Rebuilding the fleet by mikegr - 1/700 - restoring old plastic models

[mikegr]

After a lot of experimentation I made the funnel and the bridge structure to the desired size and shape. PE parts added

 

[Baker]

 I have zero knowledge of 20th century shipbuilding...

But

Funnel facing to the rear ( i think)

Funnel facing forward?

Taking into account the sailing direction I would think,  towards the rear.

 

Edited October 18, 2025 by Baker

[ddp]

Baker, the funnel is actually leaning out so the ship's exhaust gases do not interfere with flight operations especially for the aircraft landing on the flight deck from astern.

[mikegr]

This is my reference

I Measured the angle between the front leg of the vertical tripod and the inclined funnel pipe only to find out that this is 32°. According to this I made the new funnel

[Baker]

Thank you. 

As mentioned before, "zero" knowledge about carriers.

But again, very interesting to follow this rebuild 👍

[mikegr]

I made the funnel pipes with 1mm wire. Unfortunately there was room for only 7 in diagram I see 10. Gun platforms were made and more PEs added, almost ready for priming

 

[king derelict]

Great work on the funnel details 

alan

[mikegr]

Some improvement on the gun platform and prime coating

 

[mikegr]

The superstructure is done. Details like searchlight, aa guns will be added later.

 

[mikegr]

The model is made by 3 main pieces.

The flight deck, the hangar area and the lower hull section.

I start working on the gun platforms around the main deck. These should be all removed and replaced by correct ones. Unfortunately these are part of the hangar deck, so I had to cut them using a low rpm rotary cutter. Then sand a lot to remove the excess plastic.

 The fist piece installed was the bow  platform set for the rocket launchers

Looks like there is a lot of work to be done. I estimate this project to be done before Christmas.

[mikegr]

I made the portside platforms. Some fitted easily. In the biggest parts I was able to improve them by adding some PE parts. It will be a considerable improvement over the old model

 

[mikegr]

10 days without update but no day without work. The difficulties were too many to refer, testing, missfittings, retesting etc. Finally the result was satisfying and relatively accurate, though 100% accuracy is out of question

 

 

[mikegr]

After a lot of work the deck section is almost ready to attach. It will be a major task about 70% of the work has been done

[mikegr]

Ok after a lot of mods I managed to finish the hull. There are more things to be done but this can't be done in a sensible piece of time especially in the aft area.

Anyway a light primer was sprayed mostly for the brass  representing the degaussing line

 

[mikegr]

After camouflage painting the model began to look realistic. There were moments that I was about to give up but looks like its good I didn't

Next phase is working on the deck. After that, details will be added like cranes, guns and ofcourse aircrafts

 

[mikegr]

I used self made mask and painting techniques to achieve the desired result

 

[mikegr]

I just finished working on the 5 masts.

It took me 1 hour 20 min. They are very fragile.rigging is going to be a challenge

Placed over my future project, Bergamini class frigate 3d printed

 

[king derelict]

Nice work on the masts Mike 

alan

[mikegr]

Next sreo is the placement of rocket launchers. 

They turned up a big success, with high details, the teasers look like a giant fork behind them.

 

[mikegr]

I spent the weekend making aircrafts. The first batch is finished.

 

[king derelict]

Great work on the details of the aircraft. 
alan

[mikegr]

On 12/23/2025 at 2:48 AM, king derelict said:

Great work on the details of the aircraft. 
alan

Thank you

The rule is ruthless:

You can hard to  built a flawless looking model but its the little details that will catch the eye

 

[mikegr]

I added the A6M Zero. Totally 12 pieces. PEs were bit smaller but I added them all. For paint I use grey primer directly mixed with white. That saved me some time. It would me a nightmare to built 60-70 of these. 

[mikegr]

I decided to glue the planes to avoid any accidents along with the anti falling nets. I didn't have a PE part for crane so it was made by two masts glued together, like those at the sides of the ship but bit shorter.

AA guns and life boats need to be added but my printer needs to be fixed so while the parts are on their way I spent time making the sea base

 

[mikegr]

I made some AA guns. Then fitted a few. A new seabed is under construction because the wooden base of the previous one got warped

 

[mikegr]

I added the remaining AA guns. They gave noticeable details. Some single 25mm added as well. Some darkening with black oil and a basic rigging. As the ship had a very short life no weathering is required. 

Seabed is also done. It looks well apart from the wakes close to the stern. They shouldn't follow the hull shape. The decision of using a narrow base led me to this mistake. But need to move on, can't spend time to make a 3rd base. 

 

[Baker]

Narrow base or not

Looks 👍to me

[mikegr]

1 hour ago, Baker said:

Narrow base or not

Looks 👍to me

Thanks

I'm just keep on effort so every work will be a little better and not a repeated one