Hi Guido,

This tape is of a similar property to Tamiya's tape and is very easy to burnish on. But what I do to "seal" it is to run a brush with liquid glue over the tape and the surrounding area. It makes the plastic grab the tape and holds it tight. Then, when the primer is sprayed over the whole thing, the tape is locked in. Of course, this would be much harder to achieve with resin, but perhaps a very thin bead of CA glue could help...

I have already masked off and painted under the waterline for the Nachi and when I pulled the masking tape up, the "weld line" tape didn't move at all and was perfectly secure. If it didn't move under those circumstances, I don't think anything will move it.

Here in Florida, environmental changes happen at very different ends of the spectrum. When I first did the Nachi's tape, it was around 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Last week, the temperature was as low as 45 degrees Fahrenheit, with no problems.

A bender of a job Dade! No, could not resist. ..
your attention to detail is amazing, I learn a lot from your build logs..cheers!

Thanks, James! As long as I don't drop this thing or something else (it's happened), I'll keep on trucking and try to pass on some ideas.

I've had my head down working like crazy on some other projects, but I did manage to get this tiny update up. With the main hull assembly and deck done, it's time to focus on the small stuff.

First is the island. The insides have been hollowed out so a crew can be placed inside before the roof goes on. A PE railing has been placed (will have to repair that one incomplete rung) and PE window frames are on...




Next, we have some of the tiniest stuff. This is the first of ten Type 96 triple 25mm AA guns. This is Lion Roar's PE set. It has seats! And crosshairs! And shields! Note how this is so microscopic, the tweezers tips look massive and you can see the grain of the paper. Also note how overscale the plastic part is in comparison...




Here are the instructions so you can see just what all is on this little thing (also see how you can build with shields or without)...




I've got Fine Molds' new plastic versions on the way, but we'll see how they stack up to this PE. Nine more to go of these little guys and then two doubles.

Amazing detail as always Dade learning so much from everyone here
Happy new year Keith

There's an edge!
Nice 25mm!
Guido

Amazing detail work Dade...

I LOVE this idea:

"The insides have been hollowed out so a crew can be placed inside before the roof goes on"

Cheers and happy new year!

I have the Fine Molds 25mm's on the way as well. While the LionRoar guns are superior, these look to be very close for appearance and for ease of non-assembly.


Bob Pink.

What a difference that photoetch makes, Dade, and well done you for going at it with no compromise - full marks from me!

Peter F

Hi Dade,

Those 25mm AAs look great. I'm just getting around to reading "Shattered Sword" and was thinking about your build - especially when you mentioned putting some crew into the island. Apparently there wasn't a lot of room on the bridge - it would be lot more cramped at 1/700!

Barry

Thanks as always, guys.

In our last exciting episode, we left on a bit of a cliffhanger as I began the process of building a bunch of ant-sized anti-aircraft weaponry. This month the journey continued and after some prayers and hopes and dreams, came to a happy conclusion...



Who put that telephone pole in there? Oh, it's just a toothpick... Thanks, I'll be here all week.


So anyways, let's take a closer look. Y'know, it takes something pretty crazy to tax the abilities of a Nikon P5000-- and this project is just crazy enough to do it. In the picture below, the guns on the top are the triple 25s. The ones on the bottom are the double 25s. For as much of an eyestrain building these things cause, I just love these little buggers. They look beautiful and so detailed! The crosshairs on the triples still blow my mind. Two points of note- I only need seven triples, but I miscounted at first, so the eighth is an extra in case I lose one (cross fingers on the doubles); you may notice some slightly bent gun shields and such- as with other PE, I'm going to leave them alone until they're painted and mounted. No sense tempting fate now just to screw them up later...




Now for the 25s in the turrets. Because there are no upgrades for these I improvised and taking some cues from Mr. Omami, wrangled some tiny brass tubing. This tubing is .3mm. I think this looks good, especially compared to the plastic piece. It's hard to see, but these *are* tubes and not rods...




Then it was time for the 5" guns. The Hiryu had five open type double 5" mounts and one enclosed type. The enclosed types never seemed to get fully distributed at any point in the war, so it was pretty common to see ships have such a bizarre set up. It was almost like, why bother? Anyway, I decided to work the brass tube magic on the 5" guns as well. For this task, some .5mm tubing fit the bill perfectly-- these are just big enough to see the open ends.



The tube swap-outs worked wonderfully and I'm very happy with the results. And so, all of the Hiryu's weaponry has been upgraded. Whew!

Well done, Dade!
All that repetitive work... must be a pain in the lower back! It'll pay-off nicely I am sure.
Cheers,
Guido

Yep, the telephone and the giant penny!
Amazing detail as usual, it DOES look so much better.... great tip on the brass, great detailing all around...
I also have to say amazing CAMERA!

Thanks! I'll definitely be using more brass tubing on future projects as this experiment worked out so well.

BTW, since these are just generic brass tubes and not some kind of dedicated AM stuff, they fall under the category of modeling supplies-- in case anyone thinks I'm trying to add AM items after the original cut off.

I decided about a year and half ago to upgrade to the P5000, mainly because my old camera didn't have a very good macro capability. This one is a real trooper and can handle almost anything I throw at it (the hot shoe and excellent white balance are also great). In fact, these parts of the build were the first items that truly started taxing the camera's abilities and even then, it's pretty good. I highly recommend it!

Amazing detail on the guns PE and the brass tube do give you the edge on the detail front. Will have to try and add some on my future projects to get them looking half as good as yours.

This month seems to be Painting Month as so many of us are now plunging into the paint. On my end of things, I've got all of the base paint on and started the wash process on the hull.


First, we have the wood sections and elevators.




Next is the hull and deck with some stuff dry fit together (the wind deflector is just sitting on top of the deck). This is a custom mixed color that I originally came up with for my 1/350 Yukikaze. Unfortunately, I can't find my notes that explains how to make this anymore (I made a large batch the first time- this was mixed over two years ago).




Here is the wind deflector in its proper position down inside the flight deck. This construct is probably one of my favorite aspects of the Lion Roar upgrade set.




The black wash is started on the hull. Note the tape strips placed on earlier. I'm very happy with how they've turned out. It's okay that the wash is kind of subtle in some areas. I usually use powders and dry brushing to bring out details rather than just relying on washes.




Fore and aft. You can see where the molded-on anchor chains have been scraped off.




The black wash is done on the hull and she's starting to come along.




Much more next month. The Kongo build is done, and now this project has moved to the top of my list!

Excellent!
Good to see that you are making good headway!
The grey/wood deck with the drilled tie-downs looks really sex!
Cheers,
Guido

Dade looking good with a splash of paint did not know you took a walk on the dark side from time to time even your halftraks look great

Hi Dade - switching admiring comments from Kongo build to Hiryu. The hull plating looks great - I had meant to mention that in response to your last post on the Kongo. Outstanding work as usual. Barry

Great work on this entire build Dade, i just read through the entire thread very impressive PE work and i though working on wood ships was tough i think these may be more difficult with all those small details.

Hey guys, thanks a bunch!

Keith, I actually was more of an armor modeler a few years ago, and still keep the faith with a build now and then. Thanks for the nice words about the 250. Those tracks were a PAIN!

Robert, I'll be doing a plank on bulkhead 1/78 HMS Victory probably next year, so I hope it goes as smoothly as this build. And if I can make it look even remotely as good as your wood ship.


An additional small update to add to yesterday's. I added the PE arresting cable line reels and caps today (the lines will be added at the rigging stage).




The wood sections of the deck were glued on. The top picture shows the wood sections without cleanup. The bottom picture shows the deck after cleanup, the above PE parts attached, and a coat of Future applied to make decals go on easier. Sorry for the low angle on the bottom picture. The deck is so shiny, it was the only way to cut out the glare...




And then, the deck markings have started to go on. Here is the arrow, side lines, and Hinomaru (four separate decals) applied. The decals are wet and kind of wrinkled because the Mr. Mark Setter is doing its thing. I just wanted to get these shots in before deadline, so couldn't wait for them to dry.




That's it for this month. Next month will see the deck get the rest of its markings and touch up the side white lines so they'll be one color). It will also get weathered.

Dade - great work as usual...
wood sections lok great, as does the paint job. Wash came out great
cant wait to see the rest!

cheerws