And so it begins.... Hello all, I am new to ship modelling but have done some 1/48 planes and 1/35 armour (WW2) over the past 2-3 years after getting back into modelling.

I bought the Hasegawa Nagato kit back in Mar/April and have been a bit daunted at the thought of tackling this kit but itching to do it at the same time. I have slowly been aquiring some aftermarket bits and pieces and want to build it carefully as this will end up being a centrepiece in my loungeroom (hopefully I can do it justice). Now that I have cleared my workbench and am commited to the build I have ordered some more "stuff" over the past 3 days- this is probably an appropriate time to thank my lovely wife for putting up with my hobby and letting me spend the money!!!!!

Ok a quick shot of the kit


and a shot of what I have so far


This includes-
The kit
Hasegawa PE set A
Hasegawa PE set B
Hasegawa Super Set
WEM IJN Cable Reels
Veteran Models 12.7cm AA guns
Veteran models IJN binocular set with voice pipes
AJ press Nagato/Mutsu Vol 2 ( I would love vol 1 but it is unavailable worldwide as far as I know)
I have also ordered-
G factor Nagato brass propellers
Sinsengumi Models Nagato wood deck
Clipper 14cm brass barrels
I am thinking about getting the WEM Nagato PE set- it has ladders which I need and a few pieces that are not in the Hase sets. Its approx $130Au so i'm not sure on this one yet- any thoughts appreciated.
All up I have spent approx $750- $800Au to date :big_eyes:
As I am a noob I am going to take my time and will try and provide detailed work in progress pics, hopefully you can all see what I am doing and offer advice/tips etc as I go. I have a lot of planning to do but am going to get the hull together this afternoon hopefully. Wish me luck

Cheers

Anthony

Hi again,

First up for those who have not seen the kit, it has a lot of plastic


I have removed the 2 hull halves from the sprue and cleaned them up

and.... I have a question already, the instructions in step 1 call for the removal of some moulded on bits, is this correct and if so why are they there in the first place?

Instructions

pic of the kit parts in question


While I was taking pics I thought I would show my work area which is in my garage, it is a great area but I have no natural light or ventilation

Wider view of desk- its about 6ft wide so I have heaps of room

Display cabinets, storage and my home made spray booth

Some of my other models

Paints

Storage full of lots of bits and pieces


Cheers

Anthony

Hello Anthony ,

Lion Roar has 1/350 scale ladders for IJN vessels. There may be ' special sized ' ladders on Nagato itself but, that set will probably solve ' Aztec stair ' problem of this kit.

For removal some parts in the begining, Nagato has sister vessel called Mutsu. Those removal part/s details may belonged to Mutsu or constructural issues. However I do not have AJ press book, in near past ModelArt from Japan published a great dwg. book about Nagato. Please check www.hlj.com for ' SuperIllustration Nagato ' book.

Thank you for sharing your build.

Regards,
Serhan

nice shop setup - and a very ambitious project!

Wellcome to the wet side of modelling

Cheers/jan

Looking forward to watching and learning from this, and I envy your workbench.

The Nagato will be a worthy foray into maritime modeling.

I've tried to organize my Karlshaven Yard several times, but in the process of building, things get spread out and stacked upon each other and I have to clean up and reorganize all over at the end of each build. But, on the other hand, I don't have to worry about "promoting domestic tranquility", either...

Good luck on the build!

--Karl

Welcome to the salty side of modeling Anthony. Good looking start to your Nagato. I would definitely check the references as far as the removal of those parts.

It kind of looks lke you overbought on your brass sets. I think you are going to find a lot of redundancy, hopefully you'll love building this kit and venture out and get another of the Japanese BB's. Check and see on that Lionroar set. It is cheap and free shipping if you order from Lucky model. (big difference btwn $10 and $120) Building these kits is a real challenge as you have to look at several sets of directions as you proceed. My advice would be to concentrate of the bridge and add all the PE etc whle building it. then progres backward into the funnel amidships area.. I've got this kit but havren't tackled it yet opting to do the Kongo first. Something that may assist you is reading Dades build log of his Kongo, there are tons of tips for doing things like gluing the wooden deck and staining it.

Thanks Steve, I haven't got the WEM set yet only the Hasegawa sets. There is some bits that sit on top of the main guns that are really nice detail that are not in the hase sets. Also the WEM set will solve the ladder problem. I'm just not sure I want to spend the money for a few bits no matter how nice they are.

I want to get the Tamiya Mogami or Mikumi so I can hopefully use any left over PE I suppose.
I will check out Lucky model cheers.
Thanks for the tips on the bridge etc, and yes I have read Dades Kongo BLOG and will be refering to it regularly. Pretty much everything is new to me and it is a steep learning curve and I especially don't want to stuff the deck as it is about $120AU. I nearly didn't buy it and was going to just paint the kit deck but succumbed in the end.


Thanks to Serhan, Jan, Dan, Karl and Kenny for your support and words too- its greatly appreciated.

Good luck !!! Seriously I mean it, it is a big and ambitious and awesome project. We have a memeber of our club who is about halfway through the build process, no photo etch yet, just the plastic build process. He has the wooden decks as well.

As for me, i am taking a long and slow route to building mine. I built the origianl Hasagaw first ship release - Yukikaze - as a way of seeing what I am getting into. My next project will be the Mikasa battleship and then i will build the Nagato. This way I progress from small to large and learn some valuable skill sets along the way.

On the whole the Hasagawa ships build nice and easy, the parts numbers are overwhelming, but the build is straight forward. I had fun building the Yukikaze. I don't anticipate starting Nagato for at least a year as, again, I want to wash and rig Yukikaze and then move forward on builkding Mikasa which is more complicated.

Do a lot of research if you can , or if you want, on what others have done over on, dare I say it - http://www.modelwarships.com.

Also, there was a recent and well done Nagato done in the pages of one of the last Fine Scale Modeler magazines.

I now find that research is helping my models. I am not rivit counting, just seeing what others have done and what techniques I can borrow from them.

Please keep us posted on how you proceed.

Best of luck,
George

Be very careful with the wooden decks. I did one on the Kongo, but it was the Fujimi brand and the kit was engineered to use it (no parts removal). But got the spary adhesive and used clips to hold it in place for a couple of days to let it set. It was worth the extra effort. I've got the Mogami and not a whole lot of parts will transfer over. What I am doing for my crusiers relative to pe....I get the Lionroar IJN railing sets, the special aircraft rail and turnstile set, and Tom's did an IJN cruiser setthat has the cranes and catapaults.....all and all it beats that $100 Lionror complete set. Oh yea the Aber main gun set is pretty inexpensive as well.

Small update. I removed the pieces in question using my trusty micro chisel



I then glued the bracing to one side



and then the hull halves together



a pic of the front hull with bits removed



I am thinking of drilling out some of the portholes, particularly the ones above the secondary gun ports. Can anyone give advice on this and what is the best way to go about it.

I also am thinking I need to consider the mount for this beast at this stage, I am unsure if the kit supplied pieces (with the super set felt cloth) are good enough. i could put a recess in the wood base and glue them down but am worried it will still not be stable enough. By the way I will be mounting this on a timber base with an acrylic display box to protect it from dust (and kids fingers) as it will be on show in my loungeroom.

I have seen Dade's Kongo build and like the look of his brass tube but am not 100% how to go about it and also not sure if I want to drill 2 big holes in the hull at this stage?- any thoughts welcome

Cheers

Anthony

Don't worry about it, if you stuff it up, just cut the whole bottom section off and waterline it.

I will strongly reccomend that you prepare the hulle for mounting on the base as early in the progress as possible - if you wait you will risk braking or damaging later additions to the hull, besides making the base now (or a intermidiate one) will give you some thing to place the kit on during building and painting.

When mounting my subs I allways use a system of tubes sliding - so that you dont have to screw or glue the model to the base.

Cheers - and good luck, it will look stunning in your lounge!

Jan

Welcome to ship modelling matey ! That is a good kit to get stuck into, trial by fire eh? I must say that's one of the best orginised work areas I've ever seen! Nothing quite like knowing where every paint pot is, I spend ages hunting around for the one I'm after......

Will.

Wow,this is going to be some project,and I look foward to following this build.And great looking work space.

Not one to have permanently afixed mounts, but drill now while it is still early in the stages. Being on the bottom, it is not highly visable and relativly easy to fill in if you change your mind

Hi all, thanks for the comments. I have been waiting to get a base sorted and spent some time with my father in law today knocking something together. Pics will come tommorrow.

Cheers

Anthony

Sorry it has been longer than expected for an update. The base is done, I ended up going with the brass and plastic rod with dowel method ala Dade's Kongo build.
The timber is Tassie Oak and will be the baseboard. My plan is to build a display base with glass and wood panelling which will surround this base if that makes sense?
now on with the pics
Base board and supports







I am toying with the idea of an o ring sitting on top of the brass to help protect the painted hull?





Also some new additions-

brass propellers by G Factor



14cm secondary barrels by Clipper- these were cheaper than the Fukuya and the Fukuya set includes the main guns but I have these in the Hasegawa deluxe PE set.



anyway, I can now get back to the build!

I am unsure whether or not to paint the hull now before adding the decks and starting work on the superstructure etc- any suggestions?

Cheers
Anthony

Keep the pics, tips etc coming....I'm following along as I have this one on order......

Hi all, I am getting back into this build but noticed that due to me tidying up my photobucket folders my images are not linked in this thread. How can I edit this thread so I can re-attach the photos? Most forums have an edit button.

Cheers

Happy New Year!

After a 2 year hiatus I have gotten back into this build (man time flies)

My new years resolution was to finish the Nagato this year -hopefully by May when my Model club has their yearly show.

I pulled it out and dusted it off yesterday and glued the deck down to the hull



The deck detail is great



I also added the rudders and propeller shafts



I managed to prime the hull last night so will begin painting her today.

As this is my first ship model I am unsure how to progress with the painting and am thinking of doing the hull/deck in full and then gloss coating it to help protect it and then build everything else and paint it at the end?

Cheers and thanks for looking

Not much of a result for 2 years work there Bro...

Post a pic of the painted hull and get on with all those fun hours with the PE!

Hope it goes smoothly.

Hi there Anthony.
Good to see you have restarted the Nagato.
As to painting, I am in the middle of the USS North Carolina in 1/350 and I basically paint everything as I go, in sub-assemblies that is. I painted the hull in its camo colours first then covered it back up with masking tape to protect it while building everything else. Then I did the turrets and painted them. Then the radars etc and painted them. I have just about finished building the bridge area and then I will paint it. After it is painted I will attach it to the rest of the hull and touch up as necessary.
If I am building a ship that is basically the same colour then I paint the PE railings before I attach them, but with the NC it is camoed and I will be painting the railings after assembly, most by hand.
Most things I paint with an airbrush, but with ships much of the superstructure and details I do by hand as it is just too hard to mask them up for spray painting.
Good luck mate!

Welcome back to the salty side of the hobby Anthony!

Looking forward to seeing more of your build and that great work area you've got there!