I'm closing in on finishing the Pagoda bridge, well the plastic and the railing part anyway. Been debating slipping a few little people in there while I still can. I figure to start working that brass rear support and yardarms next week to close out my first month of assembly. Man I've been having a devil of a time with those reailings. I swear they are no thicker than a piece of hair. I just try to glue one end down make sure it is level and then give it a day and bent the rest into place and anchor it. Even then....I think I like the heavier railings that Gold Medal and Tom's put out

Yeah, that's why it took me so long to do them. They look beautiful, but are very finicky to get into position. I've seen some other Kongo builders just glue them at the feet every few stanchions and let the other stanchions just go wherever-- some even stick out 1/16" away from the deck and aren't even attached...

But I wanted these things to go on, look good, and stand up to scrutiny-- and so a loooong time went into them.

Aaaand we're back! The final stretch of the build is now ahead. The 5" guns have painted and mounted, as have the boats, catapult, boat crane, fore mast yard, and planes. Lots of stuff to show and she's looking great.

But for now, I just have this simple little shot to show. It's replacing the short, solid, 6" guns with the Fukuya barrels for a huge improvement. The first picture shows the gun base/ blast bag with the mounting hole drilled in, then a comparison shot of replacement with original, and finally, the whole arsenal before paint.




Much more is coming soon!

looking forward to seeing the final product on this one as it has been a great read with lots of useful info.

Cheers

Thanks Anthony!

As promised here are some more pictures. Again, please note that most of this stuff hasn't been weathered or dull coat applied.


First up, we have the port side installation of 5" AA, launch and whaler. The rear aspect of the bridge superstructure with yard arms is now attached also. The boat crane is now installed. I still need to mount that set of stairs discussed earlier with Dariush.




Moving back, we can see a couple of the boats, the airplane carts, catapult, and planes. The turrets are now also permanently installed.




Next is the spare rudder. Some quick points about this. The spare rudder had a different, darker wood than the decks. Also, considering its location, it was harder to clean than the deck, so it would naturally age a little more. Combined with the fact that it's slightly in shadow here, this is why there is a difference between this wood and the deck wood. The difference is less under optimal lighting and this will be seen in the final presentation photos.

The spare rudder wood was painted and washed in Vallejo paints. I'm kinda proud of my deck abilities ( ) and this is very similar to how the Hiryu's wooden deck portions will look.




Here is a closer shot of the Pete and catapult. The catapult's cable has been rigged as on the real thing. I've seen another Kongo build where the builder for some reason put the yellow identification band decals completely on the top of the wing. This is incorrect. The decal is supposed to fold in half to run along the top/ front/ bottom of the wings' leading edges. This shot here shows the correct position. The Hinomarus are a little more up in the air as I've seen Petes with them located as I have them here and also farther out toward the wing tips...




Going over to the starboard side, we see two more boats. That hole next to the triple 25 will get a vent put in it as soon as I scratch build a simple replacement... I don't know if I lost one or what as the instructions are rather nebulous (again) about this spot... An empty plane cart can be seen here.




Moving forward, we see the starboard 5" guns, launch and whaler.




Okay, that's it for preliminary construction. The remaining steps are:

1.) washes for all of this stuff
2.) dull coat
3.) make the windows
4.) install DF antenna, bridge top, and radar
5.) rigging
6.) 6" guns
7.) side boats
8.) aft plank
9.) hull mounted external side stairs
10.) final dull coat
11.) powders
Finish

Still a ways to go, but nothing insane. And so I soldier on...

This is really looking great! Really really.

I just had a quick look at my model about that hole next to the 25mm, I have the 25mm triple in there. About where you have the mount, I have a vent.

How did the plane assembly go? I am wondering if Fujimi is correct about the black on the engine covers. From pictures I know the fuselage was painted completely green on some planes, I haven't seen a picture with a black engine cover as of yet. Haven't looked, though.

Hmm, this now reminds me of when I was putting those things together, it seemed that the gun wouldn't fit because the gun and shield would hit the boats, which is why I put it where I did-- even looking at the picture, they don't seem like they'll fit. Maybe I need to remove these things and try an alternate (yikes that will be a pain!). On second thought maybe I should just leave it alone instead of possibly destroying my deck. The casemates were made the wrong shape anyway, what's one off place gun mount?

The planes went together okay, but some annoyance with how the top wing mounts and also the hassle of the clear plastic makes things hard to line up. For the paint, I've seen F1M2's both ways with either all green or with the anti-glare blue black cowl (like the Zero). Since Fujimi's instructions didn't really say and since I have seen both ways, I went with the blue black for added visual interest.

Regarding the aircraft color, I made the same decision, but didn't feel too well about it. I feel better now.

Regarding the 25mm mount, it looks poor in the other spot, as it in fact touches the boat. For this reason it's probably not 100% historically correct anyway...if I were you I would not bother about moving the mount, I'd just put the vent in.

Absolutely stunning, Dade. Beautiful work.

Barry

beautiful work as usual Dade! almost there, look forward to the end of this magnificent build/blog.

Ugghhhh.. rigging.... It has really never been my friend. I honestly have no idea on how to glue it on but I do know how to melt it out. Along with that getting all the research on finding where you place all the antenna wires.

Thanks guys. The washes have begun...

I'm amazed you can do washes with everything assembled without breaking bits and pieces off . Can't wait to see how it turns out.

Hi Dade,

Again, very impressive build log and thanks a million for the photos.

I hope you don´t mind but looking at the catapult the way you´ve built it, it looks to be too narrow to the deck. There seems to be no way turning the catapult outboard without destroying the vents that are placed to the left and right of it. Also, even if the vents could be removed, the guardrail would most probably be in the way. I think if you could raise the turning point/platform a bit - that would help greatly.

Looking the boats on aft before the deck for the airplanes made me wonder how they could ever be put into sea. They are out of reach for the crane placed midship after the last funnel. Also there seems to be no indication for a replacement mechanism unless they used the aircraft crane for that purpose.

I checked with the Gakken book I have looking at the 1/100 build of the Kongo and found in fact the modeler left out one boat on the port side of that area even though he built the provision so a boat could be placed beside the turret. On the starbord side also only 1 boat was placed and that is behind the AA mount- that would be the one close to the turret structure in your build.

For this it may be that Fujimi gave a wrong location for at least one additional boat by putting it in front of an AA mount. Practically thinking that would be an odd idea to start with since we are talking about the Kongô in her 1944 war configuration.

Please don´t get me wrong as I am confident you have built the Kongo as the instructions indicated. The wealth of stunning details and information you have put into the building process is overwhelming.
Looking forward to the finalization and thumbs up.

Howdy Dave, it's a "touch" I've acquired over the years. It's actually easier for me to do this (very carefully) with everything mounted and easier to "grab", rather than trying to handle all of those tiny things separately. I also do this in 1/700.

Dariush, you have identified an issue that I've noticed since the beginning of this build and am still unsure of. The reason why, is because of two reasons 1.) the PE instructions do in fact show this as such and even in the stock kit it wouldn't clear the vents and rails...




2.) In some photos, the catapult doesn't look like it would clear anything. It's a tiny bit higher, but not enough to clear the items discussed. Also, there is enough room between the back rails for the catapult to fit in perfectly straight, but not to rotate... This makes me wonder if perhaps on the real ship, the catapult would raise when using, but was stored in a lower position (gives the turret guns better high angle clearance?). Here are a couple of wonderfully colorized photos showing just how low the catapult is (the second shows the Haruna, but still, see how low the catapult sits- a little higher than the model, but not much):





This whole thing is very bizarre and I've come to accept that I may never know the answer for this. So, although strange, I decided to follow the instructions... True, the stock kit piece sits a little higher than the PE stuff, but still not enough to clear vents and rails...


As for the boats, since these are smaller light rowboats, they don't use the crane for movement from the cradles. They're simply carried by men into position and then lowered into the water using the small davits on the side. Their positions are weird for trying to use the 25mm gun, but I have to admit to seeing even stranger, so I've decided to just leave them as is... I also have the Gakken books on the Kongo and see what you mean that perhaps I could have put empty cradles in place there, but having followed the instructions as best I can (accept for when things are really weird), I believe it would be too late to try to alter things without destroying the deck. Use this as another warning about weird instructions on a weird model!

Hello Dade,

I will definetly follow your build, its amazing so far.

And for this catapult case, I also checked my Gakken, ModelArt and Maru stuff, unfortunately did not see clear info about it. Gakken 65 has 1/100 Hiei pics and all area is smooth as floor. Checked also 1/700 dwgs of ModelArts and result is same. No any vents seen for catapult deck.

Do you have Miyukikai plans? Are they containing the last point for such question marks?
I know most of the design truths became clear when wrecks explored, like Yamato's round stern and shell shaped starboard degauissing cable junction

Hi Serhan,

I also have Gakken 65, but decided not to really compare as there are various differences in small items between the Kongo and her sisters (and even the Kongo itself depending on year). I decided that it would be easy to remove those vents in the other ships, so maybe that would explain it. There are other differences with the flight area itself such as location of the control house, shape, and linoleum coverage (in my Haruna review, you can see that its deck also has differences). But they all seem to have that really low catapult...

I don't have any plans except for what comes in the Gakken books. But as you say, maybe without seeing this on the wreck, we may never know.

Dade,

Absolutely stunning work!!!!!!

Hey there, Harry, thanks!

Whew, the washes have been taking awhile since it's a multiple color process with the blending and all (to also have weathering powders applied at the end). These constructions shots look okay, but I think you guys will really be impressed with the presentation photos since they'll show a lot more nuance...

Great work Dade! Very busy ship, captures the convoluted look of a very old battle cruiser that's been refitted way too many times!

Frank

Thanks Frank.

Some bad news: I won't be attending the AMFS show in Atlanta on the 20th. Some bills came up that I have to take care of, so I figured I should play it safe. However, if anyone would like to come to sunny Orlando, FL, I (and Pavel from Admiralty) will be at Modelpalooza. It's a pretty big show-- bring the wife and kids, send them to Disney, and hit the show! The Kongo and some other stuff will be there. Maybe even the Space Battleship Yamato...

Modelpalooza

Back to work on the Kongo...

Bummer that you won't get to go to Georgia, but sticking closer to home has its' advantages.

Your build, like all the others you have done here is a real stunner.

Thanks Jay! Yep, not having to pay almost $200 for the hotel alone is a big savings that could be later put toward some buying at Modelpalooza...

The basic washes are done. The 6" guns have been attached, as have the side hanging boats. The crane for the planes is attached. The sealing dull coat for the washes has been applied. This was followed by Kristal Klear to create the windows. Searchlight lenses installed. The DF antenna was attached, then the main top and finally the radar. Whew!








With this, all main construction is done. It's all down to rigging, flags, plank, accommodation stairs, final dull coat, powders. I can see the finish line!

What? No more updates?!?

Awesome work Dade. Simply awesome.