Looking good Julian.

You might think I am insane, but I have built the Tamiya Tirpitz with the Eduard Super Set previously for someone I knew. It went pretty smoothly for my first PE Set for a ship. Thought I would leap in at the deep end.. I bought another one to rpelace the one I built but am not sure when it will get built as I may build the Revell Tirpitz first. The good thing about the Tirpitz is that there are a few good camouflage schemes for it so you can have three Tirpitzs in your collection and none of them will look alike!

Hi Warren, thank you very much. I'll post some pic's of the linoleum when it's dry so you see the difference in tone and appearence.
No, I don't consider you insane for building the same model again. I would approach my Tirpitz build in a different fashion now. If you want to go insane try this camo for the Tirpitz:


(Not wanting to run into copyright issues here so the drawing comes from a set of two books I bought by AJ-press Monografie Morskie: Bismark. Tirpitz cz 4 and cz 5, ISBN #'s 83-7237-077-X and 83-7237-078-8. Excellent reference material for builds of Hitler's two giants with 3-d drawings and several different camo references)

Cheers,
Julian

Hi all.

I have a question for the learned scholars here... Was there much visual differences between the Kongo and the Haruna?

TIA

Warren

Hi Warren, due to the fact that I am building the Haruna and have also been studying Dade's Kongo build I can only say yes: there are a lot of differences between the two models, ( and even more between the four ships of this class). As far as Kongo and Haruna are concerned : the aft director tower has a different shape, the aft stacks differ in size and forward superstructure has a lot of differences. The AAA armament of the Kongo is significantly heavier than that of the Haruna, ( I have several sprues of single 20mm AAA that I don't need for the Haruna, ( good for the spares box though). Steven Wiper's book on the Kongo class battlecruisers give a good idea of the differences between the 4 ships.The Hiei had a completely different forward superstructure that served as the prototype for the very high tech superstructure of the Yamato and Musashi. His book also shows the problem of depicting these ships at any one time due to rebuilds, refits and wartime updates to armament.
Cheers,
Julian

Oct 26th update:







Further work on bridge superstructure and range finder towers. Twin 20 AAA added.
Cheers,
Julian

November 7th update:
A very small update this time due to the fact that my vacation is over and I started work again last monday. Add to this the fact that I bought an i-pad and spent loads of time gloating over all it's possibilities and you can gather why I didn't do much building The superstructure is making progress and the PE adds a lot in detailing it. I have learned from the Tirpitz build and I strengthened the PE antenna supports with "Albion alloys" brass tube to prevent them bending when I get around to rigging halyards and antenna lines:






Also a word for the wary here: some low-life got hold of my Visa card information and was having a fun time until I blocked the card. I am not sure if the theft is linked to the Hannant's warning sent last week but I would advise taking their warning seriously.
All for now,
cheers,
Julian

I had the same problem, but mine was caused by Hobby Search.. I don't ever remember giving them my details to put on their site but that is what happened. Paypal or direct credit card from now on!

It's insured so that is not the problem but all the paperwork and renewal is rather irritating
Still, there are worse things
cheers,
Julian

Very true, and I am still ordering stuff from them.. USS Independence and Gambier Bay carriers on their way soon..

I am still waiting patiently for the Dragon Independence too. Was tempted by the Arizona but will pass there for the time being I think, my wife would probably murder me if I bought that as well

Look'in real good there Julian I have 2wks and day left to use before the end of the year or lose one wk.Only problem is the wiffee wants me to take the same week as her She has something diabolical planned.Cheers

Hi Kevin, thank you very much !
SWMBO generally have diabolical plans......................Sometimes it pays to go with the flow Try throwing in a meal at a good restaurant on a regular basis and see how that influences your model building life
cheers,
Julian

I am very lucky in that regard and my wife would rather have me home building a model than down the local tavern having a drink. Seeing I am no longer a big drinker this suits me down to the ground!

Which company do you knowlegable people consider to produce the best 1/350 ships?

It's a limited database I am working with here Warren; Revell is rather rough, Zvezda needs a big clean-up but is not too bad. TamiGawa are legendary but I must note that the older Tamiya models show some flash. The ICM WW I battlewagens are good but benefit from some after market PE. The Fujimi Haruna is very, very nice to work with but their PE set sucks big time.
My 2 cents in a nutshell but everyone on this forum will have their own opinion
cheers,
Julian

Not trying to highjack your great build, but please explain why the Fujimi PE sucks?

No big deal Warren. The metal Fujimi uses is great, not too hard, nice to bend. The etching is beautiful, delicate and very well detailed. With a little more care they could be top of the bill. The problems start with their instructions, or should I say lack of instructions. I have been doing a sort of puzzle to work out what is included and having localized the parts working out how to fit them. Its ridiculous, 3 packed sheets of PE parts and the instructions mention maybe a quarter of them. Mailing Fujimi doesn't help either. No response at all. Eduard and White Ensign are extremely helpful, even to the point of replacing PE parts I managed to mangle on the Tirpitz build. I consider customer support a hot item and Fujimi doesnt supply even the most elementary form of this. Nothing disappoints me more
Cheers mate,
Julian

Update November 21st:
Superstructure very nearly finished now, highest point of the build has been reached. Need to do some bending and shaping on the PE parts that make up the superstructure, some parts will take a more realistic angle when the rigging is added: can't do that yet because the boat derrick has to be added to the aft mast first












That's all at the moment.
cheers,
Julian

Managed to fit the boat derrick this afternoon, also added the last mushroom vents. Next step will be the aft mast and the catapult and aircraft handling deck.




cheers,
Julian

November 28th update: I have added the USS Independence to my stash so no distraction there. The main armament has been added aft. I am very impressed by the filligree radio antenna mast on "Z" turret. working on the aircraft carriages now after finishing the main mast. Not too sure about the derrick rigging, might replace it with streched sprue. Have to think on that one :








All for now,
cheers,
Julian

That is coming along very nicely there Julian.I am currently making those winches?to finish off before starting the rigging.I coiled up some steel wire around a tube and cut looks okay atleast it's not bare like the kit ones.I started posting the other night before heading off tom sleep and damn if the mouse did not catch some ad and everthing was gone.Cheers bud

Mine will not be as good as this but for my 3rd ship I like her.POW waiting.

Hi Kevin, your camo looks great on the Graf Spee ! I liked the idea of taking a BW photo to compare your camo to the real deal
Cheers,
Julian

Very nice work Julian.

Enjoyed watching this build. I did the Kongo right after Dade did his. I held off letting him note all the pitfalls. Your build is quite impressive. Don't agree with your colors, think the grey should be darker and the linolium should be less red and a little more brown. But hey, personaly preferences. Which "little people" did you use?

It may just be down to his digital camera and lighting making the colours look wrong.

This is spooky, I was just looking at ordering the Haruna while it is half-price and a message comes through about it! And cheap shipping to me in Oz!

Just ordered it... If it is not a rude question, how much was your PE Julian??

Thank you very much Kenny.

Hello Steve, the gray comes up very light in the snaps, (have also fed them through Paint shop pro before posting them). The grey is Tamiya acrylic Kure arsenal grey with a MiG panzer grey filter which gives it a bluish tone in the photos. Maybe the sasebo arsenal grey would have been a better choice. 6 months ago I had never even heard of the troubles surrounding Japanese navy greys.
The real deal is slightly darker. The linoleum is probably too red even after brown washes. I love Vallejo cavalry brown though and it adds a bit more contrast to the model.The midgets are Fujimi's sets of Japanese sailors.

Hi there Warren, thought you were going after a Bismark or Tirpitz
The price of the PE is no secret: I ordered it from HL Japan for 61 euro's and another 10 euro's postage. Didn't count on Customs stinging me for another 20 so all in all it turned out quite expensive. I wouldn't recommend it though, already mentioned my problems with the lack of comprehensive instructions so maybe a good idea to take a look around before going for the Fujimi set. The kit itself is magic, great little build.

Cheers,
Julian