Mikasa by Captain Slog – Merit International/Pontos Model/KA-Model – 1/200 – PLASTIC - Group Build with Richmond

[Captain Slog]

Welcome to the start of my Mikasa log, which is a group build with @Richmond

 

Here is a link to Richmond’s log which explains it.

 

 

I got this back in 2016 which was the first release of the 1/200 Mikasa by Merit International (Trumpeter).  I also got the KA-Models MK1 Design detail set around the same time due to difficulty in finding the Pontos set.  Fast forward to earlier this year and after catching up with Richmond we decided to build the Mikasa together as a group build.  For this I purchased the Pontos set which will be the primary set used and utilising some bits and pieces from the MK1 Design set.

 

To get going here is a comparative photo of Mikasa alongside its Battle of Tsushima adversary, Borodino.  Don’t worry Richmond, just a test dry fit 😊

 

 

 

I am also documenting the build on YouTube and have linked Parts 1 & 2 below reviewing the kit and detail sets respectively.

 

 

 

 

Really excited and itching to get going with this.

 

Cheers

Slog

[yvesvidal]

Is the Borodino a paper model in 1/200 scale?  Very interesting project that you are starting.

 

Yves

[ccoyle]

43 minutes ago, yvesvidal said:

Is the Borodino a paper model in 1/200 scale?

 

Yep. It's mentioned in his signature. Most card ship models coming out of former East Bloc countries (e.g. Poland, Ukraine) are in 1/200 (JSC is the exception -- they publish in 1/250). Western publishers, e.g. HMV, Moewe-Verlag, and Paper Shipwright, publish in 1/250.

[Richmond]

Nice introduction Slog, really looking forward to building along with you and the videos will be a great guide. Unfortunately I don't have the skills for video production, at the moment there is a greater need to get my photography skills sorted!

[Roger Pellett]

Interesting comparison of the two ships. It is my understanding that Mikasa was built in an English shipyard so she reflects British design.  What about Borodin? Did the Russians design their own warships or does she reflect some outside influence, maybe French?

 

Roger

  

[ccoyle]

18 minutes ago, Roger Pellett said:

Did the Russians design their own warships or does she reflect some outside influence, maybe French?

 

I seem to recall that the Russians did draw some inspiration from French designs, but I also know that some of their capital ships, e.g. Retvizan, were built in American yards.

[RGL]

Strange to hear your voice after all these years! I thought of the foam for chipping as well as soon as I saw it 

[Roger Pellett]

Yes, the cruiser that Valeriv is modeling on the scratch build thread was built at the Cramp Yard on the Delaware River.  That doesn’t mean though that the vessel was designed by Cramp.

 

Roger

[ccoyle]

52 minutes ago, Roger Pellett said:

That doesn’t mean though that the vessel was designed by Cramp.

 

Oh, I agree. I guess I didn't make my meaning clear.

[Captain Slog]

Thanks for the comments and likes.

 

After twisting Richmond’s arm, the starting gun has been fired and we are off at a sprint.  Part 3 deals with removing extraneous mouldings and making holes, all in preparation for the Pontos details.

 

Just a note about the pictures.  I don’t intend to take any still photos, relying instead on taking screen grabs from the video’s so apologise in advance for having my grubby little fingers in every shot.

 

First up is to go through the Pontos and MK1 instructions and highlight everything to be removed.  I used black marker for the Pontos stuff and red for the MK1 items.

 

 

 

Removing the steps by scrapping with a round blade.  From watching many YouTube videos this seems a fairly standard method.

 

 

 

However it is pretty slow going so decided to try the home made chisels from old No.11 blades I make to remove parts from paper models.  This sped things up immensely and a step could be removed with one or two passes.  I still needed to do a final scrape with the round blade to avoid damaging the surrounding hull.

 

 

 

Next up is drilling all the holes for the PE hull steps.  Pontos provide photo etch templates for this work although it’s disappointing that Pontos don’t replace all hull steps (ladders?).  I will use the MK1 steps to cover the missing Pontos ones.  Unfortunately, the MK1 set doesn’t provide templates for their steps but I will utilise a Pontos template so that the spacing is consistent.  Pontos require a 0.4mm drill and a quick test on scrap styrene confirms the MK1 steps use this size as well.

 

 

 

Then on to the portholes. I centre marked the porthole with an old airbrush needle by eyeballing it.  Tried passing different size drills through the PE porthole until found one which just goes through. Turns out 1.5mm is the size. 1.6mm is just a fraction too tight.

 

 

 

With the porthole drilled out it was required to relieve the backside due to the thickness of the hull plastic being 2mm to 3mm. This equates to a real thickness of 400mm to 600mm!  The thick plastic spoils the look of the porthole.  I tried removing this with just a drill but hard work and decided to use a carbide burr in the Proxxon rotary drill to remove the bulk of it….with the obvious dangers!

 

 

 

By finishing slightly back with the carbide burr, a smaller drill could be used to remove the last fraction. Once the drill point touches my finger, it’s twist/check/twist/check etc until happy.

 

 

 

With the porthole…hole? drilled I thought I would show a comparison of both sets PE portholes.  Pontos on the left and MK1 on the right.  The Pontos one is so much more refined and delicate and these are what I will use.  The MK1 is quite chunky and bland in comparison.

 

I am aware that the PE portholes are incorrectly represented by sitting on the hull surface like this and in reality would barely be visible sitting behind the hull plates but they are provided and to be honest I like the effect so going to use them, which doesn’t require debating.

 

 

 

The YouTube link to the video in case anyone wants to listen to my dulcet tones.  

 

 

 

Cheers

Slog

Edited December 12, 2022 by Captain Slog

[Richmond]

Thanks Slog - I really enjoyed the Video.

 

I am not sure I have the confidence to relieve the portholes. I may do a test on some thick styrene and see how I go.

 

Strange as to why Pontos did not do all the steps.

Edited December 12, 2022 by Richmond

[Captain Slog]

Thanks. Yeah do a trial or two to see how you go.  I still have a good few to go so imagine some repairs will be inevitable.  It is strange, doesn't make sense for Pontos to leave them out.

Edited December 12, 2022 by Captain Slog

[Captain Slog]

Okay here is my Part 4. 

 

I would say based on Richmond’s latest update I have done more or less the same work although I would be trailing behind him overall.  Although I do have additional progress/footage that will get carried over to the next part.

 

Again no stills, just screen grabs from the video.

 

With the hull now glued together the seams were filled with ‘sprue goo’ and left for a few days.

 

 

 

Whilst waiting for the filler to go off I marked up a number of areas on the hull needing attention such as sink marks, mould lines and some rough areas; the bow had some very faint ripples also.

 

 

 

Once the seams were cleaned up with scraping, sanding and buffing, like Richmond, I wet sanded the entire lower hull, in this case with 600 followed by 1200.  The Tamiya tape was to protect the upper hull details from inadvertent slips.

 

 

 

Priming the seams to highlight any gaps, pin holes etc with Pink Mr Surfacer 1500.

 

The black version is my go to primer and sprays beautifully and is mostly fool proof but I only have dregs left and sold out locally but had the choice of Grey and Pink.  I discounted the grey as grey plastic, grey primer and grey top coat didn’t appeal due to visually seeing coverage.

 

I choose the pink...and hate it as the spraying characteristics are so different from the black version and I’m struggling to get decent results.  I will pick up grey 1500 tomorrow!

 

 

 

Bilge keels taped in place and glued with Tamiya Extra Thin.  There were half a dozen or so pin holes on the hull halves seams, which needed filling and small dabs of Mr Surfacer 500 took care of them.

 

 

 

As Richmond noted the bilge keels aren’t a great fit and need filling on both sides.  To minimise clean up I tried applying Mr Surfacer 500 with a syringe and it worked great.  Mostly 2 applications was sufficient to fill (one area required 3 passes) and was quickly cleaned up with cotton buds moistened with Mr Hobby Levelling Thinners.

 

 

 

Installing the prop shafts/housings and checking for consistency.

 

 

 

Good place to stop for Part 4, with the hull glued up, seams taken care of, the prop shafts and bilge keels installed, filled and cleaned up.

 

 

And of course the YouTube video link

 

 

Cheers

Slog

[Richmond]

Nice post such clean work , nice video as well

 

Richmond

[Captain Slog]

Thanks for all the likes and comments.

 

Part 5 is now done.

 

For mounting the hull I used M5 nuts and bolts, which will allow me to use Pontos pedestals as shown in Richmond’s log if I choose to when it comes time to mount the ship permanently.

 

 

 

I made a temporary baseboard with 12mm MDF, a couple of wood strip glued to the 2 long sides and some 18mm wood dowel. This allows me to work on the ship without worrying about knocking bits off when manhandling it.

 

 

 

To allow me to mount the ship in a semi-permanent state I wanted to paint the lower hull.  After final wet sanding I wiped the hull down with IPA and then followed this with an automotive painters tack cloth.  The grey 1500 primer showed up some rough areas at the stern and bow.  This was cleaned up with a wet sand using 2000 grit wet & Dry.

 

 

 

 

I started airbrushing on Tamiya Lacquer paint dull red but it was becoming tedious so blasted the hull with Tamiya aerosol TS-33 dull red and achieved satisfactory results to me.

 

 

 

Then it was on to the 6” guns.  I used Richmond’s tip of dispensing the CA glue onto a candle which greatly extends it’s working time.

 

 

 

The pink Mr Surfacer 1500 was used to prime the guns, this was done before the decision to swap to the grey 1500 used for the hull.  The grey sprays the same as the black 1500 so was happy for the switch.

 

 

 

The guns were top coated with Tamiya’s lacquer LP-14, one of the 4 IJN arsenal paints.  This is the colour I will use throughout. Tamiya’s LP lacquer range is a joy to use.

 

 

 

Like Richmond I sprayed up the lower gun deck in case you can see past the 6” gun ports but more so for airbrush practice and to test the 2 linoleum colours for preference down the track, XF-79 & LP-17.

 

Rather than force the hull tops apart to get the lower deck in, I scored and snapped it down the middle and installed in 2 halves.  I gave a quick varnish to the temporary baseboard using an aerosol can just to make wiping down easier. It's a temp base so wasn't fussy on finish.

 

 

 

The YouTube Video

 

 

 

Well, my Christmas holidays are over after today so progress will become more sporadic again.

 

Cheers

Slog

[Richmond]

Thanks Slog nice update and video.

 

I really like the look of the Tamiya LP's, its getting great reviews from a lot of modellers  - I think I should start swapping them out - however I note not all XF colours are available in LP.

 

I think with my extra week of AL (sorry not rubbing it in ) I may jump slightly ahead but then work takes me off to the Gold Coast again for 3 weeks.  To get here has taken a lot longer than I expected.

 

My only concern thus far is will the temporary ply base board impeding the build - I like to lay models on their side when working on hull and my board is 290 wide and probably heavier than your board - Ill have to devise some sort of soft rest. Maybe I will swap out to an MDF and not go as wide as did with my ply?

 

 

[Captain Slog]

Hi Richmond,

 

Enjoy your extra week! I agree, I was hoping to be further along also, at least have the main decks glued in placed!

 

My baseboard is 200mm wide and with the hull being 124mm (according to the box) I should be able to 'lay' it on it's side (with suitable rolled up protection) if need be.

 

[Captain Slog]

Hi,

 

Here is Part 6.

 

This covers 4 of the 20, 3” guns and replaces the kit part with Pontos PE and turned brass.  These 4 guns are mounted in the bow and the stern and are simpler than the other 16 guns spread throughout the decks but do have a shield.

 

 

 

There are only 6 parts, 3 PE and 3 turned brass.

 

 

 

I like to use small PE scissors to remove the attachment nibs from the PE part and in the majority of cases there is no need to use a diamond file to clean up.

 

 

 

I drilled a 2mm hole in the corners of a small MDF block to hold the turned brass pedestals so the guns could be built up around them.  Photo shows the gun frame bent up and CA glued to the pedestal.

 

 

 

The 2 parts of the shield were bent to shape and being trial fitted.

 

 

 

I wanted to solder the shield together and used the method shown in a Paul Budzik (MSW member) video.  The liquid flux is applied to the parts and small slivers of solder are placed in the joint.  The soldering iron is held to the outside and the heat is quickly transferred through the thin PE.  Due to the quickness I was able to do one side at a time without affecting the other previously soldered side.

 

 

 

The 4 shields soldered and cleaned up.  Didn't touch the insides as will never be seen and happy how first attempt turned out...some better than others.

 

 

 

The barrel was super glued in place.

 

 

 

The completed guns were CA glued to toothpick/cocktail sticks for painting.  The bond is easily broken when time to install.

 

 

 

The guns were primed with Mr Surfacer 1500 and then top coated with Tamiya lacquers.  These guns are mostly hidden in the hull with barely the barrels sticking out.

 

 

 

 

YouTube link

 

 

 

 

Cheers

Slog

[Canute]

Nifty little tips for working with the PE. Thanks.

[Captain Slog]

Hi all,

 

I have been a bit slack in updating this log as progress is now up to Part 13 on YouTube but thought I would show what I have been working on for a future episode.

 

I recently purchased a decent soldering station specifically for photo etch and have been using it successfully for items such as PE hatches but really wanted to push my abilities by using it on smaller multi-part assemblies.

 

These are the Pontos 3” guns, which there are a total of 16 with 15 parts per gun and I completed 2 guns as a proof of concept to see if I can fully solder them which I managed to do.  A few lessons learned in the order of assembly should make the subsequent ones quicker, easier and neater.

 

The beauty for me over gluing, is that with small multi-part PE assemblies I usually end up knocking off previously glued parts when attaching new parts or sometimes just in handling.  The soldering makes them very sturdy knowing they aren’t going to fall/break apart if dropped etc. 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers

Slog

 

 

 

[Canute]

What's your rig for doing this fine soldering? Those guns turned very nice.

[Captain Slog]

Hi Ken, it’s a Hakko FX-888D soldering station. I did swap out the standard conical tip to a 2C tip (2mm angled) which is good for heat transfer and access. A 1C would be helpful in some spots and will get one at some stage but 2C is a good all-rounder.

 

It gets up to my soldering temp (380 C for my chosen solder)  from cold in about 40 seconds and can maintain heat transfer during soldering and takes only a few seconds to get from my set standby 250C to 380C when ready to go again. 

[Canute]

Slog, I have a similar Hakko and really like it. I may need to acquire that particular tip, tho. I really like this solder station; the temp settings are spot on.

[Tigerdvr]

Very professional. Thoroughly enjoyed your presentation and photography.

Cheers, Harley