Aoshima 1/700 HMS Exeter, 1942

[Richard Durham]

Currently slowly building Aoshima�s 1/700 HMS Exeter (1942). Parts look good in the box, hull detail is very sharp but topside detail seems a bit soft. I understand the kit scales out well with known dimensions. I also purchased the Aoshima photoetch set for use with this kit. Intend to replace the 8 inch gun barrels, pom poms, 4.5 inch guns, 20 mm guns, masts and whatever else I can. I have two kits, so I might use this build as a pathfinder.

[Haijun watcher]

Mr. Durham,

Do you mind saying from which source you got the Aoshima Exeter Photoetch set? Or was it in a local hobby shop?

[Richard Durham]

Haijun Watcher,
I ordered the Aoshima Exeter Photoetch from Hobby Link Japan awhile ago. Tried to purchase another set recently but it appears to be sold out just about everywhere.

[Richard Durham]

The Aoshima Exeter hull was bowed, not really uncommon. A while ago I started gluing (using 5 min epoxy) a piece of 3/16 inch stainless steel keystock (bought on Amazon) in hull to straighten and stabilize the hull. Also, I build on a small wooden platform to reduce the number of times that I have to touch the kit when I need to move or reposition the model during building.

[Richard Durham]

Assembled some of the superstructure parts, primed the deck with a Tamiya mix of buff and white. Also did a dry fit of the superstructure parts. The alignment pins on the bottoms of these parts fit well. I thought the pilot structure bulkheads (3 pieces) fit particularly well. Tried some paint on a few parts. I use Model Master Acryl, now no longer in production, so my mix for 507A had to change based on the paints that I still have, looks okay. Same with the mix for metal decks, maybe too light, but I will press on with it. I was able to find some remaining stock of Model Master Acryl in local hobby shops, so I am good on paint for the foreseeable future.

[MartinJQuinn]

Off to a good start. Hopefully we will be able to gather in Las Vegas for the IPMS/USA Nationals in 2021, and will get to see this on the table.

[mick]

good start

[Dan K]

Hopefully we will be able to gather in Las Vegas for the IPMS/USA Nationals in 2021, and will get to see this on the table.

Boy, that would be nice. I always love seeing Rich's work in person.

[Richard Durham]

Superstructure and decks painted, and superstructure mounted on deck. Good fit so far, alignment pin arrangement allows gluing superstructure levels from underneath, making for really clean seams. I did put some plastic reinforcement under where the masts will be inserted and drilled holes (too big) for the funnel support wires. Also forgot to add the boat deck railing for the aft superstructure assemble. Decided not to use photo etch for aft boat supports, not sure that was a good idea after looking at them in the photo.

[Richard Durham]

Attached the decks (with superstructure already attached) to the hull. Fit was really good although I cracked the aft funnel-to-deck glue joint when using a clamp to apply pressure. Re-glued the joint, but it did not look very good after clean up and repainting. I will find something to put in front of the joint to hide my mess. Maybe an aircraft wing?

[drasticplastic]

Nice neat paint job around deck details - breakwater, splinter shields, etc. Did you mask for them and airbrush, or carefully hand brush?

[Richard Durham]

Drasticplastic,
I hand painted the 507A color after spraying the entire deck with my wood deck color mix. I did try masking a couple of squared off deck items but it did not work well (too small). I use Model Master Acryl and it is pretty good for hand painting, but it is no longer manufactured and I use a pretty small brush size for hand painting.

[drasticplastic]

Me too! I just wanted to see if anyone else had the patience to mask off dozens of deck details, especially in 1/700!

[Quincy]

Your deck looks really nice! The hand painted deck seems to be a lost art!



Bob Pink

[Richard Durham]

The kit 8 inch barrels are okay, but I wanted to replace them with brass barrels. The problem was finding 8 inch RN barrels in the U.S. Luckily, as I was digging through my collection of after-market barrels, I found that I had some from the now out of business Clipper Model Company. I don�t remember buying them, but I have them. Out of curiosity, I looked for possible substitutes that others might use and believe that Master Model SM-700-023 or SM-700-053 could be easily shortened (from the back) and work convincingly. The kits 2 pom pom guns are atrocious and I replaced them with Fine Molds Nano Dread QF 2 Pounder Gun Pom-pom Octuple Mount, WA37.

[Tomek K]

Really nice and clear build

[drasticplastic]

Are you going to switch out the solid support braces under the pom-pom tubs for PE ones? PE would look so much better!

[Richard Durham]

Drasticplastic,
No and I kick myself for not planning that in advance and also not planning to replacing the boat supports with photoetch. Also, up close pictures of the life rafts look really bad. I should have planned to replace the life rafts with ones from Flyhawk. A second build of this kit will fix these oversights.

[Richard Durham]

The midship ventilation inlet plenum and search light tower is a photoetch piece that bends and folds very precisely. However, it did not seem to fit the intended location once formed and painted. I don�t usually dry fit photoetch before building so I was surprised. Had to remove some plastic and then hide my cuts with a couple of ammo boxes and some plastic strip.

[Richard Durham]

Aoshima photoetch crane and catapults are nicely detailed and went together easily. Also added some midship railing, ladders and boats.