Russell/ Bryan,

Thanks for the kind comments. Will spend this week spot painting the flaws on the deck and the hull and addressing all of the detail I removed such as the vents and the winches.

Want to get wash and weathering done before I start laying down the brass strips which are so prevelant on the IJN Cruisers.

thanks again for comments.

Dave

Well done on the deck painting Dave!! A good mask job always pays off in the end!!

Dave,

great work on the masking and the deck!!

Cheers,

Jan

Jan / Todd,

Thanks for the comments. I will admit that masking is not my favorite taks but as you said, patience pays of in the end.

Dave

Hi all

I spent most of this week working on the fiddly parts and the rear main deck.

Here is the rear main deck with the rear housing. The FlyHawk kit comes with the railing attached to the decking but I deceided to remove it in order to get a better alignment.



Another picture of the rear housing.



The rear main deck does have an issue though. According to the FlyHawk instructions there should be 4 of the C36 parts.



The problem is there are only 2 of C36 and I have already removed the molded detail so as you can see in the picture there is a slight problem.



Here are the spot light towers before being fixed to the main deck



During the week I laid a coat of primer on the spare torpedoes and the torpedo tubes. Will finish painting during this upcoming week and then mount them to the ship.



Here are some pre primer photos of the fiddly parts. The first picture are the PE gussets for the base of the main gun barbettes.



The next ones are the new vents and some binoculars for the bridge.





Not sure why I primed the binoculars since I haven't primed the bridge yet.

Here is everything after priming.





Sorry for such a dull update this week but the fiddly parts needed addressing before I moved to far forward.

This week I will get the vents and torpedoes painted and mounted so that I can wash the main deck next weekend.

Just as a note, as I have said before the FlyHawk PE kit is very robust but it does miss some very important details.

One is that the instructions are very confusing and do not provide a whole lot of detail. Since there are very limited pictures of the Maya it is frustrating in some aspects.

The second is that there are very few hanging ladders in the set. A lot of accommodation ladders but only one hanging ladder and that is for the funnel. So I used some hanging ladders from my Gold Medal Models set that I have for the USS Missouri.

So be forewarned if you get the IJN Maya and the FlyHawk kit, you will need some additional AM PE sets to fill the gaps in the FlyHawk set.

Looking through the instructions I seem to be making good progress. I predict I should be able to start building her up within the month.

Well that's it for this week. Thanks for looking in and as always, comments, suggestions, and criticism is always welcome.

Dave

Not dull at all, Dave!!

PE work looks great, perfect circles you managed with the raining, that's always tricky!
And for all the small stuff, well, that needs to be done, and in the end, the small stuff makes the model!!

Cheers

Jan

Hi Dave

some very nice progress here. Those spot light towers look great.

A lot of fiddly detail for sure, but in no way dull: often when onlookers from outside our hobby view our work, they're amazed at the finished product, but can't quite put their finger on why. Well, it's all those little details you've been working on that makes the difference

Keep up the good work mate, look forward to seeing Maya move forward

Russ

Jan / Russell,

You gentlemen are right, the fiddly parts do bring the whole thing together and are a must.

I was able to lay down a coat of Sasebo gray on the fiddly parts so I will begin adding them to the hull this week or next weekend.

The searchlight platform rails were pretty easy to be honest. I am not looking forward to some of the other tubs that require the perfect circle since they are brass sheet instead of railing.

Another draw back to the FlyHawk kit is the requirement to fabricate support pillars for many of the over hanging platforms. The instructions are a little light on information. An example is it shows the picture and says self made stick 1.6mm. Little skecthy in my opinion but ill push through.

Thanks again gentlemen for the kind comments.

more to follow this weekend.

Dave

Awesome progress Dave!! Great seeing all the itty-bitty pieces getting to the paint booth!! Nice clean work all around! A real tread to follow along!!

Hi Dave,

The Takaos have always been among my favorite ships, and your Maya is shaping up to be a stellar build! (don't all those little parts drive you just a little crazy, though?)

Tim / Todd,

Thanks for the comments. They itty bitty parts do beomce a little tedious after a while so I am trying to space them out as much as I can.

Tim - I am defeinately finding a warm place in my heart for the Takao Cruisers. I have the IJN Chokai in the stash and will probably build that for the Guadalcanal Campaign when Lucian gets that started.

Will have more updates this weekend so stay tuned.

Dave

Good evening everyone, hope yall had a great weekend. Well here is this weeks update.

I spent the week giving the torpedo deck a wash and finishing off the torpedo tubes and spare torpedoes so they were ready to mount.

Here is the torpedo deck with everything mounted.





I used Tamiya Acrylic Sasebo fray on the torpedo tubes and the retaining straps on the spare torpedoes. The warhead is Vallejo primer black and torpedo body is Tamyia Acrylic Aluminum. I washed the deck, the torpedoes and the torpedo tubes with black oils thinned with mineral spirits. The torpedo props are Vallejo brass.

Right now the spare torpedoes are permanent but the tubes are not glued yet. So here I am looking for votes as to how to position the torpedo tubes.

There is little to no information as to the crews actions prior to the Maya being sunk. That being said the IJN Atago had been sunk by the USS Darter earlier in the morning, maybe an hour or two prior to the Maya being struck. Since we do not know what the crew was doing it is possible that the torpedo tubes were manned and trained out to sea. so who votes for at least on if not two of the torpedo tubes being swung out to sea? Based on the votes I will proceed and close up the torpedo deck.

Ok, now on to more updates. After finishing the torpedo deck I moved back to finishing the bridge structure.

I added Hasagawa compass and 12cm spotting scopes to the compass deck.



followed by adding the support structure for the roof of the compass deck

before



after



and here is were I ran into another problem with the FlyHawk set. As you can see in the previous picture there is a large gap in the middle. There is supposed to be another support beam towards the inside according to the instructions.



But there were only two of part d as you can see in the next photo.



I looked at all the sheets and alas, there is no second set of part d. So the gap will remain as it will be difficult to see once I install the support beam.

Anyway, on to more of the bridge. Here is another support beam build.

Before



After



I do believe this is another mistake by FlyHawk. If you look closely you can see that the support beams are beveled at the outside edges of the roof. But the slots cut into the PE have those beveled edges up towards the roof instead of down like the main support. It looks odd and I couldn't think of a way to fix it without damaging the PE so I went with it.

there is more to what I accomplished such as adding in all of the windows. Once I paint the structure I will go back and use testor clear glue to make the windows.

Here she is with the bridge completed. This is a dry fit and following the addition of some fiddly parts they will be ready for priming.



Here you can see the compass and the 12cm spotting scopes through the windows.



and finally a frontal shot of the IJN Maya.



She is a little lopsided at the moment due to the torpedo deck roof not being secured. That is on the list for this weeks steps.

I also cleaned up the linoleum deck from gaps in the tape.

So for this week I will use a pin wash on the linoleum deck and the Torpedo deck roofing. Once the wash is done I will secure the roofing, well after I tally the votes and position and secure the torpedo tubes. I will also work on some more fiddly parts this week. I have some veteran observation equipment to clean up and add to the decks and some more hasagawa binoculars. I can see the finish line in the near future.

thanks for all of the comments, you guys definitely motivate me to continue what is a great kit, even with the fit issues and the oversights in the FlyHawk Kit.

Thanks for looking in and as always comments, suggestions and criticism are always welcome.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Dave

hi all,

Since I had the day off yesterday due to St. Patrick's Day I was able to tackle the Maya a little more.

The first task was adding more of the fiddly parts such as the support gussets around the main gun barbettes and the observation devices on the bridge levels.

I used some of the Hasagawa Binolculars and Veteran Models Observation Devices.



The Veteran Models Observation devices are well made and provide a high level of detail not seen on the Hasagawa binolculars.

Here they are monted on the bridge levels.







The dark gray binocluars are the Hasagawa while the unpainted are the Veteran Model versions.

The next pictures are of the main deck with the support gussets added and some mushroom vents from Hasagawa.



The Hasagawa vents are a treat as the molded vents did not have any detail. The only issue is the Hasagawa kiyt does not provide all sizes which hads left me out on a limb a little.

The next task was the start of weathering for the main deck. I applied a pin wash to the main deck and will follow that up with a dry brushing and a filter.



I also weathered the rear bridge structure.





I used oils for the weathering and for the dry brishing to bring out the details. Based on the picture it could use a little more.

The last step of yesterdays work was adding the flight deck support walls. This is the first step in building the Maya up.



I have a few more taks to complete this week and then I will be putting some color on the bridge structure. Once that is complete it is on to tackling the stacks. Unforatunately the stacks have to be added before the bridge so it will be a little more time before the bridge is added to the ship.

Well that is all for this update. Stay tuned for more and thanks for dropping in.

As always comments , suggestions, and criticism are always welcome.

Dave

Cracking build Dave,

The etch work is splendid.

I am getting inspired to have a crack at a big Japanese cruiser,

Si

Wow Dave!! Mighty fine work!! Top notch etch slinging!

Si/Todd,

Thanks for the kind comments. I have learned alot from watching everyone work with PE, especially Si.

Thanks for all the help and tips you have given me. I think this work is a big step up from the Musashi.

Si - The IJN Cruisers are a fun build so I highly recommend them.

So, what do you two suggest, torpedo tubes in or pointing out?

thanks again

Dave

Hi Dave,
I have just finished reading through this and it is mighty impressive. I am very tempted to try this if the cruiser campaign gets off the ground.

cheers

Michael

Dave, super work on the Maya. I love all that etch work, especially around the bridge superstructure.
Watching with interest and looking forward to seeing the completed build. Have to admit to being a recent fan of IJN cruisers. They have an almost futuristic look about them I find.

Dave an inspired build so far, like some of the others I'm now tempted to build a Jap cruiser.

I'll start a thread to see how much interest there is in a Guadalcanal campaign, if we can get that going then I'll see if I can build a Jap cruiser for that.

Top notch Dave!

I don't know, all these great IJN builds going on, and I'm also coming under their spell... Must resist temptation to buy more ships, must resist!

Russ

Gentlemen,

Thank you all for the kind comments. I owe to each of you as I have learned a great deal watching each of you build your masterpieces.

I agree with everyones comments regarding the IJN Curisers. They are definately wacky and beautiful at the same time.

The Maya has been a fun build even with the fit issues. I look forward to seeing other IJN builds in the future.

Will have more updates this weekend, stay tuned.

Dave

Dave,

Great work on the Maya – and I love the weathering you are doing so far. I usually finish my own full hull ship models without weathering them, but what you are doing makes the detail pop without being so dramatic as to look strange on a full hull model.

I expect to be finished with my present build (Columbus' Pinta) before too long...you have me thinking of maybe an IJN subject next!

Tim,

Thanks for the comments, especially the weathering. I am trying new techniques that I have read about so any feedback is exteremly welcomed.

In the end the Maya will displayed in a diorama depicting it's final moments just before being stuck by 5 torpedoes from the USS Dace.

I will probably begin working the display base here in the next month or so..hopefully.

Your Pinta looks great. I really like how you detailed the wooden hull with the oil colors.

Will look for your IJN build in the future. They are fun even though they have a slightly dull color scheme.

More updates coming this weekend.

thanks again for stopping by.

Dave

Hi all,

Hope everyone had a great weekend. Well here is a short update for the Maya. I know I spent all day yesterday and half the day today at he table but by looking at the photos you wouldn't know it.

First I wanted to get a look at the Alliance Model Works 25mm triples so I threw one together and too a comparison shot.





I think they were definitely worth the money. Definite improvement over the kit 25mm triples.

I also started on the stacks. The Maya has two separate stacks and I wanted to dress them up. So here is a before picture.



and here is the mid work photo.



Once I install the baffles in both stacks I will add the PE funnel frames. I think they look better but trying to replace the baffles was a very time consuming effort yesterday.

Other than that I spent today working the weathering on the hull and main deck, no photos I am sorry to say, and working on more fiddly parts. I did not have enough of the vents painted to complete that part of the main deck so they will be prepped and emplaced soon.

Last but not least say hello to my little friends...

Here is the crew of the IJN Maya.



They are the Fujimi 3d 1/350 IJN sailors. I figured 50 should be enough to make the dio more realistic. Cant have a ghost ship floating in the Sibyan Sea.

I will work on some minor things this week and may have an update this weekend, but after that I am sorry to say that I will be leaving the Maya in drydock for a few weeks. I have some Panther G's that need my attention and I have an in-box review to complete for Armorama. My first, Im excited.

Thanks for everyones comments and support during this build.

Always comments, suggestions, and criticism are always welcome.

thanks for dropping in.

Dave

Another fine progress update Dave!! Well done on the stack improvement and nice to see the crew showing up at the docks!!