The Ship Model Forum

I am more interested in getting it accurate than being "right". So here is what I have.

Someone was telling me (and I cannot find the thread now or the link they shared) that the Gunze Maizuru Grey was accurate. The link they shared had a paint chip and the closest to it was the XF-18.

Now I do not recall any evidence presented by said individual other than a few people agreeing that the Gunze was a great match. Honestly I thought it looked to blue as well, but I think I have seen far more Kure grey than anything else and this is my first IJN subject so I am hitting new ground here. Like wise the linoleum color suggested seemed off as well. Do you have some place I could research this better?

Unfortunately, I cannot find any of the MW threads to act as a quick reference guide. I'll do my best here -

There are 4 "official" IJN greys, each denoted by a primary IJN construction and repair facility (Kure, Yokosuka, Maizuru, and Sasebo). There were several private constructors and yards (ex. Mitsubishi,Kawasaki, Uraga yard, etc.) whose gray colors tended to match one of the primary yards.

IJN greys have some blue in them; Yokosuka has a greenish tinge to it as well. Sasebo is the darkest, Maizuru the lightest, Kure tends to be the generic, ubiquious choice. I am personally guilty of using Kure Gray to the exclusion of everything else.

Several paint manufacturers obtained color samples of the actual colors in order to mix their paints. Gunze is one, Tamiya another. Snyder & Short have a IJN color chip sheet (also based on actual samples) available for sale; worth obtaining to get a true picture of the variances (which are on the subtle side, IMHO, and scale effect diminishes it even further). see: http://www.shipcamouflage.com/paint_chips.htm

In addition to Gunze Sangyo & Tamiya, there are several paint mfgs. who offer IJN paints matched to these chips, in both acrylic and enamel/lacquer. WEM, Vallejo, Testors, MM, etc. Here is a link to Tamiya's choices, which are great for airbrushing (and my personal preference): http://www.tamiya.com/english/products/ ... hip_color/

The TS designation means it's a spray bottle (lacquer, I think). There is a flat acrylic XF equivalent for all those IJN colors, scroll thru all 3 pages: http://www.tamiya.com/english/products/ ... t81702.htm

The flats are what I use & prefer. Note that Tamiya does not produce a version for Yokosuka or Maizuru NY. Personally, I think the Neutral Gray XF-53 comes close to Maizuru. HTH.

Thanks Dan. I bought the neutral grey. What do you think of the linoleum color I have chosen?

Tamiya has XF-79, linoleum, which is what I used on my build of Nagara. The Mahogany seems pretty dark.

My build found here viewtopic.php?f=59&t=100503
Not saying I am right, but that's my thoughts.

Good luck with the build, she's a pretty ship!

Agreed, but I cannot seem to get XF-79 for some reason.

Any way here are the latest update pictures:

Looks good. Before XF-79 came out, I used XF-64 Red Brown, which is just a shade darker. You could add a drop of white to lighten it.

And we are back!

Now that I finished the airwing from he** I can get back to this kit. No new photos to update with. I am working on the main deck midship. There are several molded on details that I am trying very carefully to remove because they will be replaced with PE. Namely the type 96 splinter shields and the boat stands. The splinter shields as molded would likely have been two feet thick when adjusting the scale. I bet the AA guys wished the armor was that thick. This is tedious but worth it.

More to come with photos soon.

Seven hours of work does not look like a whole lot with these pics. Lets just say it was tedious to try and remove molded on deck detail without messing up what I wanted to keep there....

Working on the main batteries. All the barrels have been replaced. I am working on the photo etch wrap arounds for the armor. This has been a bit more of a challenge that I thought it would be. I had to sand the back of the photo etch to give it some tooth as to not just slip all over the place when I put the glue on. I also used a lighter to heat the bras up some to get the bend easier. I have three of the seven done now. It is a lot of "glue a section, add clamping tweezers, walk away for an hour".

Finished the main batteries. And I am currently working on the small structures between the funnels. The PE for these is proving to be a headache. I am also about to start the funnels. I have pics but need to get my computer working again to format them to fit on the website.

Angeliccypher wrote:The PE for these is proving to be a headache. .

Ah, the joys of photo-etch!

I have managed to get the main batteries and the structures between the funnels largely completed and the main mast is now about 1/3 done. There is a lot more PE that goes on the upper portions of the mast.

Dude, those PE gun shields are the bomb! So much better than any plastic. Looking fantastique!

Hey Look! I found my modeling table again! Seriously, I was able to put some time back in and here are the results.
Thanks for looking, and comments are always welcome!

Here are the latest. I now have all the basic sub assemblies complete and will be starting on the painting here very shortly.

She is looking real nice.

Nice work, Gabriel.

Very sharp and crisp work. She's coming along nicely.

Very nice work! Your pe skills are impressive...and the patience involved is worth it in my opinion. This is going to be a great looking model!!

Thank-you for sharing your build on here with us..it is proving most interesting! -Tim

Thank you for the kind words everyone.

I must send an apology to Chris F. I am attempting to us his shading technique that he so kindly shared with us on his wonder USS North Carolina. So this is my sad rendition that needs substantially more practice. Everything is now sealed with Krylon Matte. Painting to start once I fix a couple of things that decided they did not wish to be attached to the model anymore.

So far I have learned a lot doing this but it should still hopefully turn out decent.
Thank you for looking!