1/200 Pre dreadnought battleship IJN Mikasa after 1905

[SG1]

Beautiful outcome!

[MartinJQuinn]

Fantastic work on those funnels! I am in awe of your work.

[Joelle]

Thank you both for your kind words.

This weekend, I had planned to finally finish the pinnaces.
The funnels had already been laid down and installed, but there were still a few small items missing that I wanted to add shortly before the end to avoid tearing them down again.



Two more boat hooks scratched on each pinnace and the portholes glazed.



A chain hoist is installed to secure the boats.



Railings and companionways mounted on the foredeck.



I need to refinish the deck where the pinnaces rest. During all the adjustments, I scratched the paint surface and had to patch it up. I�ll have to go back to that.



Slowly life comes into the place.



A new sailor has also started his service.



He checks the tension on the pinnace�s chain hoist.

[Joelle]

Let�s move on to the next yawls: the small steam launch.

I haven�t found a 3D printer for this one, so I guess I�ll have to do it myself.
Originally made from the box, the boat really doesn�t look anything like it. First, I removed the rough outline of the engine and the bulky center bar of the upper section.



Then I inserted a grating floor. The Bismarck�s former bridge wing was trimmed and fitted. Cheers to the etched parts grab bag. And I removed the suggested grating at the rear.



Now I made a bench seat and glued in the ribs from profiles. I attached an etched grille from the KA set to the rear.



We still need a boiler. It�s also only rudimentarily represented in the original, so there�s room for more. A small profile should represent the engine and its cylinders. A few flanges on top�you can never have enough.



Then, little by little, more details were added: piping, a handwheel, and a support for the tilting funnel. A small instrument panel at the front rounds it all off. Everything is then mounted on a styrene strip for easier handling.



More piping and a second handwheel. It never hurts.



And then I am quite satisfied with the whole facial expression.



Let�s put the whole thing in the little boat. Let�s put the funnel in for a test.



Ferrules are really great for small funnel.



So far, so good.
Now we�ll apply the paint, and then we�ll add the small parts like the propeller and rudder.

[Joelle]

I have a question for you about the boiler of the steam boat, which I just painted in my favorite color, gray.



Now I'm looking at the boiler and wondering, were they really painted gray?!
Or were they perhaps painted black, since the gray wouldn't last long in the heat and might burn and peel off.
Do any of you have any information about this?

Edit:

Hello everyone.
This question has already been answered in other forums, and I'm going to paint the boiler black.

[Joelle]

Okay, so it turned black.



Today, the entire machinery arrived in the barge.
Placed on the deck in its cradle for testing.



The space is very limited and it is damn tight.



Since the davits are still missing, the barge isn�t secured yet. The chain hoists for lashing it down aren�t attached either.



The next cutters are again 3D prints.



The shape of the Mikasa is slowly taking shape.

[Joelle]

I pushed the next cutters back for now, as the davits are missing and I can�t determine the optimal position. The steamboat isn�t glued down yet either.

So I started on the rear bridge. I was a bit apprehensive about this construction phase. You might remember that I removed some of the profiles on the bridge houses because I wasn�t sure everything would fit in the end.

But first things first.
First, I laid the wooden deck while I could still exert pressure on the plastic part.



This will stop once the underside has received its large brass component with the gusset plates.



After everything had thoroughly dried, I wanted to attach the posts that support the bridge on the bridge house. They were originally made of plastic, but I immediately rejected that idea. I cut some out of brass to give them more stability.
Attaching them, however, turned out to be a real test of patience.



After testing the bridge, I realized, no, not like that. It�s completely unstable.
So I�m starting from the back. I drilled holes for the posts so I could push them through from above later.



Next, the outer support structure was attached. What a delicate construction phase. But it looks so good.



After I had completed that satisfactorily, I had to carefully tape everything off to avoid dirtying the wooden deck with the primer.



The base coat is applied, and then the moment of truth. Does everything fit?!



And you see, yes� everything fits together perfectly. So I wouldn�t have had to remove the profiles at all. It would have been close, but it would have worked anyway.
Still, she�s confident.



I�ve already soldered the little bridge house and placed it on the deck for fun.
Very nice.

[wefalck]

Very nice metal-work again

Coming back to the colour of the machinery including the boiler. You are right, at that time the only paint that would stand the temperatures would be those that either use carbon-black or a metal powder. The older of us may remember the coal-stoves and smoke-pipes in our apartments being either painted black or silver.

Steam-boilers in open boats were usually lagged to reduce heat losses, first with asbestos sheets and then with wooden laths to keep the asbestos in place. These areas could be painted in the livery colours, typically ochre in the 18th century and later in grey. The parts exposed to high temperatures are the firebox (the side from which the boiler is fires), the smoke-box (where usually the smoke-stack sits), and the smoke-stack itself. However the latter may be double-walled even on launches and may be painted in the respective navy colour scheme, as can be seen from many photographs and paintings.

The steam-engine itself would not be exposed to temperatures above say above 200�C or so. Hence, they could also be painted following the navy colour scheme.

[Joelle]

Thanks for this info, Eberhard.
Man, I know I know nothing about historical shipbuilding. It's nice to know an expert here.
So I could have left my beloved gray. But never mind, I really like it in black too. And since the steam launch was born from my imagination and some online pictures.
I'm very pleased that you don't have any more complaints about it.

[marijn van gils]

Great work! She is coming along beautifully.

[Joelle]

Thank you for that, Marijn.
So here's a little update before we go on vacation.



And the deck, too. I added a small styrene profile in the middle. This ensures the deck rests firmly on the armored control station and gives the whole thing stability. You can�t see any of it.



Once you hang up, you�ll see that it would have been really tight with my profiles.



And that�s how the Mikasa got its two upper levels. Stern�



and towards the bow.



That�s it in a nutshell before I set off on my journey tomorrow.

And here are a few more impressions of my model in its current construction state.

[marijn van gils]

Beautiful, she is really taking shape now!

What is left? The main armament, masts, and a lot of railing?

[Joelle]

Hello Marijn, thank you very much and best wishes from the island of R�gen.

You've already roughly outlined what's still missing.
Then there are the seven dinghies, four of which hang rather complexly in the davits at the stern. All the things that are attached to the outside of the hull, like anchors, torpedo nets with their supports, and the gallery at the stern. I also have some scratch work to do on the hull, but more on that later. And, of course, the rigging.
But that's about it.

So, I estimate it will take me at least another six months.

[Joelle]

Ahoy, dear forum community.
I�m back from my vacation.
I hadn�t quite unpacked my suitcases yet, but I was already magically drawn back to my ship model.
But since I didn�t feel like dealing with small stuff and wanted to make something big and simple, my eyes immediately fell on the large towers.
First, I cut out everything and collected it.



The interior was already prepared and only needed to be glued to the hood. Then the brass ring was attached to the base. A nice, easy start after the vacation.



Things got a bit more difficult with the large brass component that goes on the turret lid. But that wasn�t a problem with MIG�s acrylic glue. Of course, unlike with superglue, you have to hold the whole thing in place while it dries.
But that�s no problem.



Then I primed it, checked for cracks, and closed them.
So far, so good.



And then came the unexpected setback.
Getting the brass gun barrels into their mounts proved surprisingly difficult. The turret openings were very narrow and in some cases, the primer was peeling off the barrels. Furthermore, the barrels didn�t fit particularly well in their brass mounts and were relatively unstable. I then filled them with a lot of glue.
Thankfully, you won�t notice any of that later.



Standing upright like this, I�ll let the towers dry thoroughly before I continue working on them.

[wefalck]

Out of curiosity: what are these grille-like structures on top of the turrets?

[Joelle]

I can't say for sure, but as far as I know, they are slats to let air through.

[wefalck]

That occurred to me also, but wouldn't make a lot of sense, as it would compromise the protection against projectiles coming in an an angle - in an age, where sea-battles were fought at increasing distances, which means the projectiles have a less horizontal and stretched trajectory.

[Joelle]

I can't disagree with you there, especially since I don't have your expertise.
But I've adopted it without giving it too much thought, since Pontos' sentence is obviously tailored to it.

[wefalck]

Are there any photographs that show the top of the turrets ... or drawings?

[Joelle]

I have this picture where I think the slats are covered with a tarpaulin.



I don't know any picture without the cover.