egkb

Just another small update that I had to do before moving further toward the bow.
I was still missing the bollards and other small items that would go directly in front of the bridge houses.
 

 
These are now also attached to the deck.
 

 
This had to be done so that I could install the companionways that lead to the main deck.
 

 
This means the inner area is almost complete.
 

 
And so the bridgehouse was glued in front of the steam pinnaces towards the stern. Otherwise, it would have been difficult to install the companionways behind the pinnaces.
 

 
Now I can start with the anchor area at the bow and have cut everything I need out of the boards.
 

 
 

After a short break, I’m continuing.
The lower bridge houses are finished weathering and can be put on the deck for a test run.
 

 
Now I have to think about the most logical way to proceed.
 

 
I think the rear bridge house is not glued to the deck yet.
 

 
Because directly behind it the steam pinasses come onto their cradles.
 

 
It’s probably better to have a little more room for my fat fingers.
 

 
For the armored control center, I lined the entrance with a profile. It was clearly too thin.
 

 
And there isn’t much space in front of the bridge houses up to the tower.
So I’ve already fitted the lower parts of the tower into their barbettes and made them move freely. They were practically impossible to move.
And I’ve also prepared the lower ladders that belong on the mast.
 
 

Another little mini-update to round off the weekend.
The only thing missing were the support poles for the awning, and then the base coat could be applied.
 
  The protruding details such as profiles, davits and the like are accentuated again with a light grey.     In combination with the preshading, this creates a fine first contrast
 
  Now I can start aging next week.  

Today, it was all about properly securing the masts to the deck. I’m always a little nervous before such important steps.
That’s why preparation is key to ensuring everything goes smoothly. That’s how I did this small plate that serves as a support for the stop angle.
 

 
By placing it on the bridge house, I can quickly check the angle of each side of the mast. This is important because the time window is very small. I use superglue with a long setting time, but it still has to be done quickly.
 

 
I won’t keep you in suspense, but it worked. I laid some more rope next to it and had a sailor check the ropes.
 

 
And everything went smoothly at the rear as well. Phew…
 

 
The deck amidships is slowly filling up.
 

 
Now I can continue working on the bridge houses.
 

 
 

Okay, let’s move on to the masts and pause for a moment with the bridge houses.
I noticed the really tight space in which the masts have to be installed.
Once the ladders leading from the bridge house to the deck are installed, there’s hardly any room left to properly secure and align the masts.
 

 
There’s even less space toward the stern.
That’s why I decided to attach the lower part of the masts in front of the bridgehouses. It’s nice that the lower mast is then split in two, so it won’t be a problem in terms of height.
 

 
I also noticed the very limited surface area where the mast connects to the deck. I consider this a problem. Especially since I’d like to take this model to one or two exhibitions. A little more adhesive surface would be helpful.
 
  So I decided to make it larger. This was done using an M4 washer. I drilled it out to the appropriate size and reduced its thickness. I then soldered it to the bottom of the mast.     Primed…     …and painted and placed in the holes on the deck for testing.     I quite like this so far. This should significantly increase the strength of the masts on deck and make aligning them at right angles easier.  

Hello together.
It’s fun to put your own stamp on a model that’s produced in large numbers. However, you should be aware that sometimes things won’t work out as you hoped. That’s what happened with the last construction phase.
Cost me a sleepless night, but first things first.
A new coat of primer was applied very thinly to check the profile height and build quality.
I quite liked it.
 

 
As I considered how to proceed with the bridgehouse, I encountered a problem. I have to say that building this ship is considerably more challenging than, for example, the Bismarck, with its rather simple, straightforward superstructure.
Everything on this old ship of the line is so delicate and intricate that you really have to think carefully about the order in which you assemble the model. The mast is another thing I’m racking my brains over, but that will come later.
Now back to the bridgehouse and the culprit that made my life difficult.
This one:
 

 
This is the external connection from the bridge house to the deck above. The supporting structure is once again extremely detailed by Pontos and simply beautiful to behold.
 
  The problem is that this outer bracket on the bridge house extends very low and could conflict with my profiles. So, to be on the safe side, I removed parts of it and rearranged them.
Believe me, that really bothered me. But I think I solved it quite well. Less is sometimes more.     It was a bit frustrating to remove the profiles at this point, but I wanted to play it safe. With such delicate structures, I felt it would be too risky to just keep going, only to find out at the end that it wouldn’t fit together.

A first coat of primer to check the profile height. Then I sanded it down further and adjusted it.
Now I’m satisfied.
 

 
The rain deflectors for the portholes are neatly lined up, and the door looks great. Pontos, in fact.
 

 
The height of the portholes on the front bridgehouse is completely wrong; they are positioned much too low. So, they were filled with styrene round material and re-marked.
 
  Drilled and better…     The grinding orgy continues. 😅

Once again, the details are sanded down, portholes drilled out, and holes filled in to replace and re-clad everything with beautiful brass.
First, the rear bridge house.
 

 
The gusset plates are too thick for me and will be replaced with 0.25 mm thick styrene.
 

 
And again on the deck.
 

 
Now the same with the bridge house on the bow side.
 

Thank you Jeff, yes I also really like the rivets, even though they are in 1:72 scale they work well.
 
I can report that the symbiosis of Pontos and Ka Models on the Funnel has been a success.
It did require a bit of trickery, but I think it looks impressive.
Let’s start on the port side.
 

 
I had to position the rings so that the second ring wouldn’t interfere with the gallery. Therefore, it was important to measure the ring spacing precisely.
 

 
Next came the task of threading the pipe into the gallery. The lower pipe clamp could only be attached after the pipe had already been installed on the funnel. A serious fiddly job.
 

 
Additionally, the rings were in the way of the tubes to the right and left of the center. As mentioned in the last post, they needed to be slightly padded. Otherwise, they wouldn’t fit over the rings.
 

 
It was not intended that the two accessory sets would be mixed together.
 

 
I did have some initial difficulties, but I think I got the most out of both sets. And the result feels very satisfying.
 

Let’s get to another mini-update today.
It cost me a lot of nerves and the whole weekend. But first things first.
I was once again spoiled for choice between Pontos and KA for the funnel surface.
Pontos offers riveted struts, KA rings that run around the funnel.
So, I once again rummaged through my archives of the original ship and looked at conflicting pictures. Of course, often of rather poor quality.
The deciding factor was once again the quite good picture from Vladivostok, which I believe shows rings.
 

 
And since it’s one of the last photos of the intact ship, I chose that one. I like it better anyway.
So first I cut the components out of the circuit boards.
 

 
And again, KA Model wins.
My enthusiasm was dampened slightly when attaching the rings. They were a little too big. That’s why they were touching on one side, leaving an unsightly gap on the other.
I took them off again, sanded them cleanly, and then primed them thoroughly. Another attempt with the blue BluTack putty. This allowed me to keep the rings centered.
 

 
It works. And since I’m using Mig’s acrylic adhesive, there’s no mess like with superglue. Diluted and applied with a fine brush, it flows wonderfully evenly into the gap thanks to capillary action.
Excess glue can then be easily removed with a brush.
 

 
Ring by ring it continues downwards.
 

 
It’s nice that I managed to solve it cleanly after all, since the funnels are in a rather prominent spot. So I set them up for a test. They look great with the rings.
 

Hello everyone.
The EME is behind me and the falcon is back in its home. Time to get back to work on my boat.
To warm up, I turned my attention to the two dinghies.
It was clear that I didn’t want to cover them completely. So I designed a little scene to get around that.
I made a tarpaulin out of tissue paper and diluted wood glue. It took me a few tries.
 

 
Then guys made to cover the boat.
 

 
Add the railing and rudder blades.
 

 
Nice extra income, I don’t have to tie down the cutter anymore.
 

 
And the first railing was also installed.
 

 
A few spots are still shiny, so I need to apply another coat of clear coat.
I’m pretty happy with the way it is, and now I can move on to the funnels.

I had to expand my dry dock again.
 

 
I know, it looks almost like a Mikasa in prison, but it’s necessary. Its creator is a bit of a clumsy person.
While handling it, I pressed my thumb on a gun barrel and it cracked. It wasn’t a big deal; I was able to carefully glue it back on.
But that’s why…
 

 
…more protection
Now I can continue working on the ship without worrying and don’t have to constantly worry about the guns sticking out of the sides.

Hello dear forum community.
Today I just want to share a small step.
The reason: Micro Master’s boats look absolutely fantastic when painted, and I don’t want to keep that from you.
So here are the two of them, piggybacking.
 

 
A nice duo.
 

 
When painted you can see all the fine details.
 

 
The extra expense was definitely worth it.
 

Thank you, Mike.
Yes, that's true. I had the Northstar figures for my Bismarck, which were already good. But the ION ones are even better.
 
A new little update.
Continuing with the preparations for the next internal structures.
The MK set also clearly wins the race for the chimney stacks over the Pontos set.
 

 
The brass sleeves look excellent. Here too, Pontos had no improvement to offer for the original component.
 

 
I’m amazed at how well the MK set is performing. The extra expense was definitely worth it for me.
 

 
The fourth cradle for the pinnace has also been adapted and installed.
 

 

 
And so the boat can take its place.
 

 
Which brings me to my next dilemma. Micro Master’s boats look so incredibly good that I’m considering leaving the boat cover off. 🤔
 
 

Hello Jeff.
That's how I always work on boats, always from the inside out. It served me well on the Bismarck, too.
I'll take a slightly different approach to the funnel rigging and use deck eyes on the boat deck. I don't know the technical term in English, but they look like this.
 

 
And by the way, your build report is my standard reference when building my Mikasa.😉
 
Let’s move on to the support structures that connect the boat deck and the internal superstructure.
I soldered these to ensure maximum strength for these delicate T-beams.
 

 
After testing it, everything seems to be fine.
 
  Only this connection needs to be slightly adjusted. It’s only provided by Pontos; it’s simply missing from the original kit, and it would create a large gap. Therefore, there’s no offset for it in the model, and the length of the component needs to be exactly right to ensure proper attachment.     New sailors have taken up their duties.     Get to work with them immediately.     Spread nicely on the deck.     Provisions have to go into the belly of the ship and the first sailors have to scrub the deck under the supervision of an officer.     A sailor climbs the ladder to search for the missing funnel.     Afterwards, I opened the dry dock again to see how it all looked through the gun ports.
I think it looks very lively.        

On to the next construction phase.
The plan is to breathe a little life into the deck in the form of a crew. And this is where the next 3D print comes into play. This time I’m using the figures from ION Model, which I won in a competition with my Bismarck.
After an initial inspection, the quality is excellent.
Then I started looking for photos showing IJN sailors in their uniforms, like the following image:
 

 
Wow, much easier to paint than the DKM guys.
I had a few leftover Kriegsmarine sailors and wanted to use them to save on figures. The first ones were supposed to go behind the gun ports, where they’re almost invisible.
So I shaved his head and punched out flat caps from styrene. A small dot of superglue on the top hair, and the Japanese sailor is complete.
 

 
Painted and ready to go on deck.
 

 
To the cannon sailors, ahrrrrg…
 

 
Fire free…
 

 
And so the lid can go on.
 

 
And the deck portside
 

 
Aged and found to be good
 

 
You don’t see much of the figures, but that’s how it’s supposed to be. The hint of the sailors at work below deck adds depth to the whole thing.
 

After a long break, I'm finally getting back to work.
Thanks to Jeff's tip, I've been thinking about the deck being too high and how to deal with it. I also created the remaining 12-pounders.
And since it's very monotonous, it took quite a while.
 

 
They stand beautifully in rows.
 

 
And again, Jeff, you're not annoying at all. I'm very grateful for your advice, as it helps me avoid such annoying mistakes. What would be the point of a model building forum if you couldn't build on the experiences of others?
And so I simply shortened the carriage of the eight guns that go below deck.
 

 
Let’s move on to the next conversion. Again, I liked the MK set better than the one from Pontos. Since I will be showing all the gun port covers open, I thought the rope shown was very nice.
What I changed are the hinges. Since they fold down when open, I simply replaced them with a narrow piece of profile.
 

 
This is what it looks like for me. I used a slightly lighter grey to accentuate it.
 

 
And attached to the gun ports.
These are the first external structures. Since it is inevitable that the gun barrels will stick out here, I wanted to have them attached already.
 

 
And so the eight 12 pounders could take their place.
 

 
A few boxes are still missing.
 

 
And so I am quite happy with the position of the guns.
 

 
Now they urgently need the protection of my sheet pile wall. After applying the clear varnish, I will screw it to the dry dock . I am curious to see if I will tear it down again before the construction is finished. 😵‍💫
 
 

Hello Jeff.
That's very kind of you. Respect that you bought an extra Pontos set for it. I just thought I was crazy enough to work with two sets. Nice to find a like-minded person here.
But I'm afraid that despite everything there wouldn't be enough coal hatches. There are 22 on the main deck and another 14 on the outer deck. So basically you can only have eight hatches. But that's not a bad thing because I still have plan B. There are still hatches from my KA set, but they are much smaller.
 

 
And since I followed your build report closely Jeff, I don't use the Pontos guns for the 3 pounders. I also have them as a 3D print from Micro Master.
 

 
And so I can use the bottom flange of the gun. In conjunction with the too small KA component, a formidable coal hatch is created.
 

 
I'm really happy with that. And by the way, I put the deck together loosely. Fits perfectly even before sanding and looks really great.
 

Thanks for the tip Jeff. 👍
Let's see how I implement this.
But first of all I built the 12 pounder. There are eight of these to build for this deck.  With 14 individual parts per gun.
 

 
First I solder the gun barrel. Just holds up better.
 

 
The rest is then attached with superglue. What a fumble. But as always with Pontos, fantastically detailed
 

 
Painted and aged, they look so good.
 

 
I have to make eight more of these for the upper deck, sweat.
 

Thank you very much for your participation.
 
@  Landlubber Mike
Mike, I'm sorry that I'm only answering now, but my head was full of other things and model building is only slowly getting going again for me.
Thank you for the compliment. Since I know that your model building skills are in no way inferior to mine, I am very excited to see what you will conjure up with the 1:700 kit. I hope you let us be part of it here.
 
@ Jeff59
That's right Jeff, our nice hobby lets you clear your head from the worries of everyday life. Especially if you get helpful ideas from users to make your model even better.
When I was testing the cannons, I asked myself what was wrong.
 

 
And you give me the solution now, Jeff.
The axis must move further forward and into the middle of the casemate.
 

 
 
Just made a spacer out of styrene.
 

 
And then the cannons could take their place.
 

 
That looks better....
 

 
They are now sitting nicely in the middle.
 

 
And the height is also right thanks to the spacers.
 

And off to the next etched part battle.
A lot of small boxes had to be bent and soldered. I also got a smaller bending aid, which makes such delicate things easier to handle.
 

 
The first error in Pontos’ sentence is also quickly identified. The component of the box that is supposed to be attached to the front superstructure is unfortunately faulty. It would result in a box whose dimensions would not fit into the recess in the wooden decks. I checked the Pontos set what felt like a hundred times but unfortunately without success.
That’s why the KA sentence saved my butt.
 

 
The slightly simpler lid was underlaid with cut-up etched part gratings and glued to the original component of the model
Then brought to its position for inspection.
 

 
Little by little, the internal structures and boxes are made and collected in my printed organizers to be aged afterwards.
 

 
I made a few improvements to the winches.
The large one did have a small cabinet included, I think a distribution box and the drive for the winch, but without any structure on the outside.
 

 
The little winch would even be complete without everything. 
However, I found out in another forum that it could well be the case that the small winch did not have an electric drive.
 

 
So I did a little handwork and gave the big winch hinges and a closer made of thin lead wire. The little one got an upright box that functions as a closet. I liked it better.
 

 
Still aging and with lead wire wrapped around the drum. I deliberately wrapped it layer by layer, not quite perfectly, to make it look more authentic.
 

 
Accomplished.
 

 
And so everything could get on deck.
 

 

 

Let’s move on to the internal structures and fans. The deck is slowly filling up.
 

 
One thing bothered me. Two box-shaped structures were squeezed between the two main houses.
 

 
Seems completely illogical to me and cannot be seen on many models, including those from museums. And that’s why I don’t use it, the corridor remains open.
 

 
Especially since a small platform can be seen on both deckhouses. Probably to get to the funnels.
That’s why I won’t install the boxes, but will attach a ladder and a railing here.
 

 
I further refined the superstructure that accommodates the rescue cutter.
 

 
The doors are from the MK1 set, the railings are from the model’s original etched parts set.
 

 
And the ladders come from the leftover box.
 

 
I’m starting to like it that way
 

I'm sorry to hear about your mother.  Seems like good news for the others including yourself.  I'm happy to see you back.

Then we want to follow our words with actions and continue building.
Let’s get to the internal structures.
All relatively simple, geometric structures. Neatly sanded and primed.
 

 
Added a few doors and hatches to make the monotonous surface more interesting.
However, I am entering into an area of historically unprovable assumptions. Only the pictures of the museum ship show the inner deck of the Mikasa. But that certainly doesn’t have much to do with the original ship.
So I allow myself some artistic freedom here, such as the railing, which is only placed here for customization. It is not documented historically. But it made sense to me, as you could get to the platform at the chimney via the gallery.
And a ladder should also be attached to the component, otherwise how would you get up to the front gallery!?
And that’s how this came about.
 

 
We continue with the first 32-foot rescue cutter. A dream detail.
However, there is a small problem with the cradles. They are usually not in the places where they come onto the superstructure. That’s why you can see an unsightly gap between the cradle and the cutter, see arrow.
 

 
Nothing that couldn’t be corrected with thin Styrene strips.
 

 
Now the boat is lying neatly in its cradles again.
 

 
And so the inner deck is slowly taking shape.
 

Thank you both for the kind words. 
Yes, I want to see that proper progress is being made on my craft table again.