1/200 Pre dreadnought battleship IJN Mikasa after 1905

[MartinJQuinn]

Continued brilliant work. I really like the flag bags on the bridge wings - they add a nice splash of color. Will the new guns you installed get ready ammo boxes?

[Joelle]

Good morning and thanks for the colorful flowers, Martin.

What a coincidence, we've already discussed this in a German forum, and I've been experimenting with different crate sizes and placements, since I don't know if or where they were located. Without the canvas cover, you only see the Mikasa in its black and white peacetime paint scheme, and the guns weren't yet installed on the bridge then.

By the time I'm depicting the ship, in wartime gray, the bridge is already covered in canvas in all the pictures, and you wouldn't be able to see the crate anyway. And since I only have limited space, I'm choosing these locations.

Nice and close to the Hotchkiss at the stern.



On the bridge towards the bow, I cannot place them so close to the guns, as the large wheelhouse takes up a lot of space, and I would choose this spot. At the moment, they are laid out unpainted for testing.



Of course, this puts me in the realm of unverified historical information.

Speaking of historical matters, what color were the lifebuoys on a Japanese warship around 1900?

[Joelle]

Hello fellow model builders.

And once again, I’ve made a little more progress. Next, I tackled the bow fairleads. These are used to guide ropes over the hull, for example, for mooring lines. Here, too, some rework was necessary, as Pontos wasn’t entirely clean with the cutouts for them in the wooden deck. Almost all of them were affected.



Using a scalpel, I cut away the section where the wooden decking protruded and reinserted it on the other side. The wooden decking is quite forgiving in this respect, and you won’t see any trace of it in the end.



Now the fairleads fit seamlessly into the recesses of the model.



This closes another gap in the truest sense of the word.



Now on to the next 3D printed items: the searchlights.

Neither Pontos nor KA-Models impressed me here. The Pontos searchlights were okay, but the KA-Models ones were a disaster. They were so small that they weren’t visible over the railing. They would only have been useful if you’d lost your keys in the dark on the bridge wing and needed to search for them..

Then there were the aforementioned ammunition boxes and lifebuoys.



And here Micro Master once again demonstrates its strength in printing details. The searchlights are amazing.



The only difficult part is cutting them out of the print support without destroying the fine, delicate details.



You even have to look very closely to avoid mistakenly detaching something that you think is a support but is actually a small lever or something similar.



I then simply painted the lenses with Vallejo’s Metal Color paint in silver.



The boxes I set up are somewhat overshadowed by my fascination with the spotlights. But let me tell you, they’ve ended up where they were supposed to be.



The bridge and wing are almost finished. All that’s missing is the scene with the raising of the signal flags.

For that, however, I need a mast.



And I’ll only attach the semaphores at the very end. They would just get in the way when I’m rigging the signal lines. It shouldn’t be a problem to secure them later with a drop of glue.

And therefore, the bridge wing is finished..

[JIM BAUMANN]

very clean work Joerg!

Fir the masts....

Having seen many fine models -- using plastic masts - compromised by rig tension mast creep ....

May I suggest you make uo tubular lower mast of brass or better stainless steel hypodermics needles
( vet -tier-arzt cow / Kuh size ) and sleeve it with rod so that the rod inserts into your stub lower mast ,
and the lower end can be fixed into a hole in the bottom of the hull--it can then cantilever against any rig loads-

-even stretched sprue--collectively--can pull masts out of alignment !

for the tall tapered upper masts I recommend stainless steel welding rod--tapered with a file whilst being rotated in quite slowly in a drill.....
in agroove on the bench to stop whipping!
MFG

JB

[MartinJQuinn]

Continued nice work. Pity the Pontos and KA searchlights were not up to par.

The only difficult part is cutting them out of the print support without destroying the fine, delicate details.

You even have to look very closely to avoid mistakenly detaching something that you think is a support but is actually a small lever or something similar.

I wish more manufacturers would do what Black Cat Models does, and have a part removal guide on their website. This shows you exactly what to remove, to avoid this type of faux pas.

[Joelle]

Hi Jim, thanks so much for the feedback.
I really appreciate your concern. I'm also not a fan of plastic for masts at all. That's one of the reasons I'm so keen on the Pontos upgrade kits. They're made entirely of brass.

May I suggest you make uo tubular lower mast of brass or better stainless steel hypodermics needles
( vet -tier-arzt cow / Kuh size ) and sleeve it with rod so that the rod inserts into your stub lower mast ,
and the lower end can be fixed into a hole in the bottom of the hull--it can then cantilever against any rig loads-

And it's great that you suggested it that way; that's exactly how Pontos' brass masts are constructed.
That's also very helpful for me, as I can install the mast very late in the construction process and thus prevent it from being damaged again.

Continued nice work. Pity the Pontos and KA searchlights were not up to par.

I wish more manufacturers would do what Black Cat Models does, and have a part removal guide on their website. This shows you exactly what to remove, to avoid this type of faux pas.

Thanks, Martin. Yes, it's a bit annoying considering the price of the sets. But anyway, there's nothing better.
I didn't know that about Black Cat. That makes perfect sense.


I must say, this forum is a haven for many fantastic model builders with a huge number of helpful tips. Wonderful.

[Joelle]

Hello everyone.

What can I say? There's news from the shepherd shipyard, but unfortunately, no progress.

Now comes the time when model-building steps I've completed interlock with new ones. And since I've mixed many things together, be it the two detail sets from Pontos and Ka-Models or the printed parts from Micro Master, you can now see what fits and what doesn't.

In this case, it's about the guy wires for the masts. I checked them at their attachment points because I had a strange feeling about them. I attached the middle section of the masts as a test and simulated the guy wires with thin styrene rods. Unfortunately, I had to find that my feeling was right. The small steam launch is too far back and is in the way.



Oh dear, what to do?

First, I tried to relocate the anchor points for the ropes. But that didn’t work; there simply wasn’t enough space, and it wouldn’t have been right anyway. The old photos of the Mikasa clearly show that the backstays were attached exactly where the deck eyes are now. So, the only option left was to reposition the launch.

So, carefully, I took it down. I’m so glad I only use superglue very rarely now. The acrylic adhesive really has good strength but is much easier to remove. I carefully loosened the cradles with a scalpel and removed them without breaking anything. A little paint was lost, but it can easily be touched up.



Then, as a test, the barge was moved forward.



And lo and behold, now the guy lines are working again. All the other cutters can stay where they are; I have no problems with their guy lines.



Phew, that was a close call.

[Joelle]

Hello everyone.

I need the advice of the maritime experts again.

I'm slowly getting closer to the final details, including the remaining four cutters that were hanging in the davits at the stern. At least, that's what they looked like in the black and white peacetime paint scheme.

Now I'm having doubts as to whether these were also on board when she was in service during the war.

Firstly, I've studied the few photos where she's shown in gray, and I don't see any cutters in them.

Secondly, I've seen some Hasegawa models of the Mikasa in gray, which also didn't have any lifeboats at the stern.

Now I'm a bit confused. Can anyone shed some light on this?

[Joelle]

One more thing. I'm not depicting them during a battle. I know that wood was removed from the ships during battles.
Otherwise, my scenes with the tarpaulin being attached, for example, wouldn't make much sense. That certainly wasn't done during a battle. My ship is meant to be depicted after 1905 and after the Battle of Tsushima.

So the question is rather whether the boats were subsequently brought back on board.

[Joelle]

My question about the lifeboats at the stern has been answered, I think.

The information I gathered from other forums suggests that I can basically decide whether or not to include them. I'm certainly not committing any historical inaccuracies. However, it's most likely that these boats weren't in the davits when combat was imminent, and that they were probably permanently removed after Tsushima.
So I'll leave them out, which simplifies everything considerably. This diva of a ship has already been extremely challenging.

First, though, I've taken care of the main deck amidships one last time.
I've found a new manufacturer for 3D printed parts and contacted the owner. We had a very pleasant and productive exchange of ideas, and now he's selling crates and cargo in my scale.

These are primarily intended for a harbor diorama, but there are enough individual crates and barrels to populate my model. He also offers figures.

Here's the link to https://modellbauray.com/products/1-350 ... iles-chest.

And so I've put together a small selection.



Painted and aged, they make a very good impression.



So, let's get it onto the ship. We still need to stock up on provisions.



You can still see quite a bit from the port side as well.



It took me several attempts to get the crates and barrels photographed under the pinnace. But I think I've added some depth to the model.



The bridge also received a box in which the tarpaulin is stored.



And someone has to sweep up the mess....



Now the funnel will get its crown, and then we'll move on to the anchor area.

[JIM BAUMANN]

very good works and fine painting!

Bravo!

JB

[SG1]

Jawdropping!

[EJFoeth]

Indeed, and the chipping works very well at 1:200 too

[Joelle]

Thank you very much, gentleman.

That's right, chipping works very well in 1:200 scale. It's actually much easier than in tank scale, where the eye can pick out more details.
You can still do that at 1:350, but in the microcosm of 1:700 and above, I think that would look too crude.

[Dino Carancini]

A beautiful work to follow, bravo!

[Joelle]

Thank you so much, dino.
It's great that you want to follow my build report. Then I'll give you some new input right away.

Let’s move on to another detail that I planned and prepared quite early on: the release mechanism for the anchors.
You might remember that I created three recesses in the hull to accommodate this detail.



First, the individual parts need to be prepared again: profiles, brass tubes, and a release lever made from a railing support.



Everything was patiently assembled and ready for installation.



It fits together perfectly and I’m satisfied. The release lever will only be attached once the railing is installed.



Then, as a test, a chain was attached, which will later hold the anchor in its lying position.



Which brings me to the same point.
Once again, I have to resort to artistic license and bend historical facts a little. And here’s why:

Three…



These are the anchors available to me. In the middle is the original part, the one Pontos intended for installation, without any improvements. Pontos has disappointed me again; I expected more. On the far right, KA-Models tries to do better with a pewter anchor. Nice try, but very poorly executed.
So what’s left for me? You can probably guess.

Two…



So I’ll be using the incorrect anchor from Micro Master. I’m prioritizing detail over historical accuracy in this case.
Therefore, I’ll modify the anchor, and to quote the old German eBay slogan,

One, mine…



Man, this anchor is great.

[Joelle]

So, I ended up modifying the detailed, but not entirely accurate, Byers Stockless anchor, and I'd like to show you in this mini-update.

The anchor is too long to fit on the intended base. It also lacks the anchor stick. Therefore, I cut the anchor from the original kit to create a stick and shortened the printed anchor.



I extended the shaft with a styrene profile and remade the shackle with copper wire.

That was also something I didn’t like about the kit anchor. The shackle was horizontal to the shaft. Mr. Newton wouldn’t allow that and would insist on his Newtonian laws. Therefore, the shackle should point downwards. The stick also got a hole, just like the original.



And so I put everything together and am very pleased with the result. The shackles will only be added when attaching the anchor chain, as I have to thread it through.



Then I checked their berths to make sure I hadn’t messed anything up. Everything seems to be in order. Ready to age.



And here you can see the finely painted anchors, still lying loose on the ship.

So I think the effort was worthwhile. Even though they aren’t the correct anchors, they give the model a depth that I could never have achieved with the original parts.

Therefore, I hope the historically knowledgeable model builder will forgive me.

[SG1]

Love your surgery on those anchors Joelle! The release device is a touch of class

[Joelle]

Thank you so much.
I immediately moved on to the next small step to see how it would look when finished.
First, I prepared and attached a bunch of small eyelets.



To attach the retaining chains, I laid the model on its side again. This greatly simplifies feeding the chains in. Gravity simply slides them under the anchors.



Great, that’s exactly how I envisioned the release mechanism. After cutting and gluing the chains, they don’t sag. They look as if they’re holding the anchors in position under tension. Just as it should be.



The mooring area has aged considerably, as a lot of dirt must have accumulated under the anchors.
And so, for now, I’m satisfied with the result.

[MartinJQuinn]

Those anchors, the chains, and the release mechanisms are all fantastic. Continued great work. This build is very inspiring.