Love tha paint, good job! Bookmarked for future reference... cheers

Thanks for the comments, don't be afraid of pointing out any flaws/problems.

Here's a quick update on the turrets, masked off the barrels and painted the blast bags white, again, a fine misting of a coat to allow the underlying paint to show through.



these are the paints used for the blast bags, again all acrylics and all thinned out with Tamiya thinner. Polly Scale Reefer White, Model Master Acryl Panama Buff and Polly Scale French Earth Brown.



Next I thinned out the buff colour by about 80% and dusted over the white, and then followed through with another similar thinned coat of brown.



All that is left with the turrets is a water colour wash and some hand painting of details.

Looking good!

Frank plz advise. I'm a Mercedes-Benz/BMW mechanic and shop owner who has got the plastic kit bug back after 40 years in the "real world." Whatever that is. As Master Craftsman in my own right, I am astounded by the skill you evidence in your Nagato pix. A lot of new skills to learn with the vastly improved kit and PE accessories available nowdays. Most of all, I am amazed by your knack with CA on the PE. How do you do it?
I'm hard into it on Tamiya's 1/350 Tirptiz, and have the Eduard, Gold Medal Models, White Ensign PE, and brass gun barrels sets which I'm mixing and matching to good effect. But I'm not going an inch further until I get smarter about how to deal with them with such precision and tidiness. Can you advise or direct to your sources for info? I look forward to more from you on this thread; I'm learning a lot as I'm still on the steep part of the (re)learning curve.



Thanx, Stephen

Stephan:

Frank appears to be quite the master of PE. I use a set of drafting compass with pins to measure out my PE sections. I have learned over the years it is better to do a railing with twists and turns in sections as opposed to one bent up piece. I also use Gator glue rather than "super-glue to affix my pieces. A few years back I purchased a medium sized hold and fold device for PE. It is great for getting some of the larger pieces to bend completly and in a nice straight line (I also do 35th scale tank kits)

You're doing a good job there, Frank!
Keep up



Rui

Hi Stephen,

Glad to help out,... The first thing I must mention about this dedicated set of P.E. is just how good it fits, hats off to Hasegawa. About the application, I use a two step process to attach the P.E.

First once the P.E. has been shaped and dry fitted to your liking, is to run a bead of Tamiya's extra thin plastic glue over the plastic part which the P.E. will be attached to. (Do not use to much plastic cement, as it will soften the plastic and possibly deform the part once you attach the P.E., experiment until you're satisfied) Once you have 'wetted' the plastic, using fine tweezers, pick up the P.E. and place it on the still wet plastc part, this temporary bond will allow you to play with the positioning, allowing you to get the P.E. part to sit just right. Once you're satisfied, quickly grab your C.A. glue applicator and reinforce the bond with the C.A. giving you a solid and hopefully clean permanent bond.

The second step is the CA glue application, this application technique was given to me years back by a very gifted local ship modeller, Darren Scannell, who now happens to run his own AM company, Hawk Graphics, they do fantastic decals and resin ships. His site shows you how to create the finest C.A. applicators. The photo attached shows my recreation of his technique.... and hey!... if I can do it, anyone can!

Frank

http://www.resinshipyard.com/pages/tip_pages/glue_tips.html

Frank: Very cool. I get it. Thanx. CA is tricky: if you can see it around where the PE part attaches, that's excess. Control of the substance is the key, and you've got it down. Congrats. Good luck with your project. don't drop it!

One thing: in your pix I see no evidence of the initial glue tack; does that essentially just disappear if you apply it thin enough or or do you have to treat it somehow afterwards?

Stephen

The initial glue tack is just a softening of the plastic, allowing the temporary bond, once the glue evaporates and the plastic re-hardens, there should be no trace of it.

Frank

OK; I think I got it, if the Tamiya glue works like I think it dies. I'll just have to get some and use it! Many thanks....

Ordered up some of the Tamiya xthin glue today and was rummaging around in the various kit parts departments and saw the expensive Hasegawa PE fret (#40065) that you guys were griping about. Also saw a White Ensign fret @ 49.32 Pounds = $98.79 (with shipping)! And then: drum roll - a Lion Roar set - I gather that is Dragon issue (?) - #LNRLS350008 for - trumpets and cymbals - $209.95!!!!! Nice pix on their website, tho., of some installed items. Maybe that's the ship kit itself plus PE bits? Am I dumb or are they crazy or can it possibly be that good? Anybody here gonna 'fess up to buying one and giving us a review?

Stephen

The WEM P.E. fret is a comprehensive set that is the equal to the 3 Hasegawa dedicated sets, so in the end the WEM is a bit cheaper. The Lion Roar set, (I believe) comes with main and secondary turned barrels and other goods that the other set does not provide. I myself am using the Hasegawa 3 set of P.E. and have no issues with it, great P.E., easy to fold and very forgiving.

Frank

Right; from your pix the Hasegawa PE looks almost 3-D, and with the dips between stanchions in the railings, I can't imagine it done better. But who knows...they said they couldn't make a better mousetrap....

Stephen

Great work Frank.

Loren Perry of Gold Medal models is working on a set for the Nagato. It'll run $42 when it is released. His stuff is alawys good. You may have to cut out the railing to fit rather than have each piece form fitted and of course a lot of other things won't show up, but you can count on ladders, catapaults, cranes reels, hatches, and several other specialized goodies being in it

Here's a bit of an update. I've painted the majority of the superstructure in the same method as the turrets, added a bit more discolouration to the larger areas. After masking off the decked portions of the bridge, airbrushed all of the deck areas and then gave a slight post shade of a brown colour. Next up is a lot of masking. I'll mask all the deck leaving all the vents and access hatches exposed and will then paint the linoleum around the catapult, mask that and then add the deck P.E. railings.

Frank

Outstanding work, Frank!

Question - were the bridge deck levels linoleum or just steel?

Looking better and better with each update, Mr. Portela!
Looks like your air brush skills didn't falter any in your interim either, my friend....great job!

Thanks guys,

Yes Martin, the bridge decks where a mix of steel and linoleum. I have the 3D CG (all in Japanese) book annd it shows all the individual levels, this area is too detail intensive to be masked and airbrushed, so I'll have to hand paint it. It should be one of my next tasks.

Frank

This is the 3D CG reference book that anyone building this model should have...



... and this just came in the mail today, Fukuya secondary armament sets for both my Nagato and the Kongo.

Hi Frank; from whom did you order the 3D CG book? I'm piling up my Nagato kit bits and pieces and, yes, I won't want to be without it.

Stephen

Hi Stephen,

It's currently available from www.hlj.com (hobby link japan) for about $20.

Frank

Thanx, Frank; this build log is a great tutorial for me - and for others, too, I'm sure. The pix are just super. Plz keep 'em coming!

Stephen

yes, thanks for this thread, I have bookmark it for when I do my own Nagato many years from now

This being my first 350th scale model ship, I was not prepared for the time consuming task of masking the deck. This took me two nights, and I have got to say,..... Kenny,... make me some masks for the Kongo and Takao... PLEASE!!! I used Tamiya's 40mm tape, which IMO has the perfect amount of tack.







Painted the linoleum next. I wasn't sure about the choice of colours. I've seen everything from a dark brown to a reddish brown to a light brown used. Using WEM and Model master Acryl, as a guide, I proceeded to mix some paints together and then post-shaded a darker colour over the recesses and a lighter tone over the exposed areas.



Next, I'll mask the linoleum and then turn my attention to the bridge, where I have to hand paint the linoleum and the details, including some 350th figs.

Frank