The Ship Model Forum

Fellow Modelers,

I am starting this thread to share the building process of my current model project, which is Nichimo’s 1/200 scale I-19 B1 Class WWII Japanese submarine. I do not know how old Nichmo’s I-19 kit is, but has to be fairly old since I first built it in 1991, and it was not new even then. Some of the parts have flash on them and the molds are showing signs of minor pitting. Some of the deck parts are out of scale and too thick, while many of the single piece parts are offset badly along the center mold line. Having said that, this is an extremely well detailed and accurate model of the I-19 (at least from all of the reference drawings and photos I have seen) and it does go together very well.

Hopefully this thread will show the entire build (including construction photos), and end with a large number of finished photos. I will be sharing what I modify or add to the kit, as well as what aftermarket parts and supplies will be used. Part of the inspiration for this project came from the “Calling all IJN sub fans” thread on this same website. That thread has some great comments and photos posted to it. Some of that same information will be seen here. I am hoping that kind of interest can be generated on this thread. I am also doing this so finished model photos will be posted. Many times Japanese submarine “progress photos” are posted (which are good) but photos of the complete model are never shared. Building the Nichimo I-19 will be the core of this thread, but I encourage any comments, questions and opinions relating to WWII Japanese submarines. Let’s get started…

The photos below show:
Ist Image: The kit box top-
2nd Image: Glenn Float Plane parts still on the sprue-
3rd Image: The I-19 docked at Yokosuka Naval Yard (dated July 1942)
4th Image: The cover the Japan’s Model Art No. 34/Winter 2009 magazine (showing a painting of the I-19 by noted Japanese illustrator Mori Tsunide?). I want my I-19 to represent what the submarine looked like around September 1942, so the photo and magazine cover art will be my main references.
5th Image: The drive shaft loes were too large so they were filled with 5-minute epoxy then drilled out.
6th Image: Flood holes on the sides and deck area were drilled deeper than the mold impression.








more to follow...

Phillip1

Looking good Phillip1

Bill Keough

_________________
Keep The Faith Gentlemen and Watch the Offside

Fellow Modelers,

Here's the latest progress. Several hours were spent “cleaning” the upper and lower hull halves of tiny mold flaws, and making sure the fit between the two pieces was as perfect as possible. The lower hull is about 1/16” shorter than the upper hull and required some careful sanding to get both ends to match, while still maintaining the correct shapes.

1st Image: To make sure there was no overlapping “lip” at the connecting point of the upper and lower hull halves, I glued wooden toothpick spacers inside the lower hull to push out the width. This produced a tight fit and a near perfect flush fit between the two parts. The toothpicks were only required around the middle section. Since the model is going to be attached to a wooden base by two screws, the holes for the screws were drilled out and small blocks of styrene were glued over the holes. These were added to get to give extra reinforcement when the model is attached to the base. One of these reinforcing blocks can be seen in the photo.

2nd Image: After the upper and lower hull halves were glued together, 5-minute epoxy was applied around the entire seam to fill any tiny gaps that might be revealed when the paint is applied. The middle upper deck section was then glued in place. When Nichimo originally released this kit it included an electric motor for actual operation in the water. The removable middle upper deck section provided access to the electric motor and batteries. I have actually seen a YOU TUBE video of this model operated on a pond by radio control! Having “toy-like” features included on a scale model seems to be a common characteristic with several Japanese manufacturers. There was a small gap on one end of the deck that was filled with two small pieces of square styrene. 5-minute epoxy was used again to seal this area.

3rd Image: Another modification was filling the oversized locating holes for the fore and aft hydroplane guards. My solution was to fill the holes with superglue, sand them smooth and re-drill them with a smaller opening. Only one locating hole is required for each part so half of the holes were not re-drilled.





More to follow...

Phillip1

Fellow Modelers-here's the latest update...

1st Image: A wooden base and two wooden pedestals were purchased from a local Michaels’s Arts and Craft store to support my model. Holes were drilled all the way through the pedestals to allow 1-3/4” wood screws to go into the lower hull.

2nd Image: The wooden base and lower hull are shown together to confirm the drilling locations match up. The holes in the base and pedestals are drilled a little oversize prevent any “binding” when the screws are added. When the screws are located for the last time, 5-minute epoxy will be added to the bottom of the base to permanently lock them in place.

3rd Image: Work moves to the conning tower assembly. The two halves are shown mated together without the seam line sanded out. The photo also reveals how the kit molds have deteriorated a little by the rough finish on the upper airplane hanger area. Some of the locating tabs inside the conning tower halves were removed so the deck part could be inserted from the bottom much later. It is important to do this since these parts need to be painted separately.

4th Image: The seam line of the conning tower has been sanded and polished out. I tried to re-scribe a line along the top of the aircraft hanger section, but I was not happy with the way it looked so it was filled back in.

5th Image: The kit comes with the periscopes, signal mast and housing base molded as a single piece. To be able to add better detail, and make painting easier, the two periscopes and signal mast were cut off.

6th Image: The periscope assembly was further modified by cutting off the bottom of the first periscope base. This has to be done to be able to place the part in its final location after the conning tower halves are together. Note that a small extra hole was drilled at the top of the base to add a flash signal later.

7th Image: Some of the tiny conning tower detail parts are shown after the mold lines have been cleaned up. These parts are almost too small for my old eyes!

8th Image: Almost all of the cleaned up and modified conning tower parts are shown in this photo. A small piece of wire was added to the signal mast to represent the horizontal member, which is required for the rigging added later. Small diameter wire also replaced the kit’s Azimus compass base and Azimus compass guard.

Nice choice Phillip, I have this one in my stash.
I shall be following this thread, looking forward to your updates.

Nice mold! ;but could any body tell me the working mechanism of her retractable forward planes? Thanks

Very nice , concise and clearly photographed !

A pleasure to view!

Jim B

_________________
....I buy them at three times the speed I build 'em.... will I live long enough to empty my stash...?
http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery ... index.html

IPMS UK SIG (special interest group) www.finewaterline.com

sirmaumau,

Below is a section of the Nichimo kit instructions that shows some details on how the hydroplanes work. I hope it helps.

Phillip1

Fellow Modelers-thanks for the compliments. Here’s the latest update:

1st Image: A unique feature about the kit is that some to the parts (hydroplanes/hydroplane guards/upper rudder) are out of brass instead of plastic. Because of this the attachment pins on the brass parts are large and flat, which leaves gaps when the part is put in place. To improve this on the upper rudder, the flat attachment section was cut off and replaced with small diameter wire.

2nd Image: The oversize hole in the hull for the upper rudder part was filled with superglue, sanded flush and re-drilled with smaller hole. This photo shows the test fitting of the modified part into the modified hole.

3rd Image: The two main aircraft crane parts are shown in the photo after clean up. For extra detail I plan on using some very fine diameter wire (.005”), and 1/700 scale photo-etch parts from an old ship set I have in my spares box. You would think the 1/700 scale parts would be too small to use on a 1/200 scale model, but when I hold them up to the kit, the cranes parts look pretty good.

4th Image: The locating hole where the large deck gun attaches has some unattractive sink marks around it.

5th Image: A round deck gun mounting plate is scratch-built from very thin evergreen styrene to cove the sink mark area.

6th Image: This photo shows the deck gun and scratch-built deck gun plate test fitted into place. This was a simple fix to cover this flaw.








Until next time...

Phillip1

How will you cure the cross-seam in the deck?-- tricky one...?


Looking good

Jim Baumann

_________________
....I buy them at three times the speed I build 'em.... will I live long enough to empty my stash...?
http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery ... index.html

IPMS UK SIG (special interest group) www.finewaterline.com

Jim,

The photos make the "gap" between the middle and aft deck sections look worse than it is. When I attached the middle deck section, the main goal was to make sure all the connecting deck sections were flush (no steps) and I was able to accomplish this. Any small gaps were taken care of by applying 5-Minute epoxy, then taking a damp Q-tip and swiping it over the area to remove all the access. Unfortunately the photos do not show where the epoxy has been applied. I believe after the deck is painted an weathered the "cross-seam" will really not be that noticable.

Thanks

Phillip1

Greetings Fellow Modelers-Below are some of the latest construction photos:

1st Image: On the real submarine the aircraft crane had a cover plate on one side so when it was retracted there was a flush fit with the rest of the deck for the crew to walk on. The kit does not provide this so a small, thin piece of styrene was cut and sanded to shape to represent it. It will be glued in place when the final details are added.

2nd Image: Many of the kit’s plastic upper deck post and support pieces were replaced with .015” diameter metal rod that was bent to shape and cut. The pieces in the photo are the flagpole support structure. Using these thinner metal pieces goes a long way to improving the model’s appearance.

3rd Image: The B1 Class submarines had permanent two-bar railing around the conning tower area. The attached excellent, well known photo (I-29 in the foreground and I-27 in the background) shows what the railing looked like and where it was located. Any other railing was probably temporary and only put in place when the submarine was in port.

4th Image: This photo shows the 1/192 scale brass two-bar railing set purchased from Masterpieces in Miniature (www.minmbox387.com). The set (No. F1602) is perfect for what is required. It is also good looking and inexpensive (four 5” lengths for $4.60). I also purchased a set of vertical ladders to use on the sides of the hull, but to be honest they are not very impressive so I will not be using them.

5th Image: This photo shows the locating holes that have been drilled for the photo-etched railings. Large holes are required to accommodate the “feet” on the photo-etched parts. When they are installed a small amount of superglue will attach the railings to the model, then 5-Minute epoxy will be carefully added to fill the holes around the photo-etched posts.

6th and 7th Images: The kit’s Yokosuka E14Y “Glen” floatplane has excellent detail and looks correct in profile. The only negative is it has very heavy panel lines on the fuselage and wings (refer to the 2nd image of the first post). The lines are so heavy they give the airplane a “toy like” appearance. To overcome this problem the “trenches” were filled with superglue and sanded smooth. I was very pleased by how much doing this improved the appearance. The attached photos show the fuselage and wings after the deep panel lines were removed.

At this point all of the required parts have been cleaned up, modified or scratch built. The wooden base has been stained and coated with three costs on polyurethane for a glossy finish (and to protect the wood). The next step will be to start painting.

Until next time…

Phillip1

(1/5/12 Post)

Greetings Fellow Modelers-The photos below show of one of the modeling references being used, and the first painting steps.

1st Image: This is the cover of the Japanese publication Gakken Pictorial Book #17 –IGO Class IJN Submarines. I bought this on ebay (but it was not cheap!). It contains many excellent WWII photos, but the main reason I got it was for the I-19 submarine models images below.

2nd through 4th Images: The I-19 model in these images is the Nichimo kit I am building, but heavily modified with the biggest modification being a complete new wood deck. Having these images helped me decide what extra details to add. The model is unusual in that the builder added incredibly tiny (and accurate) detail in some areas, but in other areas the building is just plain sloppy. I am not used to seeing both extremes on the same model.

5th Image: This last image from the Gakken book is a color drawing of a Yokosuka E14Y “Glen” floatplane. It will be a helpful reference when the airplane is painted.

6th Image: The kit included a color guide for the red lower hull, gray upper hull and tan wooden deck, although I did not use this to match the paints I used. The kit also came with gloss finish “stickers” for the submarine and airplane markings-which are useless.

7th Image: The original main color paints used (red/gray/tan) were by White Ensign, since they have an IJN Navy paint line (I love it when other people have already done the research). This paint line includes different grays that were used by the various Japanese shipyards. Since the I-19 was overhauled at Yokosuka Naval Yard in March 1942, and was there again in July 1942, it is a good guess that the upper hull was painted Yokosuka Gray. Unfortunately I did not have good success using these paints. They went on very grainy and rough and I ended up stripping off the red, gray and tan paint with Fantastic Cleaner and Windex Glass Cleaner. I decided to use Model Master paints, since I am very comfortable with them and did my best to match them to the White Ensign colors. This photo shows the lower hull being masked off to add random panels after the base color was applied.

8th through 9th Image: These photos show the lower hull after the darker paneling and dry-brushing has been applied. The prominent weld lines on the hull stand out really well with some careful Light Ghost Gray dry-brushing.











Until next time…

Phillip1

Greetings Fellow Modelers-I was able to make some good painting progress this weekend!

1st Image: After all of the painting on the lower hull was done it was permanently attached to the wooden base, which made handling much easier. The next section painted was the deck. I used Model Master radome tan, since it is a close match to the White Ensign deck color. This is a very light, bright color that almost looks like fresh cut pine. To prevent paint build up from multiple coats, the upper hull around the deck was masked off.

2nd and 3rd Images: These photos show the “base” tan color after the tape was removed.

4th Image: Next, the painted deck area was masked off so the upper hull could be painted. A good masking job on this step is critical because it determines how sharp the painting details between the deck and upper hull will be. Note that some of the deck details that were painted tan are exposed so they can be painted gray. I used Model Master anthracite gray for the upper hull. Once again I felt it was a close to the White Ensign color.

5th and 6th Images: These photos show the upper hull after the masking tape was removed from the deck.

7th Image: This is part of the instructions that came with the Nichimo kit, showing painting suggestions. I used it to help locate the white identification bands (two forward/two aft). After a Japanese submarine was accidentally bombed by a Japanese airplane in May 1942, a directive was issued for submarines to have white recognition bands painted (or attached) across the deck. The location, shape and number of bands varied, but what is shown on this drawing is typical so it is what I used on my model.

8th Image: This photo shows the beginning of the process to mask off the recognition bands. Note the cover plate over the lifeboat storage area has been painted anthracite gray.

9th and 10th Images: Here are photos of the newly painted recognition bands. Note the paint colors are nice and pristine at this point, but will undergo a significant transformation after pastel weathering and dry-brushing are added.

11th Image: To give the flood holes a “hollow” appearance, black pastel powder was rubbed into each opening with a tiny paint brush. This was tedious task but it added a lot.

12th Image: This photo shows an overview of the hull.

13th and 14th Images: These photos show the front and rear sections after all of the weathering was done. Medium gray pastel powder was applied to the entire deck area with a soft bristle brush. The brush was then scrubbed over the deck. Doing this darkened the tan color and made the finish uneven, which it more realistic. Model Master light ghost gray was used to dry-brush all the upper hull sides and gray deck details.
















Until next time…

Phillip1

Looking really good, nice job on the hull plating. It is nice seeing old kits like these brought up to current standards with some hard work! Keep at it!

_________________
Enlisted men are stupid, but very cunning and deceitful and bear considerable watching." - Marine Corps Officers Manual, 1894

http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery ... index.html

Agreed.

Greetings Fellow Modelers-Since the painting and weathering of the hull is basically complete my attention turned to painting the conning tower.

1st Image: This photo shows the conning tower after the basic color (anthracite gray) was applied.

2nd Image: This photo shows how the conning tower was masked off before the black camouflage areas were painted.

3rd Image: The conning tower now has the black camouflage, and has been dry-brushed to bring out the details.

4th and 5th Images: These photos show the conning tower after adding the decals and deck section. The white letters/numbers came from a SuperScale gothic decal sheet. The “flags” came from the Revell 1/72 Gato Sub decals sheet, although they were cut down in size.

6th and 7th Image: The conning tower is shown after being glued to the hull.

8th Image: A couple of small photo-etch pieces from my spares box were added to the large deck gun to represent the elevation handwheels.










The model is really starting to look like the I-19, with the hull and conning tower assembled. Now that’s what I’m talking about!

Until next time…

Phillip1

Greetings Fellow Modelers-Below are the latest progress photos.

1st and 2nd Images: These photos show some of the minor rusting that was added to the hull with pastel dust. The goal was to make the rusting random and really not that noticeable unless you get close to the model.

3rd Image: This photo shows the completed aircraft crane ready to be glued to the deck. The .005” diameter wires and photo-etched hook part really improved the look.

4th: The photo-etched railing is test fitted to the hull to make sure all the holes line up before the part is painted. In an earlier post I stated the locating holes in the hull would be filled with 5-Minute epoxy, but using superglue worked much better.






All of the final detail parts are being glued to the model and it should be finished in the next day or so. Hopefully the next post will contain photos of the completed model.

Until next time…

Phillip1

Super build Phillip!




Bob Pink.

Greetings Fellow Modelers-I was able to finish the model last night! .005” diameter wire was used for mast rigging and the radio wires running from the conning tower to the stern. 5-minute epoxy was mixed with light gray paint to make the small “bulbs” on the radio wires. The only detail left to build is the Glenn floatplane, which I am working on now. I will have to be outside to take some good full view photos, and the weather has not been cooperating. I will post more later. I hope you enjoy the photos.










Until next time…

Phillip1