Calling all IJN Takao-class (高雄型) fans

[Mutsuo Sasaki]

Mike asked about cruiser Aoba,the model is in stalemate,almost completely. Have lost incencentives to tackle smaller parts such as 25 mm AA guns since last May. However,her strips seem to be retaining brass color, yet.


mucho,

[Mike C]

Impressive as usual. I'm sorry to hear about the slowdown on Aoba. Which ship of the class will this one be when completed?

One of the things I learned from building paper ship models in my youth was to first build the small things like guns, winches, aircraft and boats so completion progresses quickly. Saving them to the end makes them too tedious to contemplate.

[Mutsuo Sasaki]

Impressive as usual. I'm sorry to hear about the slowdown on Aoba. Which ship of the class will this one be when completed?

One of the things I learned from building paper ship models in my youth was to first build the small things like guns, winches, aircraft and boats so completion progresses quickly. Saving them to the end makes them too tedious to contemplate.

hi, again'
I will come down to have Aoba finished first ,for it is almost only AA mgs that are missing. The attached is the result of on-going make of mg, 32(18x triple, 14 dual)in all, an enormous amount for a person doing scratch build(actually for 3 models) Used to play Wowp online game as a regular clan member,virtually doing more than building shipmodels for the last 2-3 years,having little time for shipbuilding since----.
I�d like to make Aoba as of late September when she carried 3 biplanes , not 2. She did it for a short period,though. Images will be posted on CASF Aoba later. Chokai will be as she appeared at the time of Linga, October, 1944.



mucho,

[Dan K]

Looking forward to that Chokai!

Gonna move Mucho's Takao build postings to a new W-I-P thread soon......

[Mutsuo Sasaki]

Looking forward to that Chokai!

Gonna move Mucho's Takao build postings to a new W-I-P thread soon......

A new build of a large-scale Takao class model might take another 7,8 or 10 years. A.D.2027.
Hope Scale model forums exist till then.

Have added 6 more boats to the making of cruiser Aoba�s. They are to go to Chokai 1944 when she left 1/2 cutters ashore for the Philipine Opr.Oct. the same year. Pls note IJN cutters have the upper belts(Jyotai= ??) painted in green and red color for starboard and portside.

mucho,

[Mike C]

Mucho,

Have you tried making molds for resin casts of multiple items like guns, or is that against your personal ethic for the models that you build? If you make one master, all of the same item will be uniform, so you can spend more time on one than spending a little time on many.

One advantage is that if you spend the time to perfect one, then it can also be used on all your other builds, similar to the brass sand castings that Konishi used to make. In your scale, though, they would be mini kits, like smaller versions of the metal Pit-Road 1/35 25mm AA gun kits. Resin copies of the gun basics could be combined with turned brass barrels and hand-made details to cut the time spent on repetitive and tedious tasks. Ask Dan K how that worked out for the fenders on his tanker models.

Beautiful work on your small boats. How common was it to paint the stripes to match the colors of the navigation lights, like those on the cutters? Would boats of a certain type have those stripes, no matter what kind of ship they were on, or were they only on boats of a specific ship?

Thank you again for sharing your experience,
Mike

[Mutsuo Sasaki]

hi, Mike, I�d rather be industrious than depending on industrialized solution of using resin forming.
Have used di-cast parts in 1/100 (the price was too steep), then i decided to make them on my own as a part of a wanna-be in for a craftsmanship. Other large scale modelers of ijn fighting ships whome i know have been making mgs one by one, i will be following the suits, almost yea.

Besides cutters, i haven�t come across any sources regarding the painting of other boats. Take fx, 11m and 12 meter launches. They had oars as many as 16 (not only 4 )for the 12 meter launch. I�m imagining they also must have had their upper belts painted likewise.

br
mucho,

[Mike C]

Aha! Peer pressure has lead to tedium then.

Personally, I would still consider all the copies to be your work, considering they are based on your original work. I respect your decision to be a purist, though. No pain, no gain, I suppose. heh

[Mutsuo Sasaki]

Aha! Peer pressure has lead to tedium then.

Personally, I would still consider all the copies to be your work, considering they are based on your original work. I respect your decision to be a purist, though. No pain, no gain, I suppose. heh

yes,it involves pain,i know many modelers admit it.This may be why modelers have not been able to supply Gakken with their works in good time , wheh it roughly take 10 years or longer to complete a large scale ship model.
I virtually stopped doing with models when plastic kits came into being some 60 years ago. I once read criteria for musuem pieces of ships in the US, they exclude use of chemically manufactured materials, I seem to be following their rules somehow....

This Takao class build is just started in a.d. 2017 --- a.d. 20xx
And I�m aging slowly but steadily. Dreams never get old, though

mucho,

[Dan K]

Beautiful turrets, Mucho.

[Mutsuo Sasaki]

Beautiful turrets, Mucho.

danke sch�n,Dan
There is one minor mistake in my forming of the turrets,but, I hope it would be compensated by 2 new findings.They are visible also on the pic of the model of the turrets. Will be telling you later about where these are. Will be away in a mater of 3 days to Japan... am in the middle of a small chaos for doing miscellaneous preps.

As you already definitely know, Chokai will have more with minor modifications than this pre-war appearance.. I fear this tiny model will never see daylights as completed.

br �
mucho

[Duke]

Hi guys!

I'm pretty new to this forum (been lurking in the shadows for a bit), but I've been a long time fan of modeling, and specifically a long time fan of WWII warships. I did some kits as a kid (obviously done at whatever I was capable of as a kid), and had a huge hiatus. I only just got back into modeling this past summer - I decided that I really do love this hobby and really want to improve my skills, and so with my current build, I'm practicing and learning all of the 'advanced' techniques I could only dream of doing as a kid.

I'm currently working on the Fujimi 1/700 Atago kit with photo etch parts. I've been using other modeller's build photos and guides on the internet as my references, but I think I really do need to make a purchase on books, and on this thread I found out about the AOTS Takao book by Janusz Skulski. Problem is, on Amazon I could find this, and or this, and I'm not really sure which one would really get me the most bang for my buck? I know they're both quite cheap, maybe I'll just buy both, but surely they're not redundant?

Also, I'm toying with the idea of making the main/aft mast with brass (as I do want to learn to do rigging, and I hear brass is better for this than the flimsy plastic one provided in the kit), but I have no idea what size/gauge brass rods are used for a 1/700 scale... Again, I realize that this requires scratch building and soldering (both of which i've never done), it's just an idea at the moment..

Thank you guys for your help!

[maxim]

The mast I am making using metal parts, but I glue them with CA and that is fine for rigging.

There is also this book about Takao:
https://shop.kagero.pl/en/26-japanese-h ... y1943.html

The AOTS Takao book by Janusz Skulski is very nice, but as the one above tell nothing about Atago.

[Dan K]

I can check my Chokai and May tonight regarding brass widths. Atago and Takao differ only in small details; have you reviewed this thread?

[Duke]

Yes I have � from what I gather, it seems the AOTS takao book only covers until ~1938 configurations. Please correct me if I�m wrong about this. I am thinking the 3D drawings book will be more useful for me as it covers until 1943 configurations..

[Dan K]

The AOTS book runs thru Sept, 1944, and is an excellent resource.

The mainmast tripod bottom was the same for all the sisters. It was re-positioned and turned around in the Takao-Atago rebuilds of 1939. The main, 5 pointed star platform at the top of the tripod was also the same, save for the yardarms that were lopped off to either side. It was the top that was altered somewhat.

My Chokai/Maya builds used .030" brass rod for the main leg, and .025" brass rod for the supporting legs.

[Duke]

Thank you very much!
And a Happy New Years!

[Mutsuo Sasaki]

Some work in progress in the Chokai build 1/100.
13 months have elapsed since start of this build...

BR
mucho,

[Mutsuo Sasaki]

2 more images,,,

[Dan K]

Magnificent work, Mucho! I think you've made great progress.