IJN Hatsuzakura by Landlubber Mike - FINISHED - Pit Road - 1/700 - PLASTIC - with FiveStar PE

[CDW]

Excellent work Mike! If it was me, I would clear coat before the rigging.

[Egilman]

42 minutes ago, Landlubber Mike said:

should I first clear coat and then rig the ship?

I agree with Craig, coat first in very light coats, and rig after it's all cured and fully dry.....

[Landlubber Mike]

Thanks guys - that’s what I was thinking  when it came to the rigging.  Seems the safer course.

 

Really appreciate all the kind words and encouragement.  I’ve learned a ton on this build.  The early portions like the bridge are rough in some places, but overall I like how it came out and will do better on the next one.  Got to practice with PE, tried using a filter coat, played with weathering enamels, etc.  I thought a destroyer would be a fairly simple subject to cut my teeth on, but man, there were a ton of nice details in the Five Star upgrade package.

 

I should have mentioned a couple of small details I added.  The life rings are pre-painted PE from Eduard - how cool is that!  Easy to install.  Also on the starboard side there is a rack along the rear deck structure.  Looks like racks like that held wood for repairs, so I cut little splinters of some leftover tanganyika from my Badger build, wiped them in wipe on poly to bring the wood a little life, then glued them down.  Nice little touch I think. 
 

If the model came out ok, I was thinking about waiting to put it in a waterline diorama setting until I had a few more of these, but I might put it on a base sooner rather than later.  I’m pretty happy with it so I think the waterline is a go and will look into how to do it at this scale.  The slightest bumps and touches bend pieces so having it on a base should give it a little more protection.

 

Last week I dusted off the 1/350 Shimakaze and started working on it.  After working in 1/700, the tiniest of the 1/350 is no sweat.  Looking forward  to bringing that one to life, but will probably add another 1/700 build as a side build.  I might have added a few 1/700 kits to the stash 🤪

[jwvolz]

My eyes are crossing just looking at that Mike. Nice job!

[lmagna]

2 hours ago, Landlubber Mike said:

I might have added a few 1/700 kits to the stash 🤪

Your funeral Mike Looking forward to watching you suffer.

[Landlubber Mike]

25 minutes ago, lmagna said:

Your funeral Mike Looking forward to watching you suffer.

 

Ha!  You know what's funny?  I actually enjoyed this build a lot.  My plane builds have been filled with frustrations from painting, breaking things and having to repair them, etc.  Then I recently tried a new paint on a couple of car builds and the paint ran too hot and it crazed the plastic.  This 1/700 build was fairly uneventful - just a lot of Optivisor work.

[Old Collingwood]

Great work Mike, I also remember enjoying my one and only 1/700 ship - something about  having everything in a  small area.

 

OC.

[lmagna]

9 hours ago, Landlubber Mike said:

just a lot of Optivisor work.

Probably stuff can only get so small in any scale and still be worked. I bought a pair of Veteran Models 1.1" Chicago pianos

in 1/350 for my Houston and they are absolutely tiny! Both of them could easily fit onto a penny with room to spare the barrels look like ant legs! and are in a little package of their own to keep them from getting lost! If I can ever get to that build, those guns will certainly be as big, (or small if you will) a challenge as anything in 1/700.

[Landlubber Mike]

11 hours ago, lmagna said:

Probably stuff can only get so small in any scale and still be worked. I bought a pair of Veteran Models 1.1" Chicago pianos

in 1/350 for my Houston and they are absolutely tiny! Both of them could easily fit onto a penny with room to spare the barrels look like ant legs! and are in a little package of their own to keep them from getting lost! If I can ever get to that build, those guns will certainly be as big, (or small if you will) a challenge as anything in 1/700.

 

Lou, are they resin with PE to attach?  I picked up a 1/350 IJN Ise carrier/battleship on eBay that was loaded with Veteran guns.  It's been a while since I looked at them, but I recall them looking very detailed.  Will wait for you to blaze the trail on putting these things together 🤨

[lmagna]

Yes they are a combination of plastic and brass. Highly detailed and about 5mm in size when finished. Luckily there are only two of them. The Houston was scheduled for more, as well as surface radar but there was not enough time and she was pulled out of drydock before the work could be done. Probably for the better anyway as the 1.1 was not that good of an AA weapon anyway. I will also need to do the 8 Veteran Models 5"/25 open mounts that are not much bigger.

  

[Landlubber Mike]

Those will be really sweet!  Can't wait for you to start it!

[Egilman]

12 hours ago, lmagna said:

Yes they are a combination of plastic and brass. Highly detailed and about 5mm in size when finished. Luckily there are only two of them. The Houston was scheduled for more, as well as surface radar but there was not enough time and she was pulled out of drydock before the work could be done. Probably for the better anyway as the 1.1 was not that good of an AA weapon anyway. I will also need to do the 8 Veteran Models 5"/25 open mounts that are not much bigger.

  

I've got both of those in my future brother, to go along with my Infini .50 cals..... any early war US Navy ship could be equipped with any of them or in some cases, all three.... Certain member of the Brooklyn class cruisers had four, those three, plus 20mm's... (didn't have them for long but they did have them in the run up to war)

[Landlubber Mike]

Nice!  These look like some sweet upgrades.  Can't wait to see you put them together!

Edited March 3, 2021 by Landlubber Mike

[Landlubber Mike]

I got this one across the finish line with no impact to my mental stability - maybe that was always in question when I picked up the kit and aftermarket, but that's another story...

 

After clear coating with the Mr. Hobby matt clear, I let it sit for a few days while mentally preparing myself for the rigging.  I wasn't completely sure about the rigging for this ship (or Tachibana class of ships generally), but looked at other models including the one on the box for the Fivestar PE set and just went with what I thought looked correct.  I ended up using 0.047mm rigging thread (yep, 5/100 of a millimeter) - very fine tweezers a must!

 

Thanks as always for all the help, encouragement, and kind words.  I'm not scared off by 1/700, and in fact, have a decent stash that I'll be working through.  For whatever reason, I found this scale to be quite enjoyable and I'm less hard on myself than when it comes to other types of models.  Maybe because mistakes are pretty much invisible to the naked eye, who knows.

 

Thanks again!  Here are the final pictures.  At some point I'll put it in a waterline diorama but maybe I'll wait until I have a few more completed so I can do them all at once.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 3, 2021 by Landlubber Mike

[wemattson]

Congratulations on a job well done!  The rigging really brings the ship alive.

[egkb]

Nice One Mike, She looks Brillo .. (Another one down and me still on the same one 😆)

 

Eamonn

[Edwardkenway]

Nicely done Mike, don't worry about your sanity, if your wife thinks the same as mine, we're apparently not right in the head for wanting to make small versions of bigger things🤪😉

[Lt. Biggles]

Looks great mate! 

[Bob Cleek]

Beautiful!

 

 

[cog]

Lovely work Mike, especially at the scale you worked at!

[Canute]

Really nicely detailed Mike. And then those shots of you holding the paint with the ship attached.

[Hubac's Historian]

Beautifully done, Mike!

[lmagna]

4 hours ago, Landlubber Mike said:

I got this one across the finish line with no impact to my mental stability

Are you certain Mike? Sanity may be a little like beauty, it's all in the eyes of the beholder. 

 

All kidding aside, this really came out nicely and it is truly one to be proud of. Looking forward the the next in the series.

Edited March 3, 2021 by lmagna

[Landlubber Mike]

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate all the kind words.  

 

@lmagna, I haven't figured out which to do next (and am embarrassed to post the list of 1/700 kits in the stash).  I'm probably going to pick some of the more easier ones to do to get more experience, and then work my way up to the cruisers, battleships, and carriers.  I'll probably go with an auxiliary ship - I've got a few in the stash that look really cool with all the cranes and sub-decks and stuff - seaplane and submarine tenders, submarine and seaplane carriers, food supply ship, oil supply ship, etc.

Edited March 3, 2021 by Landlubber Mike

[CDW]

Turned out a real gem, Mike. Excellent!

[popeye the sailor]

she finished off looking superb Mike!   so much detail.........hard to imagine that they could have so much.  I couldn't see myself going that small......I'd likely make a dog's breakfast out of it .......I tend to go the other way.  I have the Shokaku  in 1:500,  and the Missouri in 1:450,  that I got for Christmas....I still have the New Jersey too.....I think that's 1:350.  to be honest,  I'd love to get started on one,  but I have enough going on...the admiral would have me committed!  

 

how thin is the EZ line?  recently,  I rebuilt an old clock that we've had since we got married.   I salvaged the windings for the motor....I can't even guess how thin this is.......

I'm gonna try this on the Vendetta...there's quite a bit here.    you built a great model......I'm in awe .......very steady hands!   

[Egilman]

1 hour ago, popeye the sailor said:

I rebuilt an old clock that we've had since we got married.   I salvaged the windings for the motor....I can't even guess how thin this is

Depends on the power of the motor, it can be as thin as under .001"..... the stuff I use is just under .002"....

[Landlubber Mike]

Thanks Craig and Popeye, really appreciate it!

 

Popeye, I used this line from Q.W. Model.  It came in a variety of sizes, but I used the smallest version I had from them which was 0.047mm:

 

 

 

I forget where I picked it up, but it was probably just added to another order that I was making.  It works very similarly to EZ-line, where it stretches very nice to make tight lines, or can be run to show a little slack (which I tried to do on the front lines of the destroyer).  I would say, however, this diameter seemed thinner than the EZ Line fine, which I used on my 1/48 F3F builds.  I don't know about using very fine copper wire for the rigging.  I suppose it could work if you found the right diameter, but I don't know if it would give you the right look if you needed lines with a little sag, etc.  Plus, any sort of kink would be almost impossible to completely straighten out, unlike thread or this kind of rubberized line.  I'm sure there are others that have used wire to good effect though, so I'll be curious to see how it works for you.

 

Here are some other lines I happened to pick up as well that I'll try out in the future.

 

 

I came across a couple of build logs at 1/700 where the modeler used his wife's hair from her hairbrush.  My wife is blonde so that wasn't an option.  Maybe I should tell her I need to find myself a dark-haired girlfriend so I can have a free and endless supply of rigging line?  🤔

 

Edited March 4, 2021 by Landlubber Mike

[Egilman]

.047mm is equal to .002in That's two thousandths of an inch, about half the thickness of a piece of paper..... Actually it's a hair smaller than that but who's going to quibble over a ten thousandth of an inch....

Edited March 4, 2021 by Egilman

[ccoyle]

3 hours ago, Egilman said:

who's going to quibble over a ten thousandth of an inch....

 

IPMS judges, from what I hear. 😉