I decided to glue them on, then plank around them to try to give them less of a "pasted on" feel. Now that I've done it, I really can't tell the difference and it probably wasn't worth the extra work. I will place the hinges and the line used to open the port later on, as I'm afraid they'll get knocked loose in the building. Once I complete second planking the rest of the hull, I will sand everything and use a little watery glue to help hide spots where the plywood shows through.

Over the years, lots of people have given me old-school ship modeling books. Most of the techniques are outdated, but the one thing that has stood out for me is the wide variety of "alternative material" they include in their tips. I suspect that back in the day before packaged kits, modelers would use whatever material was at hand that worked well. I'm not sure about museum standards, but I think this is likely the approach folks took for hundreds of years.

On 10/8/2021 at 9:36 AM, glbarlow said:

Thank you for referencing my log. After the Lady Nelson I’d suggest Speedy, Flirt or Duchess.  Alert is just a better version of Lady Nelson, a small cutter.  You shouldn’t need a rabbet on any of those and running planks the full length of the hull is the best course with all these models. If you wanted a rabbet on the keel you can sand or file the frame former to about half its width, ¼ on each side.  Once you attach the keel, you have a rabbet. The simpler way is just to bevel the plank to match the angle to the keel, same concept at the stem, it works fine on these models.

 

Garboard by the way is nothing more than the plank closest to the keel, it’s a little more challenging to fit, but it’s still just a plank.

 

My advice is to read less and build more, these models don’t have to be complicated or researched.  You can learn as you go or research along the way if that interests you.  As a beginner the best thing to do is build stuff.  There are plenty of logs, post your own and you’ll get the help you need as you need it.

This is the way I've always done it. Not sure if I saw it in Frank Mastini's book or if it is just something I figured out for myself, since cutting a rabbet was always too intimidating. I've been happy with the way things turned out.

Nice work. A beautiful cutter.

I just wish that there was a standard for model instructions. I've put my third kit - the Mamoli Roter Lowe - on the shelf for a while because the instructions are so bad. I built the Constructo Enterprise (not great instructions, but I could work through them), the AL Reynard (at least they came with nice pictures to show me what to do) and dozens of plastic airplanes and ships with pretty complicated photo etch. I recently turned the mini Mamoli America into a New York pilot boat and am now finishing up the Model Expo Harriet Lane since they have relatively easy instructions and give me an excuse to try tackling the Mamoli instructions.

I'm starting out on my own HL build, so I'm following along to learn what I can. Good work so far.

Welcome

I made the template from the ship itself. The Harriet Lane has a pre-carved hull, with the bulwarks thicker than they should be, so the first step is to thin them down - I did that with my rotary tool and sandpaper. It looks good so far, but I imagine my job is nothing like what is shown on the plans. My plan is what you suggest - Give myself a little extra width and sand the deck so it slides in snug, though one of my concerns is that the plank lines might then wind up a little off the center line.

She's 1:144 and the planks look to be about 1.5mm wide apiece. It looks like I might be able to cut individual strips, but man - that's a lot of small individual strips

I hadn't thought to look at other logs. I did search "scored deck" and "scored sheet." I'll take a look and see what I can see. My plan is sort of what you recommend. I'd really like to just ditch the sheet and use planks, but at that scale, I don't know if it's feasible.

I'm working on the MS Harriet Lane and my model has a sheet of pre-scored deck. I've made a paper template, but I'm wondering if there is a trick for cutting it without the wood splintering or getting raggedy? Any help will be appreciated. 

I like little torpedo boats and early destroyers, but the key word is little. In 1/350 they are cool but small.

2 hours ago, dcicero said:

 

I suspect institutions -- libraries, universities, etc. -- pay for access for their members, so if you can demonstrate that you're associated with one, you can get in. 

You should definitely check your library - they might have online access to the journal for patrons. It amazes me all the online resources my library has - every thing from language lessons to newspaper archives to obscure movie services, there's a chance yours will have access to this one.

Sorry, as a former newspaper employee who has seen what "free" information has done to outlets, I can't agree. I now work for a company that charges a bundle for the information we provide. I'm better paid, have better benefits and our customers seem happy, since our profits are rising. Meanwhile, take a look at your local newspaper and compare it to the size and amount of news that had been provided 20 or 30 years ago. That's the impact of everyone wanting everything for free. Gathering and publishing credible information costs money. There is an amazing amount of free information available on the Web, we are extraordinarily lucky to have access to it. But generating information isn't free.

I think I should be able to walk into my local Mercedes dealership and drive off with what I want, but unfortunately, Mercedes won't let me. Information is just as valuable. 

You're lucky - even though the Post & Courier has cut back a bit, it still has high aspirations and a good amount of content.  

11 minutes ago, Bob Cleek said:

 

In response to:  

 

  14 hours ago, Bob Cleek said:

The problem, however, is that no copper hull sheathing was ever riveted to a hull. Not once. Not ever. Fastenings were copper tacks.

 

It is, isn't it? I sure don't get it. Shiny copper foil full of hugely out-of-scale "pimples" that don't remotely represent a prototype certainly doesn't make any sense to me at all. I suppose it's the "monkey see, monkey do" phenomenon. That and the fact that it appears a substantial segment of the kit builders really have no real-life experience with ships and the sea.  Imagine trying to build a model kit of a car when you'd only seen old pictures of them and the kit contained wooden tires. I guess they come by it honestly. If they're having fun, that's a good thing, I suppose.  

https://modelexpo-online.com/assets/images/documents/MS2260-SYREN-Addendum-CopperJig.pdf

2 hours ago, Bob Cleek said:

(Layers of muslin cloth soaked in shellac were laminated into sheets to make insulated circuit board material in the days before plastics. Shellac lasts forever and is very thin, so it won't obscure details.) 

We had circuit boards before we had plastic? You learn something new every day.

I'd never thought much about coppering before, so I'm enjoying this discussion. While nails in the weathered copper are definitely hard to see, the nails in the fresh copper in this photo are easily apparent and definitely have that "ponce-wheel effect" to my eyes. I wish there was a wider view to see what it looks like from a distance, but, when fresh, the dimples in the copper make the nails stand out.  I'm interested because, at some point, I'm going to need to do something with the hull of the Harriet Lane.

This is a good example of a great kit built with care and attention. It is beautiful. Good work! 

I love me a nice Baltimore clipper, so I'm pulling up a chair for this one. The Harvey and its little porta-potty-like latrines always have me wondering what other flush-deck ships, such as Niagara, did for crew accommodation back in the day. I think this is the only model of a Baltimore clipper I've seen that addressed the issue.

I attended a really nice virtual talk this afternoon with Fred Hocker from the Vasa museum. I didn't ask this question, but it's one that I've been wondering about. Hocker gave his email address and said he'd answer questions sent to him, but before I bug the guy I wanted to see if folks here could help. Can anyone explain the purpose of the galleries and circular turrets on Vasa? To me, they appear merely decorative, since they seem to be mostly enclosed with only a few feet of open space running along the the lower section. I thought maybe they were there to provide light to the great cabins, but now I'm not sure that's the case, since I checked out a video about the admiral's cabin and it seems there aren't a heck of a lot of windows in the place. I also thought maybe they were heads, but they seem to small to serve that purpose. Any insight is appreciated.