The Ship Model Forum

on line scratch builds,guys

Hi Matt,

A beautiful piece of work. I would never have gotten it to that state.

Best Regards,

Iran

How much did you pay for it ?

Anyone interested in a 1/200 Nagato mold/kit options might want to reach out to Tehnoart. I had a very nice 1/200 Nagato built by their firm for my collections and I believe they "sometimes" kit up large ships for sale. No idea if this is something they would do (tried accessing some smaller parts and pieces and it was a no-go) but thought it might be at least an option for those who want to build this terrific ship.

As a teaser, here is what you have to look forward to...


Matt

Damn shame the manufacturer is no longer in business. Tried locating the owner to find what became of his molds but to no avail.

This needs a new catagory completely. Lets call it "SUPERKIT" not scratchbuild.

Very nice.

Did you complete this model ?

Woah, 7 parts per gun, x 101 guns, = 707 parts on the guns so far..... And I still have to produce the magazines, mag release catches, and charging handles... My modeling buddy says to keep track of the number of parts in my build.. Just as a comparison to a kit... Scratchbuilding requires far more effort, as shown by just the # of parts that have to be individually fabbed and assembled... But with scratchbuilds, ALL things are possible!!! Who needs a kit!!!

I'm up to 861 parts total, and havent even started on the ship proper yet... Am I a masochist or what? LOL!!!

This cleaned up version is looking pretty good so far...

Tom

Yep, I know how it is, bouncing around.. I try not to do that tho, it impedes my progress...
Aside from producing these 25mm's, I'm in the process of 3x laminating cardstock for the structure... Glue (3m spray), roll, and press between glass... Over and Over... So I work on the guns, while the glue is setting up... Boring as hell now, but will pay dividends when I don't have to wait, later in the build...

Thx, it is a good way to make the guns...I was looking for a straightforward way to get the desired detail into the guns, without making them frail, or cobbled together.. Also allow consistant repro, and durability against damage.. It allows for considerable adjustment, diam of wire, thickness and #wraps of tape... I have adjusted the original a little..
This is the production version.. Made 100 units, because I have a couple more IJN projects in 1/125, that are approved my the Empire... The Imperial Cannon Foundry is working overtime, LOL!!!

I love all things IJN, have since I was a youngster... Japanese BB's RULE, LOL!!!
I'll start a 1/125 Kongo tread, when I get more photos of the process...
I've enjoyed reading this thread and others as well..

Zalduta
Tom

hello tommy, that is a very neat way of building the 25mm guns,i am pidling around with my 1/200 guns at this time ,i tend to jump around a bit. i will be following your build ,its nice to see what others are doing,keep the postings and pics comming. i am working on the practice guns on the 16"barrels right now,i think i should do the blast bags first so not to gum up the assembly.i will post pics the finished assemblys when i am done on 1/200 nagato scratch build.

OK, here are a few photos, 125th scale IJN 25mm triple mount, my interpretation...
This is the first prototype assembled gun, will make adjustments on subsequent units..
Hope the pics come thru..

I know the feeling about the 25mm guns on IJN warships... Geez, there are so many!!! I'm working on a 1/125 scale Kongo right now...I count a total of 86 25mm guns in its 1944 trim... Probably the most monotonous task on the whole model.. So it is one that I will tackle first, get it out of the way... My solution was to use stainless safety wire, and masking tape, for the guns themselves.. Results are good, I get more detail by scratchbuilding them, than I have seen on any resin and pe kit... Although I will use pe gunsite rings...

2 pieces of wire, and 4 pieces of tape do the job very well... (for the guns themselves)

Remember, that all of the 25mm guns were identicle, and could be switched out in any of the mounts, single, double, and triple... The guns were contained in their own carrier, which included two recoil cyls, that allowed the gun to slide on rails in the carrier under recoil.. The gun/carrier could be easily yanked out of the mount for service... There was a dedicated shop aboard ship, that did nothing but maintain/service these guns in a shipwide rotation.. These guns were a pirated Hotchkiss design, aircooled, gas piston operated, much like an oversized BAR turned upside down.. So they needed constant maintenance in the marine environment... The only way to do it for 86 guns, would be a rotation system.. Replacing the guns in turn, with a freshly serviced unit... Yeah, The NAVY way!!!! LOL!!!
Like painting the golden gate, when ya finish, ya immediately start over... Talk about monotony...

Making the model guns is best done in a assy line fashion.. Gotta watch your quality control, because it is easy to slip off scale...
But if you cut your wire, and tape, consistantly, the units stay very uniform...

Darn, wife has the camera... Will post a photo later, of the parts and results...


Tom

you are right on the layout it could be easyer,and you are also correct on painting, i had better not prime them first.

I tried the GPM triples and it was way beyond my eyes, hands, and skill. I will just drill out openings for the barrls and install the brass ones on the kit triples. Good work on yours and I understand some of the frustrations. I think GPM and others could find a better way of laying out the etch so that fewer parts are required. It's a shame that unless you use the thinnest and lightest color paint allowable for scale, the detail will get washed out anyway.

Keep up the good work,

IR3

well, it took me 4 hrs. to assemble one gun,some of the parts where to small for me to bend and place,hard to bend a piece 1/16 by 1/8 inch three times.there is no doubt skilled p.e guys can do it.this is the first one and there are errors,next ones will be better. one fret makes 6 guns,comes out to about $1.50 canadian per gun,i would say this is very reasonable.i am very pleased with it,also delivery was only 1 week.heres some pics

i received some p.e and barrels from g.p.m today plus extra 25mm barrels.the 25mm p.e guns are very small,and the directions are not very clear.it shows where all the pieces go,but is lacking on where to bend.if i can manage to get one together thay are going to be nice guns.the three barrel one has 22 parts plus 3 barrels.this is going to be a challenge.my eyes are old and my fingers big "yikes" i am going to try one just to get a brake from roma.if it turns out o.k i will post a pic.

thanks again guys,i am still working on roma,but am researching nagato.summer is just about over and its time to get back to building.

I don't have any of the Japanese 25mm sets, but I have a couple of other GPM gun mount sets. They make up the entire mount. The only thing you need to add are the barrels, which they offer as separate parts. They also offer complete built-up guns, but they are pretty pricey.

thanks for that timmy.i guess that even if it did not,one could make a crude frame to mount the photo-etch.

Looks like the sheet comes with enough to make the whole mount asides from the barrels.