Nice technique Dade! I'll have to try this on my Akagi.

Kenny

Yup, that looks real good. If wood is N/A, that looks the way I'll go. Masking and painting individual planks, even in batches...I don't know...we all draw the line somewhere.
My accident: I just left it alone for a while, then, like spring after winter, life comes back. Stephen

Glad I could share my deck technique, guys. The other nice thing is since the Detailer is water soluble, it will clean up even after it dries. We all mess up and this stuff is very forgiving. In fact, sometimes I'll let the whole thing dry with some fairly harsh lines, and then go back and "blend" it with a moist Q-tip or finger.

Okay, so now for an actual update! First, is the picture posted of the aft and quarter deck area with nothing on it, followed by a picture with the large boxes mounted. I apologize that I took the shots from two different sides- I didn't really think of these comparison shots until I uploaded the new picture. They'll be consolidated from now on.






There are actually a lot more of the large boxes that I've mounted, but they're on turrets and upper decks. You'll see them when I get to those dedicated sections of the build log.

Today, I will mount the smaller boxes and a bunch of vents. I think it's good to show this build sequence like this as I'm not kidding when I say there are literally hundreds of these deck items total. However, I'm not complaining. I'm not a fan of molded on deck details in 1/350, as the scale is big enough to discern the physical space of an object. When you look at these items, from various angles, they look like things sitting on, or attached to, the deck- not molded to the deck, which would be unrealistic.

Plus, if I didn't have the wood decks and actually had to paint the deck, I would much rather cut out the stuff and mount it separately, than have to mask all of these things off.

Lastly, these items haven't been dull coated yet, as I'm waiting for them to all be mounted, thus their shininess and darker appearance (this also applies to the shiny parts where the CA glue is seen or the deck has been "buffed" during mounting).

Onward and upward!

Hi Dade!

Details, details... That's boring, but will end paying off in quality later
Keep up


Rui

looks great! the deck looks awesome... looking forward to the next installment! cheers

Looking better and betterer there Dade. It is all those little details that make these things so interesting in the end and you are doing an excellent job, even if it does make you a tad bit crazed with the number of them that are going to be on a ship this sized.

Like the rest, looking forward to more of your blow by blow account of this one.

I'm finishing up my armor project but figure I still am going to hold off until January for my Kongo. I had planned to use the Detailer brown and black over a painted tan on my Akagi. After seeing how that turned out for you, that is definitely the way I'll go. Just don't want to blow the quarterly budget on stuff for the Akagi what with the Ise rolling out shortly I think I'll either tackle a 72nd scale PT or the Tamiya 350 Fletcher next

Hey there, guys, thanks again for the nice comments.

Steve, I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with the Detailer! BTW, I'm looking at a completion of around January 20th at the latest on this.

Alrighty, here's another update hot off the presses.

First up is a shot of the smallest mushrooms, the small boxes, and the larger (a relative term since these things are only a few millimeters) mushrooms. They've been cleaned up, but get a further cleaning and "dusting" once mounted as it's hard to do at this stage. Regarding those vents, of the type on the left, there are NO SPARES (and only one for the right). So be careful!




And here's those items mounted (remember to compare with the previous picture)...






Next up are the intakes... And then, we'll start to see the big structures go on and work toward final assembly.

In the end, all these tiny objects make the model look great. I wouldn't want to miss them. They are particularly nice together with your nice deck, it definitely pays.

Btw, the models wooden deck does not go around the 2nd rearmost (removed) casemate next to X turret. The paint scheme Fujimi provides indicates it does. I haven't seen detailed pictures of that area yet, I wonder what's correct?

I too wouldn't mind a picture of the whole thing as it is now to compare with page 4.

Keep going!

Okay, here's the latest update, after the rest of the vents, winches, etc., were installed. The empty holes are for stuff to go on toward the end such as the single 25mm guns (the PE gun shields and boat rails will be added later as well).

The deck "clean" as JT suggested (try not to focus on the dry fit first level ). Before...






And after...




Now that the tiny stuff is done, it's time to permanently mount the model to the base (epoxy), attach the screws, and start building her up.

JT, the few pictures I've seen of that area shows the Shinsengumi deck to be correct and not have the deck wrap around. It seems that most modelers seem to leave that area blank as well...

Magnificent work Dade. Keep the updates coming!

Beautiful! Another masterpeice in the making.

Dade,

how many single mount 25mm guns does your kit list?
I keep finding conflicting information on this (I've found 24, 30 and 48.).

Have you looked at an Aoshima Kongo kit? If so, what did you think of it?

Thanks.

There are 28 25mm mounts. In the box and on the model.

By now I've found a guy who has build both kits, Aoshima and Fujimi, and he said Aoshimas kit might be a tiny bit less detailed, is simpler to built, better fitting and is more accurate. He gave Fujimi 4 out of 5 and Aoshima 5 out of 5. Personally I agreed with his opinions regarding the Fujimi model so he might be right overall.
The Fujimi model is still great, just a bit tricky to assemble on occasion. If you're skilled, take your time and don't get all excited over the casemates, the final product is probably better looking than Aoshimas model.

I find it great how the little items make the deck so much more interesting to look at.

Interesting... the instructions in the Aoshima Kongo list 30 x single mounts....

Also, I've found a different thread here:
http://cs.finescale.com/forums/1047316/ShowPost.aspx

and that person seems to like the Fujimi version better. I was just curious. I will be building the Aoshima... whenever I get around to it.

Sorry for getting here late. I was working like mad on the Kongo all yesterday and should have a pretty significant update soon. Today and tomorrow, I'm working like crazy on my Pearl Harbor campaign entry, then Monday back to the Kongo.

Thanks to Martin and Anthony for the nice comments.

The difference in the amount of guns issue (two more in Aoshima) is interesting (thanks also to JT for counting them on Fujimi's). Out of curiosity, does the Aoshima kit list those guns as actually being mounted, or is it possible there are two extra on the sprue...?

I'm also interested in the comparisons. I think that the discussion JT found is interesting and based on this struggle with this kit (dealt with some more annoyance yesterday), I can see how the person who actually built both would like the Aoshima more (can't imagine it being more of a hassle than this thing). Geez, when do these people find the time?

The link Ion posted seemed to be people talking who have not built the kit. The person railing against the Aoshima kit seemed to be basing his comparison on an annoying build of the Aoshima Atago (I thought I was the only person who preferred this "forgotten sister"), and he hasn't built the Fujimi kit at all... just speculation. Thanks for the link, Ion, as it's still interesting to see some other opinions floating around.

Dade, I think they refer to the actual number that was on the ship, rather than the number of parts in the kit. Check out this link:

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/image/10070298k3/50/3

I don't know Japanese, but I am pretty sure they refer to the single mount number on the ship in the lower right corner of the instructions.

I'm not sure Aoshima and Fujimi are trying to model the same 1944 Kongo in the first place.

If I am counting correctly, Fujimi comes with 22x3, 6x2 and 28x1, that's 106.
Aoshima seems to come with 18x3, 8x2 and 30x1, that's 100.

Now I have checked 7 sources and found 5 different numbers, 118 the most popular and if the composition was given, it was always different from both of the above...
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I'm looking forward to the next chapter, Dade, it's going to be interesting.

Odd. All the sources I found agree on all (6 x twin 12.7s, 18 x triple 25mm, 8 x dual 25mm) but the single-mount guns... Oh well, I guess I'll just go with Aoshima's number.

Not sure it helps anyone regarding the AA 25mm issue but www.combinedfleet.com TROM for the IJN Kongô states:



Assuming that to be correct then Aoshima depicts the Kongo before that date in 1944 and should be dead on right.
Hard to find reliable information what precisely was done to the Kongo in Seletar and/or Lingga.

In fact, no matter Fujimi did it right or wrong I think this scale model gives so much workload and fun, that noone could tell the difference when it is finished.

@Dale: Brilliant work and I am happy I can witness the making of the model!

Wow, all of these varying numbers. The Fujimi kit depicts October 1944 as it's supposed to be the Kongo at Leyte Gulf- her biggest action claim to fame was putting three shells fair and square into the Johnston, so it makes sense. I had heard that the Aoshima kit was also supposed to be Leyte Gulf. In that case they're supposed to be depicting her at the same time... Ah well, my head's already hurting as few sources seem to agree on what exactly she was carrying on that actual day.

I'm going to concentrate on the kit build and let these huge model companies fight it out.

Okay, I spent the last couple days working on my entry for the Pearl Harbor campaign. I finished it just to see that apparently they're not counting today as the last day for entries (December 7), but apparently the 6th as the cut off. Darn... Ah well, here was my entry- a 54mm (1/32) IJN pilot based off the Akagi. The figure is by Tamiya and the paint is Vallejo acrylics.










Okay, with that done, it's back to the Kongo. An exciting update in a couple days- she's starting to look like a ship.

Wow. I am extremely satisfied with your Kongo. I mean unbelievable! It is just flawless. I am working on my Yamato 1/350 and plan on buying a Lionroar Yamato PE set and the Shinsengumi wood. lol a total of 400 dollars including paint for equipment. But I'm a crazy modeler. Any idea on what you would use to glue down your wood onto the deck. Also the polish brand you recommended (I have like a Lowes and Home Depot store like right next to each other) I was wondering which store would be best finding the thing you talked about for the wood. And I would like to know how fragile these wood decks are and how you would be fragile with them. Sine the Yamato 1/350s are around a 100.

Great looking figure Dade,... would that be the Ultracast fighter pilot?

Frank

Wonderful work Dade all the way around.

Kenny

You guys should look at this guy's Yamato 1/350. He bought both the Lionroar Yamato 1/350 PE set and the Yamato 1/350 Shinsengumi Wood from Rainbow Ten. His Yamato blew me off. He weathered and washed it very well. I was just absolutely amazed. That is what made me influenced on building one like his. His names Peter Van Buuren. You should see his other stuff. Absolutely remarkable.