The Ship Model Forum

wow, you add a lot of fine details to your Mogami
But one fair comment, it seems to me, that the steps look a bit overdone in scale 1/350, or could it be, that the detailed photo only fools my eys. How does it look from a distance far off?

Christian, thanks for your comments.
You are right, the steps are a little bit overdone in scale. But I think not much (see L�Arsenal sailor in comparison to the steps in Mogami23). The large magnification in my former pictures might be a little bit misleading.
I used 1/350 PE ladders from Yankee Modelworks kits (Tone and Akizuki). They are the coarsest PE ladders I have and I never use them for ladders. But for the production of the steps they are easy to handle and even from far away they are visible. In the picture below from my model of 1/350 IJN Tone you can see the effect from a larger distance and after weathering. (You can see more pictures of the model of IJN Tone in �Completed Models�
viewtopic.php?f=60&t=45696
and in the galery http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery ... index.html)
I think the size of the steps is still okay and just a little bit overscaled. But: The procedure I described above is also possible with finer PE ladders (WEM, GMM, Lion Roar �). It is more difficult to avoid a plastic deformation of the ladder during the grinding (use very small force and a little bit more time). However, if the brass is not too soft and fine, this is possible.
Dirk

Hi Dirk,

sometimes it isn't good to make close photos from all the details we add

Your Tone looks great, and as you mentioned it looks still ok from a distance.

I have thought about making stairs when I start detailing the the Mk. 13 launcher for my OHP frigate. At the end I have used streched sprue because I'm much to lazy to add all the fine PE stairs!

My computer was out of order for sometime and I spent a lot of time to start my PC again. Therefore I have only a small update:
Here is the aft section with an anchor from the Flyhawk Takao PE set. Christian, it really took me some patience to prepare and install the PE stairs. On the left (Mogami24(a) and Mogami25(a)) is the original plastic part for the depth charges. In comparison, on the right (Mogami24(b) and Mogami25(b)) the Lion Roar PE part and depth charges left from the Lion Roar Yukikaze PE set. These depth charges are a little bit smaller in diameter than the Tamiya depth charges (Does anybody know if there were different sizes of depth charges for IJN cruisers or destroyers?).
These pictures were a good help to decide which version looks better. I think the (b) version is a small improvement.
Dirk

I wish I had the patience to do that...

Agreed-- version b) looks better in my opinion!


Jim Baumann

I agree with Jim! LionRoars look much better tamiya's depth charges still look like a chunk of plastic however you could always weather them.. stick with the ones from LR and keep the cool work coming Dirk


Jose

Thanks Jim and Jose for speeding up my process of decision. It is very hard to decide just with the bare eyes. But Jose, you are right: With some additional (pin) washing and dry brushing both versions can be further improved and even the chunk of plastic would look better.
GTDEATH, when I was reading your comment, I was thinking of my waiting 1/350 IJN Akagi model. Will I have the patience to add hundreds of steep irons and meters of handrails? Maybe not. But just today I got the brandnew version (4/2009) of the German magazine �Der Schiffsmodellbauer � nicht nur f�r den Waterliner� with a very hot build report of the 1/350 Akagi by Zdenek Krycmar. And he substituted all step irons and handrails. He has also some of his ship models in the gallery here (http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery ... index.html). His Akagi progress report is very good and its possible to learn a lot. Unfortunately for the most modellers here in this forum, this magazine is completely in German (exept words like �waterliner�).
So, in the future I will use his and Kym�s and Finland�s Jonne's very detailed Akagi progress logs and ,in addition with a lot of patience, I hope for a good result.

But back to the Mogami. In Mogami 26 I dry fitted some of the groups to get a rough impression. For the final assembly the order is very important. If I would have used glue here, it would be next to impossible to add the stack. Details of the mast are shown in Mogami27. I added some additional platforms for antennaes and the Type 22 radars (for the state after her third wartime modification in June 1944). I followed roughly (not exactly) the Miyukikai Mogami 44 plan. The Type 22 �horns� (from Veteran models) are already in place. But still a lot of details to be added. The �Y-arms� of the mast are from the LionRoar PE set. I reinforced them with very small steel needles (insect pins) giving them a more 3dim appearance and high strength.
Dirk

nice progress Dirk

It seems to me you have fun to add all the extra details
But, that makes a model to look alive - so keep on modeling and detailing

Thanks, Christian.
You are right with the details. This is one of the reasons why I prefere ship modelling (in contrast to models of modern aircrafts which might have very smooth surfaces).
Dirk

Dirk wrote:Thanks, Christian.
You are right with the details. This is one of the reasons why I prefere ship modelling (in contrast to models of modern aircrafts which might have very smooth surfaces).
Dirk

The same for me. Also a reason, why I have changed from scale 1/700 to 1/350

Wow

I like to following your job!

Great done!

Joe

Joe, and I am following your exciting Akagi job.
Here is my newest progress:
I have to add the rest of the brass cap strips to the linoleum deck. From Mogami28 you can see that after brush painting the linoleum color (bridge area) looks glossier and darker than after air brushing . On the right you can see a tool I usually use for navigation. But it is very helpful here to measure the correct length of the next brass strip segment. Here I use my mini-anvil (normally for clockworkers) and the divider to cut the segment (Mogami 29 left). Next step is super-gel-gluing the segment (not well focussed because it makes me nervous having superglue only a few millimeters from the lens of my compact camera). � then gluing it first on one side and then completely in place (Mogami30left). On the right another segment is done (a bad example, but it is not so easy with the camera). I use the GMM strips from the GMM Gold PLUS Takao Details (Mogami31). I used this method first for my IJN Tone and I think it looks a little bit better than masking and painting the molded on plastic strips with brass color (the method I used for my IJN Chokai). Now I am near to running out of the strips after the Tone and have of the Mogami but my logistics are good and I already have the second GMM set. This is not the cheapest method and it would be nice if GMM would sell these strips as a separate set. So, now I have to be patient and in one year I will send my next progress update.
Dirk

Very impressive build!

So, if I understand your technique correctly, you're gluing the brass tie down strips after having painted the deck. How do you handle any excess glue that might spread out from under the strip? surely a flat spray will not disguise any excess glue buildup?

Thanks Martin for your comment.
Dan, you are right: I glue the strips onto the already painted deck. This has to be done with great care. The solvent of the CA is very aggressive. It can turn the linoleum color to white. Such accident would be hard to hide. Therefore I use very small amounts of a gel type super glue. Before a strip is glued onto the deck, I wait a little bit so that some solvent can escape. Then I glue the strip first only with one end onto the deck. When the glue begins to hold, I carefully push the rest of the length into position. This is thrilling and sometimes I have the feeling that this is like disarming a bomb.
My prediction that I would need one year to finish the strips was wrong. I am now ready with this task (Mogami32+33). Dirk

Thx for describing your technique, Dirk. Which brass strips are you using?

Dan, I use the GMM strips from the GMM Gold PLUS Takao Details (see picture Mogami31).
Dirk

Yes, I know the GMM Takao set.

I was a little bit lazy and have only a very small update: I added fan grills to the deck vents (Flyhawk Net space 0.3mm). 1. row: front side of vents painted black
2. row: grills added
3. row: edges painted in Kure grey
Dirk