Tigerdvr

Quiet tonight after 2 days of major quakes. Got some work done.
I worked on the main mast top:

Things started nice and mellow, then went bananas with some very intricate stuff, including some nightmarish radar things.  These are some of the parts:

What the hell is a caduceus doing here?! Goes at the very top. Some kind of RF receiving stuff? 
When I did the Mikasa, I left all the faux PE rigging unpainted and it kinda bugged me.  This time, I painted the "cable" parts.  I like how it looks.  Again, very very touchy stuff. Was glad to get it finished! I don't even know how I'm going to get it on top of the mast without knocking parts off.  Hope you guys like it.

I also did the ship bells.

 
 

Here's a good example also.   He's using a "what if" and it's turning out quite well.
 

I'm watching this one, if only to see how one of thoes old "classic" Hasegewa box kits builds up.
 
IJN ships all have a unique look, from lighters all the way to capital ships.  IJN did not put a lot of effort into complying with the various Washington Naval Treaties, and designed their ships for operating over Pacific-sized distances.  By some comparisons, they are a tad under-gunned.  But those Long Lance torpedoes more than made up fro that deficit. 

This is synopsis of steps bringing the Alaska project to a finish.
Small parts, both plastic and PE abound

Black fine E Z Line was attached to a small plastic rod and inserted into the flag bags then run to the
yardarms to simulate the halyards

PE work from the kit, Infini,  & White Ensign was time consuming but worth the effort.

Storage rack for the  cranes
Alaska was heavily armed with a main battery of nine 12" guns, secondary battery of 12 5" DP guns and an extensive array
of 20mm Orlikon single mounts and 40mm Bofors quads. Her main mission was AA cover for the carrier groups. The main
and secondary batteries have brass barrels by B&D. The blast bags were formed with Tamiya putty. The 5" mounts did not have
blast shields as shown in the instructions. The sliding hatches on the main battery turrets were relieved as shown closed.


My aviation background wouldn't let me finish the Curtiss Seahawks with such gross shaped wings & tail
surfaces so they were reshaped and various colors tried to get an acceptable shade of blue.
Radio masts are tiny
More test fitting, priming, and painting to get ready for final assembly

Assembly, main deck rails, and touch up for the completion of USS Alaska CB-1
 
Next time, Harley
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

This is synopsis of steps bringing the Alaska project to a finish.
Small parts, both plastic and PE abound

Black fine E Z Line was attached to a small plastic rod and inserted into the flag bags then run to the
yardarms to simulate the halyards

PE work from the kit, Infini,  & White Ensign was time consuming but worth the effort.

Storage rack for the  cranes
Alaska was heavily armed with a main battery of nine 12" guns, secondary battery of 12 5" DP guns and an extensive array
of 20mm Orlikon single mounts and 40mm Bofors quads. Her main mission was AA cover for the carrier groups. The main
and secondary batteries have brass barrels by B&D. The blast bags were formed with Tamiya putty. The 5" mounts did not have
blast shields as shown in the instructions. The sliding hatches on the main battery turrets were relieved as shown closed.


My aviation background wouldn't let me finish the Curtiss Seahawks with such gross shaped wings & tail
surfaces so they were reshaped and various colors tried to get an acceptable shade of blue.
Radio masts are tiny
More test fitting, priming, and painting to get ready for final assembly

Assembly, main deck rails, and touch up for the completion of USS Alaska CB-1
 
Next time, Harley
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

This is synopsis of steps bringing the Alaska project to a finish.
Small parts, both plastic and PE abound

Black fine E Z Line was attached to a small plastic rod and inserted into the flag bags then run to the
yardarms to simulate the halyards

PE work from the kit, Infini,  & White Ensign was time consuming but worth the effort.

Storage rack for the  cranes
Alaska was heavily armed with a main battery of nine 12" guns, secondary battery of 12 5" DP guns and an extensive array
of 20mm Orlikon single mounts and 40mm Bofors quads. Her main mission was AA cover for the carrier groups. The main
and secondary batteries have brass barrels by B&D. The blast bags were formed with Tamiya putty. The 5" mounts did not have
blast shields as shown in the instructions. The sliding hatches on the main battery turrets were relieved as shown closed.


My aviation background wouldn't let me finish the Curtiss Seahawks with such gross shaped wings & tail
surfaces so they were reshaped and various colors tried to get an acceptable shade of blue.
Radio masts are tiny
More test fitting, priming, and painting to get ready for final assembly

Assembly, main deck rails, and touch up for the completion of USS Alaska CB-1
 
Next time, Harley
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

This is synopsis of steps bringing the Alaska project to a finish.
Small parts, both plastic and PE abound

Black fine E Z Line was attached to a small plastic rod and inserted into the flag bags then run to the
yardarms to simulate the halyards

PE work from the kit, Infini,  & White Ensign was time consuming but worth the effort.

Storage rack for the  cranes
Alaska was heavily armed with a main battery of nine 12" guns, secondary battery of 12 5" DP guns and an extensive array
of 20mm Orlikon single mounts and 40mm Bofors quads. Her main mission was AA cover for the carrier groups. The main
and secondary batteries have brass barrels by B&D. The blast bags were formed with Tamiya putty. The 5" mounts did not have
blast shields as shown in the instructions. The sliding hatches on the main battery turrets were relieved as shown closed.


My aviation background wouldn't let me finish the Curtiss Seahawks with such gross shaped wings & tail
surfaces so they were reshaped and various colors tried to get an acceptable shade of blue.
Radio masts are tiny
More test fitting, priming, and painting to get ready for final assembly

Assembly, main deck rails, and touch up for the completion of USS Alaska CB-1
 
Next time, Harley
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Multiple sub-structures being built:
I have found myself working on a multitude of different structures simultaneously. All this was leading up to a point where I could prime as many sub-assemblies as possible at one time.
A word about PE. I used the Small Shop bending tool for most PE applications. Small strips of plastic were inserted to strengthen some of the joints like the catapults and the cranes. Gator Grip Thin is used for initial PE bonding followed by some spot welding with CA for strength.
As the various structures were assembled, all were checked carefully for fit, seams, and any surfaces in need of attention. Tamiya Putty and Mercury Adhesives Thick were used where patching was called for. I used Mercury Adhesives CA in various strengths throughout this project. The Tamiya Putty is pretty foul smelling to me but works well.
 
Folks, I apologize for this hodge podge of pictures, the preview showed all ok.
Alaska will be better than the log. I think I will just finish the model without having log headaches and, hopefully, be able to display a creditable model. 
 
 
Funnel interior PE                                                              More PE
                
 
There about 70 pieces to the completed funnel                                      Mandrel and soft clay to curve SG & Mk22 radar screens                 
      Early paint stage
       
           More Later- - -

The Plan—
It’s important to plan ahead to avoid conflicts and problems as construction progresses.
Questions to be resolved:
Degree of attainable accuracy, I consulted the kit instructions, Ashey’s book, and the Warship Pictorial #43. A lot of computer research time is being logged.
Materials available, this dealt mostly with a choice of kit vs aftermarket/PE such as main battery barrels, plastic or brass.
My current skill level, I have practiced PE on some 1/200 40mm Bofors quads by Veterans. I also did a practice build on a 1/700 Iowa to get up to speed on plastic adhesives, procedures, etc. The airbrush got some work. The paint job will be pretty clean. Oil canning and weathering hopefully on the next build. The kit supplied 40mm quads (14) and 20mm Orlikons (34) are reasonable so will be used. PE Orlikons are a real challenge to fold.
The superstructure will be constructed as separate mini projects.
The plan calls for working from the centerline out. Two major considerations for that are the paint scheme and fragile PE pieces and railings. Because most of the horizontal surfaces are blue and the vertical surfaces are gray, I feel it would be easier to paint most of the horizontal surfaces first and mask those surfaces when the gray is sprayed. I will prime all with Vallejo white surface primer. Both Vallejo and Model Masters acrylics are in the paint locker.
Thanks to CapnMac82 for his paint color comments on RGL’s Fletcher DD. That will help on Alaska’s paint scheme.
 
Painted deck
glued to hull,
brass capstans are wrong,
the bigger ones should be inboard, fixed.                                Deck masked for first gray paint on gun tubs etc.

 
Forward superstructure building up. Hanger doors are     PE vents, ladders, etc. being added
Evergreen .5mm V-Groove & .3mm half round

Clay used to brace PE support while glue dries                 Forward mast (Infini) building up

More next time, edit because the post fell apart!!

Very well done, one of the best Syren builds that I can recall. Your rope work is exemplary and the photography and log are certainly top notch. 
Thanks for sharing with us mere mortals.
 
Cheers, Harley

As previously mentioned, I am now working on the Officers Quarters, starting with the Battery compartment, underneath.
 
The Trumpeter approach is somewhat simplistic, once again: 

The amounts of batteries does not match what was installed in the original boat. As you may recall, this section includes batteries but also ammunition, waste water tanks and fresh water tanks.
 
Here is a cutout drawing of the compartment, looking towards the bow: 
- To the left is a fuel tank, included inside the pressure hull.
- In the middle, the ammunition magazine and the waste/fresh water tanks.
- To the right, another fuel tank, slightly smaller but still located inside the pressure hull. The Port tank is bigger because they used the space under the officers' beds to increase its size. On the starboard side, there was the radio and sonar rooms.
You will notice that the bulkheads are also cut to represent the outside saddle tank ballasts. Of course, the Trumpeter kit totally ignores this aspect, even though it is clearly visible from the outside. So, we have to open some cuts, at least on the starboard: 

Matching cuts will have to be done on the other bulkhead, in the control room (left on the picture).
 
I have decided to improve on the Trumpeter implementation and make that compartment a little bit more interesting and descriptive. Therefore, we are starting from this: 

And adding the representation of the fuel tanks, on both sides. To allow a peek into the battery room and ammunition magazine, it is necessary to "wave" the starboard tank wall:  

It is starting to come together: 

and with the waste tanks and fresh water tank as well as the magazine: 


I started designing and cutting some parts to close some of the pressure hull and represent the Fuel tank: 

But I realized that I had some spare parts and decided instead to use the ceiling of that same compartment to represent my external pressure hull section. After cutting it to size, this is what we have: 

It is a lot more prototypical than whatever I could have done and come with the internal ribs of the pressure hull. Once painted, the result is not too bad: 

All the batteries (3 rows) in this compartment have been painted. I will need to dry brush them to represent some connections and the sulfate on the connections. The fourth row of batteries will not be represented for the reason that you will see later....(surprise).

Note that I have exhausted almost all the batteries included in the kit. It is a good thing, I have another set for the rear compartment.
 
Yves
 
 
 
 
 
 

This is synopsis of steps bringing the Alaska project to a finish.
Small parts, both plastic and PE abound

Black fine E Z Line was attached to a small plastic rod and inserted into the flag bags then run to the
yardarms to simulate the halyards

PE work from the kit, Infini,  & White Ensign was time consuming but worth the effort.

Storage rack for the  cranes
Alaska was heavily armed with a main battery of nine 12" guns, secondary battery of 12 5" DP guns and an extensive array
of 20mm Orlikon single mounts and 40mm Bofors quads. Her main mission was AA cover for the carrier groups. The main
and secondary batteries have brass barrels by B&D. The blast bags were formed with Tamiya putty. The 5" mounts did not have
blast shields as shown in the instructions. The sliding hatches on the main battery turrets were relieved as shown closed.


My aviation background wouldn't let me finish the Curtiss Seahawks with such gross shaped wings & tail
surfaces so they were reshaped and various colors tried to get an acceptable shade of blue.
Radio masts are tiny
More test fitting, priming, and painting to get ready for final assembly

Assembly, main deck rails, and touch up for the completion of USS Alaska CB-1
 
Next time, Harley
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

This is synopsis of steps bringing the Alaska project to a finish.
Small parts, both plastic and PE abound

Black fine E Z Line was attached to a small plastic rod and inserted into the flag bags then run to the
yardarms to simulate the halyards

PE work from the kit, Infini,  & White Ensign was time consuming but worth the effort.

Storage rack for the  cranes
Alaska was heavily armed with a main battery of nine 12" guns, secondary battery of 12 5" DP guns and an extensive array
of 20mm Orlikon single mounts and 40mm Bofors quads. Her main mission was AA cover for the carrier groups. The main
and secondary batteries have brass barrels by B&D. The blast bags were formed with Tamiya putty. The 5" mounts did not have
blast shields as shown in the instructions. The sliding hatches on the main battery turrets were relieved as shown closed.


My aviation background wouldn't let me finish the Curtiss Seahawks with such gross shaped wings & tail
surfaces so they were reshaped and various colors tried to get an acceptable shade of blue.
Radio masts are tiny
More test fitting, priming, and painting to get ready for final assembly

Assembly, main deck rails, and touch up for the completion of USS Alaska CB-1
 
Next time, Harley
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

This is synopsis of steps bringing the Alaska project to a finish.
Small parts, both plastic and PE abound

Black fine E Z Line was attached to a small plastic rod and inserted into the flag bags then run to the
yardarms to simulate the halyards

PE work from the kit, Infini,  & White Ensign was time consuming but worth the effort.

Storage rack for the  cranes
Alaska was heavily armed with a main battery of nine 12" guns, secondary battery of 12 5" DP guns and an extensive array
of 20mm Orlikon single mounts and 40mm Bofors quads. Her main mission was AA cover for the carrier groups. The main
and secondary batteries have brass barrels by B&D. The blast bags were formed with Tamiya putty. The 5" mounts did not have
blast shields as shown in the instructions. The sliding hatches on the main battery turrets were relieved as shown closed.


My aviation background wouldn't let me finish the Curtiss Seahawks with such gross shaped wings & tail
surfaces so they were reshaped and various colors tried to get an acceptable shade of blue.
Radio masts are tiny
More test fitting, priming, and painting to get ready for final assembly

Assembly, main deck rails, and touch up for the completion of USS Alaska CB-1
 
Next time, Harley
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Well, I finished the model. Not sure how to add "finished" to the title yet though....lol.
Thanks for everyone who followed along and/or pushed the "like" button. It's been a absolute pleasure building this beautiful ship.
I put a few extra photo's in for the final post.

In my 24 years of it, I met more than a few who had never seen a rock whitewashed enough, yey needed close supervision so as the choose to correct Metro train to take them toe the Puzzle Palace.  Such is life.
 
In or quest to make scale miniatures of reality, we can sometime get to a point of following prototype the the point that lay person uncomfortably smile and say "That's nice." 
 
Some folks just don't grok that signalman platforms were often covered in chestnut-colored linoleum, or that wood decks in WWII were not "holystoned" but given a camouflage color(s).  If you expect to see a ship that is all gray, seeing one that is part bluse, and seveal grays, and the barrels and gun houses have different colors, tops and sides can make them pause.
 
We in the modeling community can be guilty of a similar thing.  Really, 20mm ought to have blobby canvas covers on them, and not need 57 PE and resin parts.  But, making that look "right" is ever so difficult.  We drill out gun muzzles, even though everything from 3" and up got a tompion.
 
But, unless on a commission build, we are building for ourselves, so, thus, to our ownselves we should be true.

Nice work on the boats, enjoying your log, thanks for sharing.
Regarding your comment on lack of labeling on photo etch, I just received a photo etch fittings set for
Fletcher class destroyers from Gold Medal Models. They label what each part is on the fret plus labeling for the round or square bridge Fletcher.
Pretty handy. Their instructions are quite good also.
 
Best, Harley

A lot of us are using acrylic paints in our modeling. I felt we needed a central location where our various tips and techniques could go, instead of being buried in one of our build logs.
 
One area I see time and again is the proper thinning for airbrushing. Coming from a model railroad and aircraft background, I've seen a few different ways to deal with this. I can't reproduce this pamphlet on our site, but you can get it here.   It doesn't cost you anything to log onto the site, but you do need to log in. Sorry about that.
https://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/subscribers-only/painting/acrylics
 
The whole pamphlet is excellent, but chapters 3 Mixing and Storage & 4 Formulas for Thinners apply here. They address Modelmaster, Badger and Vallejo paints. Like a lot of hobbyists, model railroaders were put out by Testor's when they dropped the Floquil/PollyScale lines. This pamphlet was done to help folks move into acrylics. And many have adopted the Badger and Vallejo paints. Hence the extensive charts for converting the old paints into these newer acrylics. I'd like to see more on the Tamiya paint, since the big box craft stores seem to stock them around here.
 
I've been on another site that also addresses home made thinners, but parts of that site are undergoing renovation and I can't find the appropriate page to link to. More to come. And please add to these tips and techniques.

The technique I have found most valuable when brushing with acrylics is the use of a "wet palette".
I came across this method when I was painting Warhammer figures, it is great for mixing colours and/or thinning paints.
 
All you need can be found in the kitchen; 
a waterproof base - a plastic margarine tub lid is ideal,
a sheet or two of kitchen roll/paper,
a piece of greaseproof/ baking paper
and some water.
 
Fold up the kitchen roll so its 4 layers thick, place in the base and flood with water. Pour off the excess water and place the greaseproof paper on top.
Put a dollop of the required paint/s on the paper and mix/thin to your hearts content. The paint will stay wet far, far longer than it would on an ordinary palette.
It works well with Humbrol, Tamiya, Citadel and Artists type acrylics. I haven't tried it with other manufacturers paints but I can see no reason why it would not work with any acrylics.
 

 
 
Another acrylic tip, or rather non-acrylic tip, is that for washes and drybrushing, don't use acrylics.
I have had much better results with artists Oil paints thinned with white spirit. As they take longer to dry than acrylics they are much more controllable and subtle, giving little or no "tide mark" when the wash dries.
 
Cheers
Paul

Hand brushing is a good alternative, quite satisfying as well!
I have only basic painting skills and do not want to use an airbrush. I have had excellent results with hand brushing using Valejo colours following these rules:
1. Use very good brushes, with appropriate width for the job
2. Thin the paint (should be runny but not like water), avoid heavy coats.
3. For Valejo, use the hand brushing thinner, different and better than the air brush thinner. It congeals if left so must have resin in it (this is what valejo claims so not easily reproduced at home). Get the 60 ml bottle, it is not expensive.
4. Use a bit of retarder.
5. Start from dry and end on wet. Take your time, you can go over the area 2-3 times. Avoid puddles at the edges.
6. Trust the paint! Do not go over again to "correct" or smooth out brush marks. They will disappear. You ll probably need a dozen or more coats either way.
7. Best to seal the wood, I use a water based wood sealer sanded to 400 grit
8. I use plastic pots with caps that seal pretty well and are cheap. The paint stays wet for months.
9. Use only frog tape or Tamiya tape or equivalent. The paint will bleed under ordinary masking tape or electricians tape.
10. Acrylic paint is not tough so needs to be protected with varnish or some topcoat
 
Hopefully these will be of help to some. May not work for all but I was able to paint my 80 cm hull with almost no brush marks.
 
Vaddoc

Nice work on the boats, enjoying your log, thanks for sharing.
Regarding your comment on lack of labeling on photo etch, I just received a photo etch fittings set for
Fletcher class destroyers from Gold Medal Models. They label what each part is on the fret plus labeling for the round or square bridge Fletcher.
Pretty handy. Their instructions are quite good also.
 
Best, Harley

Thanks for looking!  Yep, the dreaded "tink" when something you're holding in your precision tweezers decides to go on a one way trip, never to be seen again.  Really ticks me off, although I'm pretty proud of myself this time around because I've only lost a couple of parts. The only consolation is they are sooooooo small, that never in a million years would anyone notice....unless they were VERY familiar with the set!  My eyes are going too. I have every kind of reading glasses and headlamps and magnifications. BUT... I can still see! I'm pretty set on using a +4 pair of glasses, but I do have to bump it up to +6 on super tiny impossible stuff.  I even have some +8! But I feel like puking when I put those on haha.  🤢

Fellow photo etch addicts, "There is a limit to (this) insanity", as Yves said, should be our official moto.😵

Nice work on the boats, enjoying your log, thanks for sharing.
Regarding your comment on lack of labeling on photo etch, I just received a photo etch fittings set for
Fletcher class destroyers from Gold Medal Models. They label what each part is on the fret plus labeling for the round or square bridge Fletcher.
Pretty handy. Their instructions are quite good also.
 
Best, Harley

Nice work on the boats, enjoying your log, thanks for sharing.
Regarding your comment on lack of labeling on photo etch, I just received a photo etch fittings set for
Fletcher class destroyers from Gold Medal Models. They label what each part is on the fret plus labeling for the round or square bridge Fletcher.
Pretty handy. Their instructions are quite good also.
 
Best, Harley