Geez, I thought I would have had an update sooner! Did you ever have one of those builds where you think you can update, but ya need to change a few things... then a few more... and a few more, until next thing you know days have gone by? That's me right now.

So a quick update to show that I have in fact been working on this baby. First up, she's been epoxied to the base. Remember the hollow tubes I put inside the hull for the dowels to fit into? Those tubes get filled with epoxy and then the ship slides onto the dowels. The little bit of "play" in the tubes allows the epoxy to go down and around the dowels to lock the ship in. It can be held upside down and won't budge (although I don't tempt fate by doing it much). Here's the epoxy in the forward tube with dowel.




And then the big stuff started to go on. Here's a quick shot with the flight deck, side platforms, funnels, superstructure base and level, and midships items attached. Some filler can be seen here and there. More (and better) pictures will be shown when I get the area a little more cleaned up (note that the superstructure base has also had its boxes and stuff attached).



A much more comprehensive update will be posted once I get out of the "development hell" I'm currently in.

Thanks for the nice words Kenny and Frank. BTW Frank, the figure is the one that came with Tamiya's 1/32 Zero. Although plastic, the Big T really came through on the details.

Mr. Blades, the Valspar I used to seal the deck was purchased at Lowes, as was the 3M spray adhesive. Welcome aboard and thanks for the nice comments.

It's looking like a ship already.

I'm curious to see the details later, I know what I've done on that part, and yours looks so much more promising.

Now the thing I hate myself for is I forgot to add the link to Peter Van Buurens link. Noy you guys should check out his Yamato. Link: http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery/bb/ijn/yamato-350-pvb/pvb-index.html

Okay, here we go with a little more of a solid update. Please remember that the paint and weathering is not done (this is especially noticeable on the flight deck which looks kind of weird for now...). Final dull coat also takes care of a lot of the weirdness.

First of all is the flight deck and yet another correction to the instructions. The photo etch piece for the control house is shown upside down. It is supposed to be flipped over so that the the side windows are up against the roof instead of... uh... the floor.




Here is the flight deck attached with transport rails, turntables, and correct side up house.






Now for the funnels. Some AA guns begin to get mounted. Note that there are ladders that will go all over, but toward the end of the build...




Moving forward, we see the platforms for the search lights (empty for now), boat cradles, directors, and the beginnings of the bridge and superstructure. Note the fragile PE pulleys...




And finally, a view of all of this stuff. She's getting nice and complicated now...




Next stop, the bridge area...

Great to see it come together. Can't wait to see your weathering technique.

The bridge is going to be a pain...

But I guess once it is on top, she'll be a beauty already. What colour did you use on the AAA gun barrels (sorry if I missed it somewhere)?

It has begun... Because these shots are taken in progress, there is no filling of gaps or final paint. Let's go!

Starting where we left off, and going up.




As the next level goes on, remember we have to add the enclosure...










A small PE cagework is added here, as is the "cap":




The top most deck and works are dry fit here. This is because it would interfere with my process of putting the "glass" in the top windows, so the DF antenna structure (and top deck, etc.) has to wait until that process is complete.




Sooo, lets take a look at we've got so far (including the turrets)...






And with that, we must take a short break from this build so I can complete my 20th Century Cruisers campaign entry and write a couple of reviews that I promised Gunny a couple weeks ago. And then it's time to finish this lady!

Fantastic work Dade, the bridge assembly looks flawless, no easy task considering the amount of layers involved.

Frank

Wow, Dade. That is really impressive work. The bridge layer-by-layer photos really give a sense of the complexity of the structure. Barry

That is impressive work.... my hats off to you yet again! Thanks for taking the pics..cheers

Thanks a bunch, guys! We're in the homestretch now!

I am extremely impressed, Dade. Great work!

Thanks!




I was mixing up some paint and I suddenly remembered that I didn't answer this question. I use Shadowed Steel by Reaper. It works well as a gun metal when taking scale effect for both 1/350 and 1/700. It looks nice after a black wash. Reaper makes a wide variety of colors- acrylic, water base. Similar to Vallejo... For each color, they make a base and then a highlight and a shadow. So since gun metal is a type of steel, I just use the shadow variant.

http://www.reapermini.com/Paints/master

Hi Dade,

This thing is getting to be just outrageous in the amount of detailing that you are putting into it. I am totally impressed and amazed by your workmanship. It does give us a nice lesson in just what can be accomplished and definitely raises that bar a notch or three.

Wonderful work Dade. Very beautiful.

Kenny

To quote a line from one of my favorite movies

"Boy is this going to be fun!"

I can't wait to get started in January on this project

Wow, thanks guys! Despite all of the weird hassles, I'm pretty happy with how she's turning out so far (knock on wood).

Are those the Type 96 25mm Triple Guns AA. If you do have 15.00 bucks you can get the lionroar Type 96 25mm Triple Guns AA in a box. If you are interested I will send you a link. Its on eBay. Anyways fantastic work. I still do have questions on the Shinsengumi wood. You buy the thingy and what do you do first? Do you spray the wood? Lightly or heavly spray the would thing. Then when do you do the wash and will the spray thing actually protect the wood from being penetrated by the wash? Also how would you glue it onto the deck? With plastic glue, wood glue, or tacky glue? And also for extra detail did you epoxy putty down the bridge onto the plastic to make it almost as if it looks like it was one whole entire bridge to start with?

Check out page 4 of this build log as it explains my process for doing the wood deck.

I use a modified version of Mike Ashey's approach to filling small gaps. Mr. Ashey uses white glue, and I use Micro Kristal Klear, which has a lot in common with white glue, but has better surface tension. I then paint over it when it dries and I get a nice smooth join- this is likely what you're seeing with the bridge. Hope this helps!

Hi Dade,

Honestly real nice build log with so much information that appears so easy along the way... incredible and well developed.

What crossed my mind as I write this:
Do you have plans involving the splinter protection for the super structure and the AA guns or do you prefer to keep the Kongô with a "clean" deck?

Anyhow, congrats to superb instructions, advices and performance and last but not least, for taking the time answering the so many questions that were asked along the way!

Hi DT,

Thank you! There are still some deck items to be attached including the gun shields on the deck, etc. These are PE pieces that will go just before the railings. I'm waiting until all of the "big stuff" is done so I don't accidentally break them off since they're so close to the edge. I probably won't put anything like splinter guard bags on the bridge as you're right- I like the way it looks without. But definitely look forward to more stuff on the deck, including boats, rails, shields, etc.

What is the paint you used on your Kongo as the full coat? Because to me it looks like the Tamiya's IJN Kure Arsenal paint.

Page 4 of this build log discusses all of the aspects of painting.

"The gray is Gunze H83 Dark Gray 2, the anti-fouling is Gunze H17 Cocoa Brown. These are the colors listed in the instructions. I prefer Gunze because most of their colors are gloss or semi gloss and the paint is very tough. This makes decal and wash application go much more smoothly."

Well, I just became irratated enough to finally toss the modern era Japanese PT boat. I had the rip off version, and it just didn't fit right and the gazillions of mold release indentions and flash. It was just too much extra work to begin with and then of course nothing fit right. My heart wasn't really in it either. So I cracked open the Kongo today and trimmed the deck of the shields and stuff and checked the fit of the wooden deck. I'm thinking about doing the aircraft for this one and the Akagi in the remaining week before the New Year. Like I said this project will count towards next year build totals so I can't really get involved with it, but the Aircraft and all those little people don't count. I've got both sets of those Fujmi 350 figures (box 2 came with ISE) so That will keep me occupied until January.

Geez, that sounds like a Tirpitz kit I had. It was so full of flash that the parts were almost encased in a sheet. I have Tamiya's JMSDF torpedo boat, but who makes the rip off? Good luck on your Kongo build!