The Ship Model Forum

A beautiful build, Dan. The two elevators will be an interesting addition. I will join you soon here with a real-time 1/350 Zuikaku build, also with a Shipyard deck. I ordered 2 Infini 25mm AA sets today to replace the quite thick kit barrels and to get to the 96 needed ones. Do you intend to change these?

Thank you, Steven. I really look forward to your Zuikaku build. If it's anything like your Princeton build, it will be superb.

I'm still mulling over which 25mm AA version I will be using. The Infini version is top notch, but I'm not sure I have the patience to build so many units. I'll be comparing them to the FineMolds version, and also the brand new Black Cat 3D printed versions, which, at first glance, are amazing. A tough choice. One thing for sure, the Fujimi 25mm AA are out.

A quick update -

The waterlined hull now lies completely flat. The biggest impediment was finding a 24" long surface that lies truly flat in order to use that as a check template of sorts. Most surfaces like tables, counters, mirrors, and even many workbenches, have either subtle undulations on the surface or tend to bend slightly. I found two surfaces at work that did lie absolutely flat.

The hidden hull bottom plate has also been filled in. In the end, it was easier to fill the hull bottom in with short pieces of .04" or .06" thick styrene rather than cut an entire sheet of styrene or to use large sections fashioned from other waterline plates.

Dan K wrote:The upper hull was stiffened with old Revell display stands used as inserts (very effective) and was then waterlined using a hobby saw.

Perhaps the best use ever of a box-scale, flat-hulled Revell ship kit ever. Question is what is such kit even doing in the Kaplan household?

Perhaps the best use ever of a box-scale, flat-hulled Revell ship kit ever.

I thought so, too. As a kid, I thought the stands were worthless . Still do. I was lucky to have some lying around.

Question is what is such kit even doing in the Kaplan household?

A hair-brained idea and a momentary lapse of reason.

So, just over a year has passed since I last worked on Hiryu. Now that I have satisfied my cage mast BBs cravings, it�s time to return to her.

Unfortunately, I can hardly begin without facing an incredibly upsetting development. Somehow, over the last year, my scratch-built flight deck has developed sinkholes, mostly (but not entirely) over the access holes that I drilled in the underlying kit deck so as to glue the flight deck to that underlying structure. It�s horrific. They were definitely not there when I put the flight deck up on a shelf (room temperature, no direct sunlight, dust protected) for safe keeping. In fact, they�re not at all apparent (first pic) unless the light catches them right. But when it does, it�s really obvious.

I can only think that perhaps too much glue in these areas somehow degraded the styrene over time. And yet, this has not happened with my Taiho (1/700) scratch-built flight deck. I�m going to have replicate most of the planked area. I need to obtain a new template for the planking. I started to strip off the old planking, but have stopped for now.

I�m going to let this simmer, and just work on small sections until I figure out exactly how to approach this. Work on the anchor deck includes my use of linoleum tie-down strips for the first time.

Hi Dan:

I also have encountered sinkholes with my merchant scratch builds. I think it definitely was too much glue in certain areas. Some I was able to get away with, having deckhouses to cover them. Others, not so much. I had to scrap, sand , and do a major resurfacing! Your Hiryu is coming along quite nicely. If anyone can fix this, my money�s on you!




BobPink

The USN battlewagons were great, but still I'm happy to see you continuing this one!

About the flight deck: auwch!!!
But maybe it is a blessing in disguise. Can you imagine these showing up AFTER finishing the model?
No fun though... But you know, you already build it once so you already have the necessary experience for doing it again.

aha= now that you have stripped off the planking its too late for me to suggest strategically placed aircraft and personnel.......




what adhesive did you use-- not styrene cement? in a confined are a that can continue to oitgas fpr a long time

I avoid all styrene cement generally...

I normally use white glue for large areas that have no sheer or tension loads

-- as it is slow cure and child safe--ergo........... model safe... !

Everything has an end and can be solved...

Best wishes

JB

Thank you all for the very useful feedback. And encouragement.

Bob - not good for you either, but nice to know it wasn't just me. What a pain.

Marijn - you are very right on both points.

Jim - an excellent alternative that just never occurred to me. I suppose CA could also be used in certain spots. Experimentation is clearly called for.

Since I'm still in avoidance mode, I did some work on the lower boat deck.

Btw, some things about the anchor deck/forward hangar deck bulkhead -

Fujimi did a nice job of providing separate, sharply molded bollards for the lower boat deck, but provided simple blobs for the anchor deck. Am awaiting brass replacements before I can finish. I don't even want to add the additional hawser reels until then. They'll just get in the way.

Likewise, there are vertical humps to either side of the bulkhead that, upon close examination, should be removed and replaced with drainpipes for the flight deck rain gutters.

This used to happen to me, too.

When the cement is trapped and can not volatilize away it can be much more powerful than you think it is.

Maybe the holes can be covered by parking planes?

Good luck.

Looking good, Dan. Glad to see you back at the normal-sized stuff!

That sucks about the divots.

Good point about the inability to dissipate, Aphres. Unfortunately, a deck spot isn't far forward enough to cover all the divots.

Normal size? Hah.

Continuing on with the anchor deck, or at least the part that will sit under the flight deck -

the bollards were replaced, then the deck painted prior to the installation of the anchor chains, the girder structure and a column support under the AA platform corrected (unsurprisingly), PE and some railings installed, the platform glued into place, and the remaining hawser reels installed.

Next, came the forward part of the flight deck. I bonded the Shipyard Works PE to a sheet of 0.015" styrene to help raise the overall thickness of the deck to match that of the planked section. I used slow set CA, applying it in sections. Then that assembly was glued to the kit flight deck piece using thicker liquid Tamiya glue. Test fit shown as well.

It occurs to me that I've never used a piece of PE quite this large. Usually, I just paint them without primer, having just soaked the brass PE in vinegar for a bit to give it more "tooth".

In this case, I'm thinking that a coat of primer over the flight deck first might be beneficial. Can anyone suggest a primer that will accept Tamiya paint on top? Most primers seem lacquer or enamel based, which could be fine, but I also wonder if there might also be a good acrylic primer.

Great work Dan!


My go-to primer is the Tamiya fine grey primer:


Probably it is a laquer based acrylic, but I wouldn't trust 'true acrylics' (Vallejo style), as those don't adhere nearly as good.

For such a surface, you could safely use it from the can. It shrinks down nicely over any detail.
For more control, you can decant it and spray with an airbrush (I usually do). When decanted, it is pretty thin, but you can thin it further if needed with the Tamiya laquer thinner:


Never had any problems with these!

But of course a primer is also not magic. For such large smooth metal surfaces it would be a good idea to still use your vinegar trick, or otherwise some light sanding to give some tooth.

What Marijn said. Any of the Tamiya rattle can lacquer primers should do the trick, as long as you're not planning on masking over it. If you do plan on masking, then find a self-etching variety; I believe Mr. Color makes a version in a spray can.

I like acrylic primers a lot, specifically the Stynylrez brand from Badger. After it sets for a day, it sticks and sands as well as any lacquer primer, but I'm always over-cautious and use lacquers on brass. At work we use automotive lacquer primer on any brass, which works fine, but I wouldn't recommend spraying that stuff in your home.