Mikasa by madtatt - Merit International - 1:200 - PLASTIC - pre-Dreadnought battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) - appearance after 1905

[madtatt]

Today, it was all about properly securing the masts to the deck. I’m always a little nervous before such important steps.
That’s why preparation is key to ensuring everything goes smoothly. That’s how I did this small plate that serves as a support for the stop angle.

 

 

By placing it on the bridge house, I can quickly check the angle of each side of the mast. This is important because the time window is very small. I use superglue with a long setting time, but it still has to be done quickly.

 

 

I won’t keep you in suspense, but it worked. I laid some more rope next to it and had a sailor check the ropes.

 

 

And everything went smoothly at the rear as well. Phew…

 

 

The deck amidships is slowly filling up.

 

 

Now I can continue working on the bridge houses.

 

 

 

[madtatt]

Good morning everyone. Another question for Jeff.
You left out the small handwheel on the square mushroom structures and changed the height. I also think it's a ventilation duct and not a hatch.

 

 

You took the height of the ventilation duct from the picture of the museum ship. However, there it's also positioned a bit further forward.

 

 

And now to my thoughts. I found an original photo where the bridge houses are clearly visible and brightened it up a bit. However, I can't see these structures at all in the photos. Whereas the wheelhouse is quite clearly visible.

 

 

Could it be that the height of the ventilation ducts on the museum ship was only subsequently changed?

Otherwise they must be visible from the front view of the bridge house, like here, again on the museum ship.

 

 

And another question that occurs to me, Jeff.
Where did you get the information that these cable drums were installed on the bridge houses?

 

 

I've carefully reviewed all my photos of the original ship, but I can't find her on any of them. 🤔

Edited May 18 by madtatt

[madtatt]

Hi Jeff, it's me again.
I discovered something else interesting about the pretty good and well-known picture of the Mikasa at the Vickers shipyard shortly before its completion.

 

 

I enlarged the bridgehouse and discovered the gratings of the accommodation ladder. See green arrows.
Since I want to show the ship at full speed, I need them stowed. What I can't find, however, are the drainpipes you added. Is it possible that these were also added to the museum ship later?

To prevent tourists from slipping when its rain? 😁

 

Edited May 20 by madtatt

[madtatt]

Now that the lower part of the masts is firmly anchored to the deck, I can turn my attention back to the bridgehouses. First, I soldered more attachment points for the rigging. It simply holds best.

 

 

As mentioned in the previous post, I noticed two dark squares. I believe these can only be the gratings of the  accommodation ladder. Since I'll be showing my ship at full speed, as usual, they'll have to be stowed there as well on this model. But that won't happen until after I've attached the bridgehouses to the deck.
What I'm already doing is attaching the corresponding davits. I've identified them in the following pictures. Rear bridgehouse....

 

 

And the implementation by me.

 

 

And at the front. Strangely, my image editing program didn’t allow a green arrow. So a white arrow points to the davit.

 

 

Note that the davits point to the right and left.

 

 

Great, I love searching for details like Sherlock and then adding them. 🔎

 

 

Edited May 24 by madtatt
Typo

[madtatt]

Another little mini-update to round off the weekend.

The only thing missing were the support poles for the awning, and then the base coat could be applied.

 

 

The protruding details such as profiles, davits and the like are accentuated again with a light grey.

 

 

In combination with the preshading, this creates a fine first contrast

 

 

Now I can start aging next week.

 

[Jeff59]

Hi Jolle, been a little while since l last looked at this, busy working on my shed come workshop, l did say summer weather slows up modelling a tad, mines has stopped for weeks now 😂 you’re models looking brilliant, no surprises there 🤛 that last photo you put up of Mikasas Bridge is the after Bridge, you can tell by the position of mast into the deck on Bridge structure, this also shows that the ventilation trunking was here as well, definitely closer to the edge. l didn’t move this cause the etch deck was already notched out to suit kit. There’s also a round ventilation duct just behind this ? But lm afraid it’s extremely difficult to define at what period this is relevant to, it’s just a minefield trying to decide on the right direction 👀 The cable drums on Bridge structure beside the doors just picked from some coloured cad drawings of ship in her early days found on Museum website when browsing, shall see if l can find them and post them 🤛 oh and watch out for Bridge wing clashing against the after mast, think l ended up notching a little bit out of mast to get it sitting vertical. It’s only when building this model you realise how hard it is to do without solid evidence, very difficult trying to do the early 1902 version, photos at Vickers the only source, even the Bridge wing is slightly different when you look at the supports at the edge of Bridge wing. Have to say your doing a great job with d difficult task. Shall get back to you on those images, away back to my shed just now. 🤛

[Jeff59]

Had a Quick Look at lots of images on Mikasa Meuseum web site Jolle, you can spend many hours browsing , l know l did , always scanning the images looking for details. The drain pipes you mentioned, have found some older photos of ship that show them there, and one showing Bridge spaced in middle of Bridge wing 👍as l have said before a dedicated book on Mikasa is sorely needed. 

[Jeff59]

Hope this is off help to you Jolle, on that Bridge wing on after supper structure it’s the back of the Bridge wing and etch that clashed with my model, maybe it was just a mistake on my part, but worth checking. That photo you showed of Mikasa at Vickers might be the same one l used to correct the bracing on the flag staff, it’s definitely not symmetrical, you’ll see what l mean.  Glad to help 🤛

[madtatt]

Hello Jeff.
Yes, the information about this ship is truly sparse and often contradictory.
So, thank you very much for the wealth of information you've given me. 👍
I'll proceed as follows. I won't be doing the cable reel and drainpipes, as I can't see them in the photos that show them painted gray. So I'm going to finish the bridge houses now, just like you saw them in my picture above.
I'm excited to see how it goes.

[madtatt]

After a short break, I’m continuing.
The lower bridge houses are finished weathering and can be put on the deck for a test run.

 

 

Now I have to think about the most logical way to proceed.

 

 

I think the rear bridge house is not glued to the deck yet.

 

 

Because directly behind it the steam pinasses come onto their cradles.

 

 

It’s probably better to have a little more room for my fat fingers.

 

 

For the armored control center, I lined the entrance with a profile. It was clearly too thin.

 

 

And there isn’t much space in front of the bridge houses up to the tower.
So I’ve already fitted the lower parts of the tower into their barbettes and made them move freely. They were practically impossible to move.
And I’ve also prepared the lower ladders that belong on the mast.