IJN Mikasa by Herby63 - Merit International with Pontos set - 1/200 - PLASTIC

[Jeff59]

Brilliant job Herby, love it. Mind watch out for position of 6 inch guns on main deck, think they need moved outward 2 to 3mm to let the guns sit more in middle of housing, l didn’t do this but would if l were to do it again, the gun should be able to run parallel to side of bridge superstructure, you’ll see what l mean when you investigate it. 👍Shall try to follow this and enjoy, pressures of me now. 😂

 

[Herby63]

On 5/15/2024 at 12:16 AM, Jeff59 said:

Mind watch out for position of 6 inch guns on main deck, think they need moved outward 2 to 3mm to let the guns sit more in middle of housing, l didn’t do this but would if l were to do it again, the gun should be able to run parallel to side of bridge superstructure, you’ll see what l mean when you investigate it.

Oups, too late, installed them today, does not look too wrong. I dont intend to position them parallel to the side of the bridge, so only people who have thouroughly investigated this ship will know, and there are not that many around, certainly not in Belgium.  😁

I shall post an update soon.

 

Thank for your comment, I try to consult your build every time I attack a new area.

 

Kind regards.

Edited May 18 by Herby63

[Herby63]

Finaly some painting can be done.

 

The metal parts were primed with VMS Metal Prep 4K first.

Then all parts were sprayed with a grey Vallejo primer for plastic and metal.

 

The sides of the deck have been painted Black Grey, in case the wooden deck leaves some edges visible.

The barbettes of the main guns have been painted Insigna White, the base plates for the winches have been painted Deep Green with a drop of Buff and the whole deck has been finished wit a coat of clear gloss varnish. The Pontos wooden decks have a reputation of lifting after some time, but Steve of "The model shed" claims spraying a coat of gloss varnish first has not let him down so far.

 

All bulckheads and the boatdeck are painted Insigna White.

The deckdetails and furniture are painted Black Grey, a personal choice.  😁

The metal decks of the bridges, which have not yet been glued down are painted my special blend of deep green.

The louvres for the vents are painted Red.

 

 

Untill next update, enjoy modelling.

[Herby63]

I placed some central bulckheads on the center deck to enture a perfect positioning of the wooden deck, removed the plastic backing and gently and evenly worked it down over the bulckheads with a pair of tweezers until it touched the styrene deck. Then I rubbed it down with a piece of wood.

 

For the fore and aft sections I put some cocktailsticks on the deck to allow perfect positioning before tacking down.

 

Untill next update, enjoy modelling.

[Herby63]

I used some PVA-glue to stick the Pontosparts for Merit step 12 to the middledeck, except for the shutecovers.

 

Then I wired up a double LED to go under a part of the superstructure.

 

I put on the cover and tested it.

 

Untill next update, enjoy modelling.

[Herby63]

I then connected the LEDstrips for lighting up the hull to the underside of the deck.

 

and enjoyed the atmosohere during a brief test.

 

Untill next update, enjoy modelling.

Edited May 25 by Herby63

[Herby63]

The sides of the middle part of the wooden deck were finished by adding the Pontos brass strips and a fine wooden strip. The brass strips were layed between the wood veneer, and not on it. Thus no unevenness was created .  The shute covers were also glued in their place with PVA-glue.

 

 

Untill next update, enjoy modelling.

[Herby63]

I wired up some LED's with 0,03 mm coated wire and tested for half an houher to be sure the wires did not get hot.

 

Untill next update, enjoy modelling.

Edited Monday at 03:56 PM by Herby63

[Herby63]

Merit steps 14 to 19:

The louvres were glued to the venttops, the vents glued to the middle deck;

 

Bulkheads glued with Revell Contacta professional.

All PONTOS hatches and rails glued to the middle deck. Unfortunately The Pieces H16 were replaced with Pontos-parts with other dimentions, so those did not fit. (I stied a couple of times to obtain the correctionfret #12, but with no succes) Si I end up using the Merit parts. Lost between the middele deck infrastructure this will not stand out.

 

Sides A16 and A17 glued to the sides.

 

6 and 3 inch guns glued in place with PVA-glue

 

Untill next update, enjoy modelling.

Edited Tuesday at 09:23 PM by Herby63

[Herby63]

Time to lay down the boatdecks, so I glued the little plastic pilars with Tamiya extra thin cement, and lined them up with the holes in the wooden deck.

 

When this was dry, I glued the boatdecks on the bulkheads witg Revell Contacta professional and the necessary clamps.

 

Untill next update, enjoy modelling.