steinerman wrote:
Greetings Imodel_215, and welcome to the forums!
I'm delighted to see another modeller tackle this beast. It is a monster and will consume tons of both time and money! Hank (BB62vet) is right when he says it will end up being very expensive. By the time you end up buying all the necessary PE and reference materials you can figure spending well over a grand. But, when you take a look at the few that actually completed this kit, it's well worth it. It's a beautiful ship that will give you great satisfaction, both in building it and displaying it (which I HOPE to be able to do SOMEDAY!)
Bigjimslade is also correct in that you really have to take the Kagero 3D book with a grain of salt. There is quite a bit of detail in it but not all of it is accurate. You need to check other sources as well. (Sideline: I don't understand why you say it's expensive unless it's out of print. I bought it from Amazon back in 2016 for $30.)
If you plan on doing any detailing on this ship other than an Out-of-box build, I would suggest you at least explore these resources:
1. Start at page 1 and read this thread all the way through - all 200 pages. I have a good screen grab program (Snagit, from Techsmith) and when I see a tip or picture that shows me some detail or bit of information, I save it in a separate folder. There is a ton of information here.
2. Read the build logs of the other modellers who have built this ship or are in the process. While there are probably more, the ones that come to mind right now are Hank (BB62vet), who converted the kit into a modern New Jersey, Kelly Quirk, and Wojtek, who populated his ship with sailors and depicted the Japanese surrender. And also, my own build log of my still-in-process build.
3. By all means get the BB63 e-book from The Floating Drydock. It isn't expensive - $20 or $25, but there is a ton of detail in it,especially if you plan on adding any extra detail. Tom sold the business to Randy Fagan and he is still in the process of getting things organized and straightened around, so he may be a bit slow in responding, but he's honest and reliable and willing to help.
4. If you can possibly afford it, buy a set of plans from TFD for this ship. According to Randy, the best ones are the ones by Tom Walkowiak, the TFW series. They show detail that doesn't appear even in the e-book drawings. The 1:192 scale plans are only $29 and are well worth the money. They depict the ship as she was in September of 1945. I also have the 1:96 scale plans which I find even better because I'm 76 years old and my eyesight isn't what it used to be. These are $55, but with the shipping and the extra to have them sent rolled instead of folded, they're closer to $70.
I'm sure there are other resources, but these are the ones I use primarily. Also, all of us here are available to answer questions and offer help and give advice. We're actually a pretty friendly bunch.
So, good luck, have fun and enjoy your new toy! Just be patient and stock up on your favorite wine! You'll need both!
I will look into that book. Thank you for the advice.
Ive been following multiple build threads from a bunch of you guys on this particular thread. You guys are extremely talented, keep it up!