IJN Akitsushima by Landlubber Mike - Pit Road - 1/700

[Landlubber Mike]

Last week I was away at a showcase tournament with my daughter for five days, and thought that rather than lay in bed watching her TV shows when we were back at the hotel, I would bring a kit to work on.  My other 1/700 builds are in the final stages, so I took the kit that was the top of the stash which was this one.

 

This was the first 1/700 kit I bought years ago, as I loved the quirkiness and the camo scheme of this seaplane tender:

The ship was completed by the Japanese on April 29, 1942.  Like a lot of the late builds, the Akitsushima didn't have much of a history.  It was sunk two years later on September 24, 1944.  Apparently after taking damage in 1943, the ship was refitted with repair ship facilities because the Akashi (an IJN repair ship I'm building as well) was sunk.  

 

[Landlubber Mike]

I'm building the ship using the Pit Road kit, along with the Artist Hobby super set.  The kit is very nice, but the Artist Hobby set really will take this kit to the next level:

 

The Artist Hobby set not only gives you five PE frets, but also resin binoculars and bollards, brass barrels for two of the guns, and resin parts for the Type 89 127mm AA gun.  In addition, it gives you a set of masks, one pair of which provides a template for you to drill the port holes:

 

I should mention that @CDW had a really nice build that can be found below.  He used a detail set from Tetra which worked out really nicely.  Inspiring build!

 

 

 

[Landlubber Mike]

While at the hotel, I actually managed to get quite a bit done.  I built up the bridge which is composed of four primary platforms, where three of the platforms are inserted into the main platform.  This will replace the kit bridge:

 

I also had time to work on the hull.  I removed most of the deck details as they are replaced by PE from the Artist Hobby set.  I also started working on the port holes.  The kit is missing a lot of the port holes, and some were deep while others were very faint.  So, I filled and sanded the sides of the hull and attached the two mask templates.  I drilled most of the port holes on one side using a 0.5mm bit, but dropped it on the table and it broke.  Of course, I only had one so I turned towards other parts of the build.

 

Thanks for looking in!

 

 

[king derelict]

What a great subject Mike. Lots of super details and very unusual. Your PE work is superb, especially for working in a hotel room with presumably lower quality lighting. Congratulations, I look forward to seeing more.

alan

[Landlubber Mike]

Thanks Alan!

 

For the hotel, I actually bought this Art Bin plastic carrying case from Amazon.  It was able to carry a small cutting mat, the kit and AM, my Optivisor (which I didn't need), and a high powered LED desk lamp (along with a variety of tools).

 

Art Bin:

 

https://www.amazon.com/ArtBin-6917AB-Sidekick-X-Large-Black/dp/B00178HQCE/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=T5TDYNEAAFAJ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.6SPDAklrX67sewcL9xrqNhmg740nCsgSkRK8wAV7fnd4sbHQLx458tl382qWRvun572Qr3WDINdiZbdHwFudL0qfd-JOS0tsg9Z8MToRoAxAzlTneF3w7F2djgX6G0y8d1P8sZqXGtvr4mjUM85Q0c0WrUblc8i4g6NzRv0Mq75lFYWFTsRvrSxG4thTB5B1pU-C-w2TKSHEmuikM3HgApRAMtmbMJSpKxwGShSbUmnJrOOdcEgKPod11Zv9sn8QuT0JQldmDcebqQu21pJBRB8E6r8gU963zOW4ClY3ZJM.oRIalhAhGhBUBEwfTvJNYc-47ovsM_QgMRkhfuFzqF0&dib_tag=se&keywords=art+bin&qid=1752543532&sprefix=art+bin%2Caps%2C131&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1

 

Desk lamp:

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B8RZWW8X?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_2&th=1

 

I've used the desk lamp for a while now, and I find that with the added light, I don't have as much need for the Optivisor as I used to.  I don't really use the magnification lens on this lamp, but I have occasionally in the 9 or so months that I've owned it.  It was definitely a necessity in the hotel room as the lighting (as in any hotel room) was really inadequate to do any modeling.