1/700 IJN Hiryu Full Build

Builder: Dade W. Bell
Manufacturer: Aoshima
Category: Full Build

Base Model:
Aoshima IJN Hiryu 1942

Photo Etch:
Lion Roar IJN Vessels Radial Boat
Lion Roar IJN Carrier Aircraft
Lion Roar Aircraft Carrier "Hiryu" Flight Deck
Lion Roar IJN AA Gun Set I (x2)
Lion Roar IJN AA Gun Set II (x2)
Lion Roar IJN Aircraft Carrier Flight Deck Netting
Lion Roar IJN Sand Bags (x2)
Lion Roar IJN Ship's Accessory Anchor & Chain Set
Lion Roar IJN Aircraft Carrier Mast Set I
Eduard 1/700 IJN Figures
Tom's Model Works 1/700 IJN Carrier Set A
Tom's Model Works 1/700 2 Rail Set

Other:
Black Chain 40 links per inch
Uni Thread tippet line (black, brown, tan) rigging
Gordon Bell cut and finished base

WOW Dade, that's an impressive amount of P.E.,... should be a great build!

Frank

I’ve seen more PE on this site today then I ever have.

Can’t wait to see this one come together.
Best of luck in the contest Dade.

Ahoy Dade!

Glad to see that you made it, mate...

Cool!

Dade's doing a brass plated flattop.

Thanks guys, here's hoping I can do justice to this build! I may not use all of the PE, but I wanted to have it in there just to have my bases covered.

The biggest thing is that I somehow missed that Gator had a mask for this ship or I would've added that to the list. Ah well, no pain, no gain.

Glad to see, that I'm not the only one planning on building the project mainly in brass

Looks like this will be an awesome project .... I look forward to following its progress!

I believe you still could. Wasn’t it decided that paint masks were considered a tool?

I wonder about that rule anyway!
I think all the reagulations should point towards giving nobody a headstart. If I order the parts I need in December onyl I certainly have no time advatage.
For example, if I was planning to enter with 1/350 Nagato, but the kit only arrived today, what advantage did I get from not having it yesterday?
I have the 1/350 Bismarck on the shelfa dn want to enter it, but I am waiting for the release of the LR super set (due in July); I still can't enter....
Am I missing something?

Anyway, that is a great array of item you have there! I certainly ope to learn something here!
Cheers,
Guido

Neils says:



On sheer amount of brass this is nothing compared to my 1/250 Musashi, or Guido's absolutely amazing Leipzig.

It's par for the course for me- all of my models have photo etch- I love working with it. So this build would be no different. These days for me to build something without PE would be strange...


Jacob says:



The more I've thought about it, I probably will stay away from large masks for this since the deck is PE. It's gonna be pretty thin and a large mask may bend the PE on removal. If I was sticking with the plastic deck, I would have asked if masks were okay.


Guido says



And I with yours! The amount of PE on your Leipzig looks amazing!


The first couple months of this, I'll be going slow as I have to finish other projects (the Musashi and such). But after the Nats, it's game on!

Good question Jacob. We're researching that now.

Kenny

IMHO, a mask, which to me is actually a tool for painting/masking purposes, would be OK fine to get now if you want too, Dade...

Sounds good. I think it's gonna come down to just how strong that PE deck is after its built. If it seems like it'll survive the mask removal, I'll go ahead and get the mask. But if it looks like it'll bend out of whack, I'll just have to do things "old school".

Either way, thanks for the option and we'll see how things go when I get to that stage in what most likely will be a few months.

Whoo, I have been SWAMPED! Commissions and such. Somewhere in there I finished a campaign build for Armorama.

So, back to the Hiryu! I started work on the PE flight deck because I was just so curious to see this thing in action. Here are the parts:




After a few hours (aka some episodes of The Sopranos in the background), I managed to get the top most section of the deck lined up and glued on to the roof of the hangar deck. I didn't realize it at first, but Lion Roar has made painting the deck much easier in its execution. This is because the wood sections of the deck are made as separate pieces. So no masking is required for this part.

Here is the deck dry fit on to the hull with the wood sections to the side:




Note the small gutters running along the edges of the deck (it's hard to get shots of these big shiny flat pieces without a bunch of glare):





Here is the forward most wood section. Note the delicate detail around the elevator:




The wood pieces are dry fit to the deck with the island also dry fit:







Well, that's all for now. There is a lot of structural support work that goes under the deck and that will be built next month. There are also a ton of little doo-dads (arresting cables, pulleys, etc.) that goes on the deck, but they will wait for final construction. See you next month when this deck really starts to come together!

Good start Dade, the P.E. deck looks outstanding, makes me want to pull out my wallet!

Frank

Great start Dade.
Thats some fantastic detail for 1/700.

Hey Dade

Very nice progress ... I'm totally blown away by that deck ... LionRoar just keeps impressing me ..... they're really outstanding.

Looks like she's coming along beautifully ... looking forward to seeing some more progress on her!

Hi, Dade!
This looks like a lot of fun! Quite impressive!

Hi Dade - Flight deck looks fantastic. Seems almost a shame to paint it, its so pretty! Great job. Barry

Hey, thanks guys! Barry, I agree exactly about covering the brass. It's gonna be painful to paint that when all is said and done.

Alrighty, this is one of those aspetcs of the build that is long and painful and many people will probably not notice because it's the underside of the deck... There are 22 photo etch girders making up the aft support area of the flight deck. Tedious and painful? Yes. Worth it? Yes.

Yet another aspect that will make painting all of this brass a sad day- however, when it does get painted, it will look muuuuch better in photos. Right now, the CA glue makes the area look messy despite actually being rather smooth. And yes, all of those .5mm holes are really hollow...





Next month comes the forward underside.

Good show of the work.
I guess "fiddely" is bit of an understatement!

Dade - I love the girder work. I always am impressed when I look at a place on a model that isn't normally visible and find that the modeler has taken the time and care to detail it too. You are absolutely correct -- well worth it in my opinion. Barry