IJN Mikuma by IJNfan - FINISHED - Tamiya - 1/350 - PLASTIC

[IJNfan]

Hello everybody,

 

It occured to me today that when I posted the Hiei there was a request for me to put my next build, then said to be IJN Mikuma, into a build log again. Honestly, I had forgotten about it and build logs take time and I was busy so I wasn't able to do it but since the build is going slow paced, I've looked into the topic and was reminded of the request so hereby I'll try and log the rest of my build.

I have been building on the ship for a month or 2 - 3 now I think, and it is going rather well. A lot of the superstructure stands, together with some etchwork, railings, aa guns and masts. The pictures are shared below,

what is to come is this

- Repairs on one of the main masts where the support girders of the PE set got lost and denting out some railings that I saw on pictures were dented
- finishing superstructures
- making the gun turrets

- putting small brass strips over the deck
- paintjob

- rigging

got a few doubts too about the paintwork, whether I'll mount the superstructure on deck and then start the paintwork, or whether I'll paint the subassemblies first and then the deck/hull before mounting everything together. Maybe anyone got some tips on this. 

For the model I use the following

- IJN Mikuma Light cruiser 1/350 Tamiya

- Infini 13mm and 25mm twin aa guns
- veteran IJN deck equipment
- Eduard Mikuma PE sets

- Uschi rigging
- Tamiya XF paints and AK wheathering.

- Aber main gun barrels (155mm triples)

 

I'll include more pictures when I finish next steps to provide some extra detail.

kind regards and stay safe

[IJNfan]

here is another short update,

 

I work slower than before partly to have more fun but mostly cause I have too much to do in too little time. Still I try do at least one page of the instruction manual each week.

What have I done this week,

Been busy with small stuff,

- added a few doors and ladders to the base of the bridge
- created the flying bridge structure between the bridge and funnel islands. Note that I corrected the slanted supports of the right one after reviewing the pictures.
- started on 2 platforms with searchlights, due to tensions on the railing I decided to leave those 2 alone for at least a day before going on to prevent railings getting loose again. Hence the unfinished state
- added 2 pieces of PE to the mast
- started work on the turrets. Brass barrels not yet fully calibrated to be neatly lined up

 

stay healthy,

 

greetings IJNfan

 

p.s. The pictures:

[IJNfan]

 

It has been a long long while since I posted any update, university, thesis and all that came in the way. Apologies for the long time I didn't update. Now I am back in a position to do some small stuff with it. So here is a tiny update. In hindsight I should have painted the deck parts separate, thats a lesson noted for next time.

Also I found some parts damaged or not the way i'd want to work rn so I took of some parts, hence the glue rests.

I made the Secondary guns, not much pe there but anything counts. 

 

 

 

I made a first lifeboat

 

 

I finished the turrets

 

 

 

Hopefully the next update doesnt take me 4 months but 1 week or something. 

Thanks and stay safe

IJNfan

 

 

Edited May 24, 2021 by IJNfan

[popeye the sailor]

nice start  

[Landlubber Mike]

Beautiful work!  Very nice job!

[IJNfan]

Ty Mike and Popeye.

 

It has been a bit, it is still busy and I have not yet had the time to make pictures of everything but here is another small update. As always ME PE frets have a ton of unused stuff so I have been trying to figure out what has to go where. That process is slowly progressing. At the same time I have decided she will be depicted with the guns trained as if she were on the sea trials, this also means the paintwork is not gonna be too spoiled with weathering and some stairs along the sides will not be mounted. I will also place the lifeboats on te suppots on the deck and not mount them to the davits.

I have made the wo catapults, worked on the planes, worked on the lifeboats, adding bits and pieces of pe, and reworking the one from my last post to remove redundant plastic, I added pe to the hull, added the davits to the hull, pre-bend a few stairs and made a plan for the paintwork. More pictures will follow tomorrow or friday. 

 

 

I am also on the lookout for a next model, I have 2 pontos models, bismarck and nagato, but ain't sure if I am already up to the job of doing that. originally I wanted to build Hiryu, but I can't find a wooden decksticker#sadness. i might as well decide to redo the paintjob on my Hamakaze

IJNfan

Edited June 9, 2021 by IJNfan

[IJNfan]

So I have come here with a last update because the build is finished for me. Due to shortages in time I did often take pictures but forgot to upload them to the forum. however, we are done which means it is time for the post build reflection and some final pictures.

reflection.

 

Tamiya kits have been recommended to me as being great fits, immaculate engineering and also very friendly builds. I generally did find this all to be true but after building fujimi and trumpeter kits I had become used to have some wiggle room. This kit didn't which means I had to adapt. The quality of the plastic was great, it was clean, not much waste from the molding itself on the plastic was present, if any and the parts were decently detailed. However Tamiya's style of detailing has struck me as a little cartoonish/simplified at times. I think in general i prefer Hasegawa, Fujimi or trumpeters style. It is executed with less finesse but the overal atmosphere/style of the model appeals a little more to me. Not to say the Mikuma isn't a great kit, it is just not fully how I would like to see it, Aoshima's Atago is an example of something I would prefer instead with hindsight.

 

The painting of this kit has been part new method, part old stuff. The base colors were Tamiya paint. For all their inaccuracies in color, their handling is unsurpassed for me and with some good old mixing I find i can get colors that appeal to me which in the is what i build for. The new part is the use of both washes and rust effects. This went wrong since I did not see that my new stuff was also enamel which smudged my whole weathering. This is something that I need to consider for my next build. Especially if I want to use the ColorCoats enamels I would need to use two clearcoats which in itself may give rise to other problems. All in all the end product isn't perfect. But sometimes I find it easier to except that flaws and make sure not to repeat them next time. I have applied post shading for the first time as which has given such a nice touch that with some more refinement this will definitely remain in work process. 

ven me enough lessons for my next build especially on the painting process but also the building process. Instead of using a build all and then paint all workflow I will adopt the modular way of working. Which may also help keep stuff a little bit more paced.

With IJN builds the last step is painting the Chrysanthemum on the bow, (special picture included). As for the final results here are the usual pictures, I have tried using a better camera + tripod and a healthy dose of light to capture the ship. Note that on one of the turrets I had a very sad reaction between some rust powder on enamel wash that I had applied an hour before, It just stained out overnight and I have polished off a little bit of the stuff but was afraid I would damage the PE on the turret so I let it be as is. Now when reviewing the pictures I see more paintwork stuff, but I will let it be too. In general when working in modules I can focus on smaller sized pieces which hopefully will allow me to work with more refined detail and less errors.

Since I have not updated for so long I will also put in the relevant pictures for the steps in between. 

 

The floatplanes when drying

 

 

The Ship before the weathering and post shading

 

 

When the weathering with new materials reacted with the washes underneath it

 

 

After a thorough cleaning

 

 

With one turret so smudged I needed to sand it and still it wouldn't completely come off, also because I was afraid to sand away the pain and postshading. 

 

 

End results

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And per tradition, the last imagine is also the last part I painted and added, the Golden Chrysanthemum.

 

 

Stay safe, and till next time.

Edited January 21, 2022 by IJNfan

[Ryland Craze]

Congratulations on finishing this model.  I really like the way you weathered this model.  You do excellent work.

[ccoyle]

Fantastic result! Congratulations!

[Old Collingwood]

Lovely  work  - really nicely built  - love your  Hood  also.

 

OC.

[IJNfan]

thanks for the kind comments everyone