Hi Dade. Some of us have trouble with airplane canopies at 1/48 much less at 1/700! Nice job - looking forward to the final photos. Barry

Dada, an incredible job for 1/700. Your weathering has left me... speechless to say the list. Maybe you would do a weathering tutorial for us n00bs to learn from?

As a friend of mine would say... great form old chap!

Thanks Barry and Jorge! Jorge, when I have more time, I may try to consolidate the weathering aspects of this build into an article.


Well, I finished the Hiryu today. All done. Whew! All that's left is to take the final pictures, but that's going to have to wait till next week as I'm swamped getting some other projects done for Modelpalooza this weekend. Also, the Hiryu's custom case is coming on Friday, so I'll be able to take some pictures inside the case as well.

To be concluded next week...

Great build! I've recently (5 days ago) started on the Hiryu as well, the older tooling. It looked very 'rushed' in the sense it appears to not have go through the QA stage on release, with parts not quite fit properly and make shift details. Mine will not be a fully fledged build like yours and will use this as an inspiration.

Hi Jim, good luck on your build and I hope you'll post some pictures!


Well gang, here we go... the final pictures. Enjoy...






















More can be seen at my web site....

I hope everyone enjoyed this build log-- it was a lot of fun!

That is very, very nice!

I feel sad. The Kongos finished , now this! What am I going to watch now!
Great work Dade your an insperation.
A belated thank you for the advice you gave me about the Haruna kit

Thanks guys!

Allan, it's weird to think of, but yeah, this build and the Kongo were my main points of focus over the past year. It's strange to not have either of these in mind now. I'll probably take a break from major shipping projects to catch my breath (I have some major sci-fi projects to get done ), and will likely sit out the next contest. But I've got a couple 1/700 projects to get done for campaigns and then some more 1/350 action (Akitsushima and Baltimore), so I'll have something up eventually.

Hi Dade,

Your Hiryu and airwing look fantastic. Another motivating, informative and entertaining build blog.

thanks,
Frank

Excellent work!
Nice setting and good overall impression!
Bravo Zulu!

Guido

Looks good indeed! Love the weathering. I'll definately be using this post when I build my Hiryu. I'll need all the help I can get.

If I may be so bold, I think a few ropes, crates and gray AA ammo boxes on the decks would not go amiss to help with the overall look of the ship.

Thanks so much, guys!

Anthony, actually, a carrier under flight ops would generally not have these things laying around as they could potentially interfere with what the flight crew is doing. This is why pictures of carriers during flight ops are generally clean of clutter. Ropes can get blown into props, handlers could trip over them, etc. Things like crates and ammo boxes are also hazards and are generally found on the hanger deck. While it's true that this sort of thing would inevitably find its way topside, it's more the exception, not the norm-- at least with the IJN from what I've seen.

Notice how even in this picture, where the Hiryu is at its end, just how clean the deck is...



Of course, there's nothing stopping you with artistic license on your own build.


As a complete aside, I think I may try shooting some pics with a blue background-- the white is just washing things out too much...

Sorry I was not clear. By "decks" I meant the side AA platforms and lower bow and stern decks of the ship, not the flight deck. You were right as to the ship being buttoned down for operations that there is no clutter. I just like the look of a cluttered ship. Guess I'm weird that way.

I'd still at least add a few of the gray AA ammo boxes to the platforms your AA guns reside on, I believe these were bolted down and considered part of the ships of the IJN. I can see them quite plainly on your Kongo build and in the Akagi thread and I'd can't imagine any IJN ship without a few near the AA batteries.

But then again, I like clutter!

Ahhh, I see what you're saying. While I tried to get some clutter on the fore and aft sections (the reels, crew, etc.), squeezing some stuff near those AA guns is a good idea I'll try on a future build (not a lot of space). As it stands now, I'm afraid to breathe too hard on this build, lest something get destroyed (there have already been some close calls), so I'll leave well enough alone.

Excellent finish. I'll be happy if I can get my flight deck weathering looking 1/2 as good as yours. Not that the Akagi is close to being finished but I'm always thinking about that next project myself. I know I don't want to do another complex ship though, for a while

Beautiful work Dade.

Thanks as always, guys! I have to say that the more I look at it, the happier I am with that deck finish. It just all came together.


As promised, here are some pictures taken with a blue background to cut down on wash-out. Much better now...












As always, there's more on my site...

MSW Community Build Contest Closed!!!!!

Thank you to all who took part!

Awesome job Dade... again I must thank you for your plethora of pics and explanations during your WIP... both inspirational and educational! A great finished product for sure....

Cheers!

PS Another SF project? The Space Nagato? I loved your Nostromo.....

Hey James, thanks! It was fun for me too as I think this is probably my best 1/700 build yet.

Currently I'm finishing up from the Space Battleship Yamato series, an EDF battleship and spacecraft carrier, and a Gamilas destroyer and a Galman-Gamilas Proton Missile Ship (yeah, I need to update my sig). Then I need to finally finish that 1/87 wrecker that I promised Fred a review of for ModelGeek, and THEN, finally, that 1/350 Space Battleship Yamato with all the lights, sounds, and motors...

Then it's back to real ships for my Pre-Dread and Gator Navy entries.

i bought Aoshima Hiryu Super Detail kit w/ added PE and Lion Roar PE Flight Deck from jim adams .he's a mod from this site . he has some nice kits for sale in fact i bought a few from him and i got to say they were some nice kits at some good prices.