It is Russ,

Had a few issues with the Pontos Rub down decals curling up at the edges, but sealing it kept them dow, they just look a bit weathered now.

Cheers.

Si

hey si- i have already signed up for that campaign- glad you are taking part- i just have to wrap up the yamashiro (and i still have a ways to go) before moving on. gives me lots of time to ponder the next build though

Good to hear it Kirk,

Plenty of time, it is a twelve month Campaign.

Cheers.

Si

hello all. i finality have some pics to post:
i am on to the wee, tiny, fiddly stuff:
guns:



planes:



some of the parts are just so small and delicate they are practically impossible to work with unless you use a microscope and surgical tweezers- i have yet to go that far down the rabbit hole...



finally at the paint shop- i tend to work on and then subsequently paint several models at the same time. it always feels like the amount of airbrushing work is more effective than just painting one model at a time- especially when the colour schemes are as consistent as the ijn crafts. pictured are the yamashiro, fuso, kuma and mikuma (if memory serves) also slated for the paint booth are the yamato, abukuma, and kaga carrier (not pictured).



base coats applied:






it always feels so good to see your work start to look like an actual ship!
i have another round of airbrushing before moving on to detailing and and highlighting freehand.
next up:- more planes, guns, davits, stairs, cranes, catapults, and a host of others that have to be prepainted before the final assembly phase.

more to come soon- i hope you all enjoy the shots
kikrk

i wanted to show one more to scale shot of the planes:



all boats in i figure i have about 20 more planes and launches that i want to/ need to do

Kirk

Fabulous job on your Use. Love seeing your fleet and how it is coming along. I wish I had the eyes and dexterity to work the 1/700 scale since the available IJN subjects is so much greater than in 1/350.

Looking forward to seeing more as you continue

Dave

Great stuff Kirk impressive collection of builds.

Finally remembered to stick a couple of pics of Indy in the Gallery.

Cheers.

Si

Hi all, been offline for a while with other responsibilities. Here's a mockup of my BB44 dio. Plan is to sculpt waves with Vallejo Pacific medium and attach nameplate with brass screws. Working on the fiddly 20 mm and 40 mm while trying not to lose my mind

Kirk -- I hear what you're saying about avoiding the rabbit hole. I'm at about 50% productivity on 1:700 20mm. Half of them fly off or break while I'm trying to fold them. I may throw in the towel and go resin for the smaller arms in order to stay on schedule to finish by my grandfather's birthday. Huck

Hello everyone,

It's been a while since I last posted. I got to complete two other campaigns in the process. Anyway, just wanted everyone to know that I am still working on my Mogami and would like to post the following WIP pictures.

I have built the 10 triple AA guns. Lion Roar provided more pieces than required. I was able to do a couple of tests before I went full steam ahead on building these AA guns.
The one on the left uses all the photoetched parts from Lion Roar. I was not happy with the look. The barrels look flat and since these were folded, it was very hard to make all three barrels to align as well as to make them look like cilyndrical. As a workaround, I ended up using the barrels suppled by Tamiya and resting them on the Lion Roar cradles. In my opinion, these look way much better.


Here are a couple of shots of a single AA plus the 10 completed AAs




And lastly a shot of the AAs dry-fitted on one of the mounts.


I also completed one of the radars on top of the gun directory. Pretty fiddly!


The brass barrels for the various guns have replaced the plastic ones.


Also completed are the three search light towers.



I have several more pictures to take, which I will post later on. Essentially, I'm trying to get as much of the photoetch parts built so I can proceed with painting them.

Thanks,

Joseph

beautiful work joeseph. so nice and clean. something i aspire to achieve! thanks for the shots- now back to the reference materials for me

John, your BB44 duo looks great. Love the paint job, very clean and crisp especially at that scale. Great job. Can't wait to see the final result

Joseph, great job on the AA guns for your Mogami. I never tried the PE 25mm but after seeing your results I think I will keep it that way. The kit parts combined with the PE looks great. The rest of your PE work looks nice and clean. Really looking forward to seeing it all come together

Dave

Hi all, the water is modeled. Here is the U.S.S. California steaming on 24 October 1944 to take up position in the Surigao Strait. I'm still working the 20mm and 40mm batteries. Huck

Looking good, John! Your USS California will be well ready to meet my Mogami! I will eventually venture out and model water, I hope I can make it look as good as your attempt.

Regarding my Mogami, I was able to complete enough sub-assemblies to warrant painting. Here are the latest pictures of my build:

Joeseph,

Your Mogami is looking good. Cant wait to see some color on those parts. Great job with the PE, it is clean and crisp. I like the look of the thermal shields on the Main Guns. Cant wait to see more.

Huck, Your Washingon looks great. Awesome job on the water scene, she really looks the part of steaming through the waters. What did you use for your water?

Dave

Thanks Dave, part of the incentive to keep working on these fidly photoetch parts is to see them all colored up! I've seen these all painted up over and over in my minds eye.

Hello all,

Just a quick update on my Mogami. Most of the sub-assemblies have been primed with Vallejo Black Primer and painted with Tamiya XF-77 IJN Gray (Sasebo Arsenal):








Some of the photetch parts have been primed and painted while on the fret:



I needed to mask off some areas prior to painting them over with the Tamiya XF-77:



Next is to install the rear aircraft flight decks. Snails pace but making progress still.

Thanks,

Joseph

Hello everyone,

Yet another update from my work bench. Here's how my Mogami looks after dry-fitting all the painted sub-assemblies:





Thanks!

Joseph,

Your Mogami is coming along beautifully. I really like the clean lines of the Mogami class cruisers. Looking forward to seeing the flight deck once its added.

Dave

Hi Dave et al.,

Presenting the California tomorrow to my grandfather as a surprise. I finished the 20 mm. Not as clean as the IJN ships upthread, so I have plenty to aspire to on future builds

The water is Vallejo Pacific Blue compound painted with oils. A couple of coats of Future sealed it. Thanks to all for the constructive comments and I'm looking forward to more builds with you!





Huck

Huck,

Your California oks great. Amazing job on the waterworks. Looks like she is crusing through the clean blue water looking for a fight. I am sure your Grandfather will be touched by your surprise. My hat is off to him and the service he provided.

great job. Looking forward to seeing more of your builds.

Dave

Huck, what was your grandfather's reaction to your California? Did it bring back memories for him? Great job by the way!

Dave, thanks for the compliment. I agree, the Mogami lines look great. It's like looking at a sports car. I must have missed it, but how is your Maya and Dace coming along?

Here's my latest WIP update. I was finally able to work on my Mogami's flight deck. When I started this campaign, one of the first things I did was to remove the existing detail on the kit supplied deck. Here is how the part looked out of the box


After I removed the details, here's how it ended up


And now, with the application of the photo-etched parts, here is the result




Underneath the aft turntable, there should be an angular railing that would've connected the two innermost railing, but, that part flew off into the photoetch blackhole, no choice but to leave it like this.


I'm hoping one of the float planes will cover this area that's missing a piece (I'm sure even if it is covered, I still know it's not complete). Here's the final shot showing masked areas. Ready to prime and paint!


Thanks!

Joseph

Hi Joseph,

Your work is super clean. It looks awesome!

A bittersweet story in regards to the California. I gave my grandfather the model at his 90th birthday party Saturday. Monday he became very ill and passed away yesterday. The silver lining is now we have a model to celebrate his service.



Huck

Huck, I do sorry for your loss. My condolences to you and your family. I am glad you had the chance to show your grandfather your work before he passed.

Dave