Calling all IJN Takao-class (高雄型) fans

[Dan K]

Chokai looks exceptional, Mucho. Interesting buildup of the catapults; are those solid bottoms?

[Mutsuo Sasaki]

Chokai looks exceptional, Mucho. Interesting buildup of the catapults; are those solid bottoms?

hi, Dan. I�ve been under impression Chokai must have some unique features,unlike other 3 sisterships�.
Some of such began to surface while checking details to my astonishment.
Some Brunai pics you had posted on j-aircraft forum more than a decade ago proved to be quite useful for confirming vital hither-to unknown points of Chokai.

About cats I found it easy to clovn from another finished cat.,fx from Aoba.
I bet ijn catapults always had solid bottoms,I fear brains of some ship artists and kitmakers were not entirely solid.
It has been a dreadful mistake by them actually.

mucho

Teikoku-kobo�s cruiser Takao 1/200 is nearing completion,only missing motorboats/cutters and antenna riggings.
he will have to finish this model in 2,5 months from now. I suggested him to borrow boats from other finished models if they are not glued yet,which he did...

[Dan K]

Huh, well, what do you know? It appears that many, if not all the catapults have solid bottoms. I somehow ignored this. I checked similar photos of Atago, Nagato, etc. and it seems that in most cases, there is a thin metal sheeting over the underside of steel ribbing. Maybe it was there to act as a spray shield.

Nice Takao.

[Mutsuo Sasaki]

well, Dan, I haven�t heard of or seen any with it�s bottom unsolid.
I figure out the bottom steel is part of structural reinforcement to the cat. which weighs 22 tons(kure 2-2-5 type), it excerts physical impact,too,when launching.

I still remember a certain number of graphic MA magazine dealt with illust of catapult, the bottom steel was totally missing due to a rendering failure. haha. The kitmakers didn�t doubt it at all. This misinfo spread like a fire on the prairie and widespread abroad. Did somebody tell you that some of ijn capapults have bottoms which are not solid? I wonder a lot.

I think it�s not due to appearance, but need of structural logics to this type of aviation-related "weaponry"
mucho.

[Dan K]

That makes sense, for increased structural rigidity.

[Mutsuo Sasaki]

I�d reckon the bottom plate would be absolutely necessary for two reasons at least.

Without it it would be difficult and even dangerous to crawl or go inside,for ijn saw to it that maintenance and repair be done regularly on the catapult.inspection to secure smooth surface of the rails and condition of wires,etc. as well.
Secondly moment of inertia can affect stiffness of beams & frames,so it will be wise to use plating to the bottom against sagging and distortion;width and depth of the bottom plate will help increase stifness exponentially.

Thicker plate would not be of an effective factor of help for obtaining extra stiffness, instead of this ,t-beam, /-beam and stiffeners are used for this purpose.

I can see Nachi�s cat. has extra longitidinal material alongside the lowest edge of it.

br
mucho

[Dan K]

That all sounds most logical to me. Thx for identifying the extra points.

One more catapult before I'm out of town for a few days.

[Mutsuo Sasaki]

Got some more WIP for the catapult kure 2-5 type.When finished, one can go to other sections of the model hopefully.
br
mucho,

[Dan K]

Wow. Truly nice, Mucho.

[Derrils]

Yes,air conditioning must have!
When I did my first model in the garage in last summer.
I did not think that the temperature in the room would make a difference when working.
Unfortunately, I was wrong.
So I advise everyone to work in a room with a good air-conditioner

[Mutsuo Sasaki]

Wow. Truly nice, Mucho.

Thanks, Dan, for the word,as always.
Am moving inside of the aircraft hangar and climbing to the rear mast now

mucho,

[Dan K]

I love it all, but the inside of that hangar is exceptional, Mucho.

[Mutsuo Sasaki]

I love it all, but the inside of that hangar is exceptional, Mucho.

yeah, Interior of the hangar , make day 1 is past.
day 2 is here , adding vent ducts, heat diffusing measures on either side of the inner wall.
Traverse ceiling structure according to Chokai official Kure drawing and Maya�s visual material,too.
There will come ladder and flight on both sides of the wall, etc
The part is finished only by 30% yet.
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Final finishing day will be several months later, as I need to build an aux. seaplane with wings and floats. maintenance tools , carriage, etc.
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The other 3 sisterships have punched holes on the side wall,too, so Chokai is not quite exceptional.
The differences are the size and position of vent ducts. As you know, 4 Takao cl. cruisers have them differently from each other.

Maybe , Dan, you have a different notion abt the interior of the hangar than by my research points, how come you get by it? pls let me know.

mucho,

[Dan K]

I think your interpretation is as good as it gets. I will check one or two more sources, but the only reference that I have right now that's worth a damn is the photo taken of Takao at Yokosuka just prior to her 1938-39 reconstruction. I've lightened it in Photoshop by almost 200% to get some interior detail. It looks much as your model does.

[Mutsuo Sasaki]

I think your interpretation is as good as it gets. I will check one or two more sources, but the only reference that I have right now that's worth a damn is the photo taken of Takao at Yokosuka just prior to her 1938-39 reconstruction. I've lightened it in Photoshop by almost 200% to get some interior detail. It looks much as your model does.

yea, I know of the Takao�s hangar pic as well. Another thing is the interior was painted in grey color as part of wartime painting procedures. Am anxious to see how it may look like after on the model.

btw most of images were deleted against piracy/abuse commercially

mucho,

[Dan K]

btw most of images were deleted against piracy/abuse commercially

completely understood.

Another thing is the interior was painted in grey color as part of wartime painting procedures.

Would that be a light grey, or the same IJN grey(s) as the hull?

I didn't find too much else, just a slightly better version of the Takao photo, a photo of Maya's damaged hangar (which I had forgotten about. Lightened up here in Photoshop) and an illustration from the AOTS Takao book. I believe you already have all of this material.

[Mutsuo Sasaki]

Would that be a light grey, or the same IJN grey(s) as the hull?

I didn't find too much else, just a slightly better version of the Takao photo, a photo of Maya's damaged hangar (which I had forgotten about. Lightened up here in Photoshop) and an illustration from the AOTS Takao book. I believe you already have all of this material.[/quote]
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Dan, these photo info will suffice.Much appreciated for sacrificing your free time in checking these.

I�d bet it ought to be the same, normal grey color which was painted on the backside of skylight hatches,of deck hatches, of rangefinder hoods, etc.
Am moving on to funnels now.

mucho,

[Mutsuo Sasaki]

Dan, Judging from Maya 1943 , she must be part of seaplane-tender ship in the same manner as Aoba was in 1944.

br
mucho,

[Dan K]

My pleasure, Mucho. I liked seeing details in the Maya pic when I lightened it up, like the spare propeller counted on the back wall, right, or the spare nose spinner hanging from the beams, also on the right side.

[Mutsuo Sasaki]

Have managed roughly to make 21 out of 24 torpedoes.Once the torp. deck is finished, one can proceed to gluing HA gun deck to it...

mucho