Shimakaze by Landlubber Mike - FINISHED - Hasegawa - 1:350 - PLASTIC - Japanese WWII Destroyer

[Landlubber Mike]

Ho203, thanks for looking in.  And thanks for making me your first post on MSW, welcome!

 

I hear what you mean on the water based primers.  I would never try to sand Vallejo, that's for sure.  For models where I need to sand down things, I usually go with Mr. Surfacer or sometimes Tamiya (rattle cans).  Those are my base primers for car and plane models.  And then once the body or fuselage are done, I often use Vallejo primers and paints on top.  On my F3F builds with the aluminum bodies, after getting the bodies primed and prepped using Mr. Surfacer, I used Vallejo Gloss Black Primer before spraying their Metal Color line of paints and it worked perfectly.  For my 1/700 Hatsuzakura build, I just went with Vallejo as there was no need to sand primed areas.  For this 1/350 Shimakaze build, I used Tamiya primer (rust I think) for the lower hull.  I have Mr. Surfacer in black and will probably use that for the upper hull. 

 

For metal, I used the Mr. Surfacer for PE from the rattle can to spray down the PE frets for the railings on my 1/700 build (like you to pre-paint before installing them on the model), then used Vallejo after it.  Worked nicely.

 

For colors, I have a few of the IJN specific colors from Tamiya - Kure, Saisebo, Maizuru arsenals, etc.  I couldn't source them from Mr. Color so went with Tamiya.  I'll probably use them for the upper hull on the Shimakaze.

 

Vallejo takes a lot of grief, particular on their primers.  Funny thing, I was just on some FB groups last night and one had a very angry thread on Vallejo primers.  If you're not going to sand, I think Vallejo is perfectly fine.  I use Vallejo primers on most of the smaller detail items on my models without any issue.  Clean up is much easier and you have no smell issues as with Mr. Surfacer, Tamiya, etc.  That makes them very worth using in the right circumstances - i.e., when one doesn't have to sand.

 

Post your Shimakaze when you start working on it.  I've been focusing on a couple of plane models I have going at the moment, but otherwise have most of the deck structures completed.  I wanted to get as many of the deck items completed so I can paint in one big session.  With the linoleum deck on the Shimakaze, you can't just paint the whole ship in one pass unless you are ok with masking off the linoleum areas which I didn't really want to do.  

 

[Javlin]

On 3/19/2021 at 11:26 AM, Landlubber Mike said:

I finished the bridge and deck that comes off the front.  Lots of great little details in the Infini set for sure.  Even the underside of the deck, which one won't be able to see, had close to a dozen lattice support pieces.  One slight disappointment with the Infini set is that the brass column that supports the deck seems a bit too tall.  It's not a major piece, and it's quite possible I just test fit things incorrectly.  But overall, I would say the Infini set has been fantastic.  Aside from the issue I had with the ladders, the PE is firm, cut clean off the frets (the tabs connecting the parts to the fret have an indentation that allows the knife to get in and make clean cuts), and have great details.  The pictures in the instructions are well done too so you have a good sense of what you need to do.  Highly recommend the set if you are going to build this kit.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for looking in!

 

Mike be very careful when rigging on the stress you impart on those little arms coming off the SS I think 3/4 lines on each side one of mine came loose.

[Landlubber Mike]

Thanks for the warning Kevin, really appreciate it!  

 

Good timing on your post too - last few days I've been working on the model.  Ended up getting some additional a la carte upgrade pieces from Five Star and Alliance Model Works and ended up replacing the kit capstan and bollards with brass ones.  Looking a lot crisper now.  I'm just about to the stage to paint the hull.  It's a bit of a planning exercise to figure out how much to put on the model before painting the IJN gray, given that this ship has linoleum sections as well.  Want to put as much as I can now so I don't have to paint them separately and add them later, but want to be careful not to install parts at this stage that might get broken off later in my hands.

[Landlubber Mike]

It's been a while, but thought I should update the build log.  I've made slow and steady progress, and am just about at the point where I will paint the hull.  I'm mostly using the Infini upgrade set, but in some cases, the Hasegawa PE set offers details not in the Infini set or that seem a little better.  Took a while to sort out things out as to what I'm going to use, and the timing of when to use it (Hasegawa's instructions have you build things a bit differently, but maybe they aren't expecting one to paint, weather, etc.).  

 

I made a few modifications to the hull, adding aftermarket brass bollards, capstans, etc.  The kit ones weren't too bad, but I thought the brass items offered a little more definition and crispness.  I also noticed in the two build books that there was a small vent on the starboard side of the bow.  I managed to find an aftermarket set of extra vents from Black Cat that I added as well.

 

 

 

 

Also added some other PE details here and there that I aded to the hull.  I messed up the first set of Infini ladders, but found another Infini ladder set that gave me the replacements I needed.

 

 

I also added PE to a number of the deck structures.  I have a few other details to add to the bridge it looks like from the Hasegawa set.  I'll probably also replace the side vent on the bridge, which seem awfully squished, with the Black Cat vents.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have a few ladders and other add-ons to put on the hull, and then will paint.  I want to get as much done on the hull as possible to avoid having to glue on things later and address excess glue.  Of course that means I need to be a little more careful handling the hull, but I picked up a hull cradle that might give a little extra protection.

 

Thanks for looking in!

 

Edited October 10, 2022 by Landlubber Mike

[Landlubber Mike]

In case anyone is going to build the Shimakaze, I found some blueprints for the ship online:

 

 

[CDW]

Great find - I have one to build!

[lmagna]

57 minutes ago, CDW said:

I have one to build!

Is there ANYTHING missing from your in house hobby shop Craig? (Some people call it a stash) 

[Landlubber Mike]

1 hour ago, CDW said:

Great find - I have one to build!

 

Do you have the Hasegawa kit or one of the others (Fujimi might make one).  Infini makes very detailed sets for all of them.  

 

If you have the Hasegawa set, did you get the lineoleum deck stickers add-on?  I haven't decided whether to go with them or not.  They have the brass floor bars already painted on.  Infini has you sand off the kit bars, and attach PE bars.  Seems like a ton of work, and tricky to get right when it comes to gluing them on (before painting?  after painting?).  I thought the brass bars might be raised a bit too high and out of scale, but the bars are actually fairly prominent:

 

[Old Collingwood]

6 hours ago, lmagna said:

Is there ANYTHING missing from your in house hobby shop Craig? (Some people call it a stash) 

I call them  shops.

 

OC.

[Landlubber Mike]

For us working stiffs in the US, hope everyone is having a nice Labor Day!

 

Thought I was at the point where I could update the log.  Slow and steady progress here.  Got the hull and deck items primed and painted.  I used Mr. Surfacer 1500 (black) from a rattle can as primer, and then sprayed a coat of Tamiya XF-87 IJN Grey - Maizuru arsenal.  I have to say, while when first starting out I enjoyed the simplicity of using Vallejo paints, I'm now just about converted over to Tamiya and Mr. Color.  The finish just seems to be nicer, and the spray is more uniform.  Plus, Vallejo tends to gum up my airbrush which is annoying, so small price to pay in using thinners to clean out Tamiya from the airbrush which leaves it fresh.

 

 

 

 

Not a great picture, but here you can see where I replaced the kit molded-in vent on the starboard side with a better looking one from Black Cat:

 

 

 

I'm still trying to decide whether to attempt oil canning effects. It looks really cool, but I'm wondering how much of that effect will be noticeable if in a diorama setting.  I may just try it to get experience with it.  Looks like a lot of tape to paint the vertical and horizontal lines, but I'm not exactly clear on the technique.

 

The linoleum deck pieces come in molded brown plastic.  The Infini upgrade set has you scrape off the molded brass bars, and replace them with actual brass bars.  For this kit, Hasegawa sells a linoleum deck sticker that you attach onto the kit parts after scraping off the molded bars.  Since I had the sticker upgrade, I went ahead and used it.  It's very crisp looking, and fit like a charm.  My guess is that I can add a clear coat to it, and then weather it.

 

 

I've also done some work on the funnels.  Infini gives you quite a a lot to dress them up, from the rings around the funnels to the ladders leading up them. I'm planning to paint them with the white stripes, which is requiring a lot of planning and steps to get it right.  They are halfway done so hopefully I'll have a decent result to show soon.  In the meantime, here is a picture of the funnel tops dressed up in the Infini PE.  I've said it before, but Infini did a really nice job with this set.

 

 

Finally, here are two of the 12.7cm main gun turrets dressed up with the Infini upgrades, shown against the kit part.  Quite a lot of extra detail for sure!  Next to stairways, which I think I've figured out. railings like this are my nemesis as you have super tiny glue anchor points.  The trickiest part for me was to figure out how to glue the top rail, which comes in one piece and extends around the full top, coming down to the front and curving around.  Lots of movement had to be worked in, and it's hard dealing with a long PE strip like that.  For me, it was easiest to start by gluing the middle of the strip to the back side of the turret, then slowly working each side around.  Once the PE is anchored, it was easier to glue the sides down.  Even then, gluing the top rail probably involved close to an hour of work on each.  In total, there were 13 PE parts per turret, and took me the better part of the weekend to complete.  I also made the mistake on the first of sanding off two ridges on the sides, which I thought were the kit's attempts at railings, but turned out they weren't.  🤬  All wasn't lost as I ended up gluing some 0.2mm wire to replace what I sanded off, and they looks like the original thing.  All in all, a lot of work and I'm pretty happy how these came out.

 

 

I still have to do the actual guns part.  Infini has you remove the guns from the kit part and replace them with nice brass guns.  Haven't decided whether to completely assemble the guns, paint gray, and later come through and paint the blast bags white, or paint the turrets and the guns separately, then assemble.  I find it can be tricky painting white over very dark surfaces, which makes me lean towards painting them separately then assemble them.

 

Thanks for looking in!

Edited September 6, 2021 by Landlubber Mike

[RGL]

Nice work mate 

[Old Collingwood]

I agree with Greg  - really fine work.

 

OC.

[CDW]

Everything looks brilliant. You are really doing this ship some justice, Mike. Love seeing your updates.

[Landlubber Mike]

Quick update on the log.  I finished the three main gun turrets, and started work on the Type 0 quintuple torpedo launchers.  A lot of the detail on the kit parts is scraped off and replaced with PE, which adds a little more definition to the parts.  I would say that the railings and ladders are the biggest improvements, but otherwise, the kit parts are fairly nice:

 

 

There are three of these to build, then a whole bunch of AA guns, ammo boxes, etc.  These destroyers really packed a lot on their decks.  

 

Thanks for looking in!

[lmagna]

12 hours ago, Landlubber Mike said:

These destroyers really packed a lot on their decks.  

AT almost 41 Knots they were fast as well! Nice progress Mike.

[Landlubber Mike]

Thanks Lou!

 

Yeah the Shimakaze used a newer form of boiler that exceeded the expected speed of 39 knots.  For comparison, the IJN Yukikaze, which was commissioned about two and a half years earlier, had a speed of 35 knots.  So, this was certainly significantly faster, even with the added length to accommodate a third quintuple torpedo launcher.

[lmagna]

 

 

 

The added length also was one of the factors that allowed for the extra speed. In virtually all cases the Japanese destroyers were faster than their American counterparts, but in the case of the Shimakaze, she was possibly the fastest Destroyer in the world at the time. And the most heavily armed, at least in torpedoes. Luckily for the allies I suppose there was only the one built. It is interesting that with all of her firepower, (Read Torpedoes) and speed she was mostly relegated to convoy type duties and never really used in line of battle type engagements like so many of her slower, more lightly armed sisters that caused so many losses to Allied cruisers with their Long Lance torpedoes. 

Edited September 14, 2021 by lmagna

[Landlubber Mike]

I ended up finishing the three quintuple torpedo launchers this weekend.  Only 36 pieces of PE per launcher 😳  All in all I think they came out ok.  

 

 

Since I'm planning on doing a diorama setting, I decided to make a few modifications.  First, I opened the hatch on one of the turrets: 

 

 

Second, I had found an aftermarket set of torpedo launcher covers, and decided to add them to the launchers as they had a little more definition than the kit plastic, and I was able to model one of the covers open:

 

 

 

Next I worked on the twin 25mm AA gun.  There is only one of these, and Infini has you build it completely from PE.  This time only 18 pieces.  I couldn't get a decent macro photo on my phone, but hopefully this gives an idea.  I'm really impressed by what companies like Infini can do with brass.  There's so much detail it's pretty amazing.

 

 

 

Thanks for looking in!

Edited September 20, 2021 by Landlubber Mike

[popeye the sailor]

hello Mike.......I see you've made some mighty fine progress!    paint really makes what you've dons so far stand out nicely........the launchers came out especially well!  

[Landlubber Mike]

Slow and steady progress on this.  I finally have all the guns completed.  Here is the sole twin AA gun, along with the four triple AA guns.  These AA guns probably had close to a dozen PE pieces each.  These pictures are under extreme magnification, but the detail is pretty amazing.  The barrels especially have little ridges and and inset where the barrel opening is.

 

 

 

 

Also finished the 14 single AA guns.  Only 8 pieces on these, but they took quite some time:

 

 

 

I'm trying to replicate oil canning effects on the hull sides, which so far isn't looking too bad, just need to clean up a few areas.  Once that's in good shape, I will add the linoleum decks and structures to the hull, and then these various details.  Famous last words, but it should come together fairly quickly now that a lot of these details are finished.  One could probably finish this kit in a week or two if building straight from the box.  With the Infini detail set, the time is multiplied probably by at least a factor of ten I would conservatively estimate.

 

Edited December 20, 2021 by Landlubber Mike

[popeye the sailor]

very nice Mike........those guns look great!    

[CDW]

Looks awesome Mike! You are doing a splendid job on a difficult project.

[Canute]

Mike, the AAA builds are exquisite. Nicely done.

[Landlubber Mike]

I managed to finish what I think should be all the sub-assemblies i wanted to build off the model.  Lots of details with the Infini upgrade set.  The Hasegawa kit is actually really well done, but Infini really kicks it up a couple of levels with their detail set.  I primed them all in black using Mr. Finisher 1500 from the airbrush (thanks @CDW for the recommendation!), and should be able to paint and start assembling later this week.  Should come together fairly quickly after these are painted.  

 

Here are some pics:

 

Masts (using blue-tack).  I find blue-tack on a small item like a plastic shot glass help keep the part stable while adding PE to it):

 

 

Single AA guns and some kind of tower:

 

 

Davits and random plastic pieces that will be added to the model.  Infini did a really nice job on the davits, giving turned brass pedestals that the PE tops pop right into for the smaller davits:

 

 

Double and triple AA guns, along with 29 ammo boxes (using painters tape because these items had flat bottoms and the painter's tape has just enough adhesion to keep these parts secure while airbrushing):

 

 

The big guns - here you can see how I use toothpicks to serve as little stands for the guns for ease of painting.  For the guns, I drilled a small hole in the bottom and stuck a toothpick into it.  This helps to reach the entire gun in one painting session, and the hole the bottom won't be seen.  For the other piece in the pictures, which is the back part of the main funnel, I just used CA to glue a toothpick into the bottom (again, that won't be seen).  

 

 

 

Just thought I'd pass along some techniques that I've found to be helpful.  Thanks for looking in!

[king derelict]

The masts look terrific. Good ideas with the toothpicks. I struggle to find good ways to secure parts for painting and I hate picking blue tack residue off the parts.

Thanks

Alan

Alan

[CDW]

Looks great. I know you must be glad to get all that tedious work out of the way.

[lmagna]

4 hours ago, Landlubber Mike said:

I find blue-tack on a small item like a plastic shot glass help keep the part stable while adding PE to it):

Dozen' t that make it hard to keep the Bourbon in the glass that is so needed when working with Infiniti PE? Great work.  

[Landlubber Mike]

Thanks guys!  And Craig, yes, that was a lot of work!  The 29 ammo containers took a surprising amount of time.  It was tricky to get the folds perfect, so I found myself first trying to bend them into shape, then applying CA while using tweezers to get the corners tighter.  Invariably there were gaps, so then there was another round of applying medium CA to fill gaps.  Many hours of work!  They do look a tad nicer than the kit ones, so not all was lost.  I bought some resin ones to try out on my next builds.

 

 

 

[Landlubber Mike]

4 minutes ago, lmagna said:

Dozen' t that make it hard to keep the Bourbon in the glass that is so needed when working with Infiniti PE? Great work.  

Eh, Lou, I find it just easier to take swigs from the bottle.  Thanks for the nice words!

[CDW]

Just now, lmagna said:

Dozen' t that make it hard to keep the Bourbon in the glass that is so needed when working with Infiniti PE? Great work.  

No no no...don't keep it in the glass. Chug-a-lug.