Hello fellow Shipwrights,

I was trolling the forum this morning and noticed that there does not seem to be a build log for Aoshima's 1/350 IJN Maya 1944 so in the interest of trying something new I decided I would develop one. This build is being done as part of the Battle of Leyte Gulf Campaign. I will post all updated as I continue the build into this log but also share in the Battle of leyte Gulf Campaign. The detailed updates will be here though.

So with all of that said here we go. The IJN maya was a Takao Class Heavy Cruiser, the only one which was modified into an Anti Aircraft version. IJN Maya met her fate on 22 October 1944 during the Battle of the Palawan Passage when she was struck by four torpedos from the USS Dace.

Here are the initial pictures.



The AM kits I will be using are the IJN Maya FlyHawk P/E kit:



This kit is very extensive and include brass barrels for the 8 inch main guns and the 12.7 cm AA guns. Initial review of the kit instructions leave me confused as there are many parts that are not covered in the instructions.

I will also be using Hasagawa's Japanese Boat Set A and the Japanese Naval Armaments Set A (Machine Guns and Weapons Optics).





Aditional AM kits being used but not pictured are NorthStar's IJN 60cm Searchlights, NorthStar IJN Brass Strips, and NorthStar's Turnbuckles and Eyebolts.

I may still purchase Alliance Model Works 25mm Single and triple mounts if the ones from the Hasagawa kit are not to my liking.

My reference material includes Janusz Skulski's Anatomy of the Ship "The Heavy Cruiser Takao", Janusz Skulski and Waldemar Goralski's "Japanese Heavy Cruiser 1937-1946 (Super Drawings in 3D) and Steve Wiper's "Warship Pictorial No. 30 - IJN Yakao Class Cruisers.

I apologize as I don't have pictures of these reference materials readily available.

I have started by putting the hull halves together, adding the torpedo protection bulges, and the bilge keels. The hull fit was not great but I was able to reduce the gaps through the use of clamos and tape. The torpedo bulges still need a little love to make them flush with the sides.

Well I hope you enjoy this log as I make my way through the kit. I intend to work slowly on this project as I want it to be my best work so far. So please provide comments and critiscism at any point.

Thanks for looking in, will provide more updates later.

Dave

Hi Dave,

I eagerly await your next post!

Looking forward to watching your progress, Dave! Just out of curiosity, have you thought about using a wood deck on this build?

hey all,

Here is a continuation to today's earlier posting. Below is are pictures of the hull put together. The internal spacers really helped in putting it together.





There were some gaps on the bottom but some sanding fixed that along with the misaligned seams.





Here you can see how the Torpedo bulges do not merry up with the side of the hull that well.



I need to fix this but im not sure how. I think a little milliput sanded to blend it in will work.

Another issue with the torpedo bulges is the lack cutouts for the scuttles that should be along the centerline of the hull.



Unfortunately I was unaware of this issue when I mounted the bulges. I am tempted to remove them but I am a little concerned with damage to the hull. In either case I have to figure out a way to fix this issue.

Now I am not a big fan of a lot of molded detail such as the winches and ventilator fans located on the bow and the stern so I have started removing these details. Luckily the Hasagawa Armament Optics kit has all the details that I am removing so they will be replaced easily.



So that is where this project currently stands. I have a tendency to provide a lot of detail so if anyone thinks I am writing too much please feel free to speak up and tell me to be quiet.

@Troy, I would love to add a wooden deck but the IJN Cruisers used linoleum for their decking instead of wood.

Well that's it for today, more updates soon. Thanks for looking in and as always I welcome comments and suggestions.

Dave

That's a wide selection of PE there Dave.. almost as much as I normally use!

Speaking of wooden decks, wouldn't it be nice if they could manufacture a linoleum deck with all those lovely brass strips..

Good luck
Warren

There should be more IJN builds around. I will be watching this one, since I have the Chokai on my To do list and Myoko in the stash. These kits are nice, but Aoshima tends to mold too much on the decks and the detail is not as good as on latest Hasegawa Agano class or Mogami from Tamiya. But still miles ahead of Trumpy.

Looks like a great project,love the IJN Heavies.

@Warren, the FlyHawk update comes with an incredible amount of P/E, gives me the shivers thinking about it. I also bought the Aoshima Update PE for the Maya but it lacks in comparison. It would be nice if someone came up with a linoleum with stripes. Would make things so much easier. I love the wooden decks.

@Naseby, I also have the Chokoi in my stash. I am looking to build that as part of the Pacific War Campaign. I have fallen for the IJN ships. I was always an armor modeler but when I participated in the Mighty Battleship Campaign I had such a great time and I find ships so much more challenging. The biggest thrill though was learning from the others like Si and Russell and all the other guys. Right now my IJN stash consists of the Maya, the Chokai and the Nagato 1941. Looking to buy more soon.

OK so now for an update.

I was able to remove the bilge keels without too much damage, at least nothing that wasn't cured with a little sanding. However my attempt to remove the torpedo bulges was not successful so I will have to fix the problem with putty.

I removed all the molded detail from the hull which included the aft anchors and all the tie points.

No pictures of that but I also managed to get to the main deck and remove all the molded detail such as the ventilators, winches and the brass stripes.







The two previous pictures also show the inserts that are provided in the kit. From what I have read this was a means for Aoshima to swap out parts for the individual Takao Class Cruisers without having to mold entire kits for each. The fit does not look too bad but the will need to be some sanding to make it flush.



Here is the bow deck, still requires some work from the anchor chains but as you can see I have damaged some of the molded lines. I am going to try and replace them with the brass stripe or thin styrene.

The sanding and modifying took about 5 hours out of the day. Definitely time consuming but I think in the end it will be worth the effort.

Well that's it for today, thanks for looking in and as always comments and suggestions are always welcome.

Dave

hi david, brilliant work so far, its always the long tedious jobs that work the best. do you not have any of the thin wooden decks i've seen on other ships for it?

Si, thanks. Unfortunately the Cruisers did not use wooden decks, they used a combination of steel and linoleum. The linoleum was laid down in 2m by 4m sheets and held in place with brass strips. I removed the molded brass strips and will replace them with North Star Models brass strip. It will be tedious but worth it in the end.

When it comes to painting the linoleum I plan on making some of the sheets faded so that there is some contrast.

thanks for looking in.

Dave

Ahhh I see, there you go I just learnt something new lol looking forward to more of your progress David

David, watching with interest, this is also changing my mind for my entry into the campaign.

A recent arrival in the stash turns out to have been in the battle the IJN light cruiser Yahagi so this may become my entry.

Luciano,

I'm glad I could be of assistance. I would love to see the IJN Yahagi as part of the campaign. Who is the manufacturer?

Dave

Dave the Yahagi is by Hasegawa, I need some pe but the Hasegawa stuff is in 3 sets! Eduard do a set for the Agano (sister ship) also from Hasegawa so Hopefully that set should fit.

Hi David!:-H

This looks like it's going to be a great build!

Watching with interest!

Russ

@Russell, thanks. I hope to use some of the techniques that I have learned from watching you and Si.

@Luciano, I will be watching your build with keen interest, I like the IJN light cruisers as much as I like the heavies. Only caution I would give about the Eduard PE kit is that when I built the IJN Musashi with the Eduard kit I was disappointed as to the level of detail it provided. The Eduard kit was very lacking in some much needed upgrades. Regarding the Hasagaa PE kits, I know they come in a super kit that includes all three in a single box. Ebay has some available, the cheapest being $79 with free shipping.

I will have an update later this afternoon. Not much overall progress though, primarily cleaning up the main decks and the hull using green squadron putty.

thanks everyone for looking in.

Dave

fellow shipwrights, hope this update finds you well and preparing for the upcoming Christmas holidays along with other holidays you may celebrate.

Small update for this weekend. Most of the time has been spent using green squadron putty to fill the gaps between the hull and the torpedo bulges and then sanding them down. It looks ok but I will need to put down a primer coat to really see if it blends into the hull well.

I also filled in the gouges that I made in the main deck while I was removing molded detail and the brass strips. Following that I dry fit the main deck to the hull. Not too bad but there will be more putty in the future.







As you can see from the pictures the bow will need more mending then the stern. In either case I might try and use thick CA to fill the gap verse green squadron putty. I find the putty difficult to work with and remove.

The next picture illustrates the fit problems for the torpedo deck railings.



Unfortunately I will need to address this issue before applying the degaussing cable.

You can also see in the earlier photos that I have begun initial work on the main turrets. The FlyHawk Kit provides good coverings for these so they required initial cleaning.

I plan on bouncing around a little bit so that I do not become complacent and make a mistake. I think bouncing from the large areas to more details parts will keep me on my toes.

After a few hours of sanding I sat down and studied the FlyHawk instruction sheet. While I am impressed with the vastness of the FlyHawk Kit the instructions are definitely something to be desired. In some aspects they are confusing so if anyone has some experience with FlyHawk please let me know what you have learned to do and not to do.

Also my shipment from NorthStar models arrived. The 60cm spot lights will be a great addition to this kit along with the brass strips. I may need to buy more brass strip but initial review is that they look good.

Well that's it for my rambling, the IJN Maya is definitely a different animal from the Musashi but I am having fun with this kit, even with the bad fitting.

As always comments and suggestions are encouraged and welcome.

thanks for looking in.

Dave

Those are the famous huge gaps on Aoshimas Takao class. But once You have the base of the superstructure in place, it should get better. At least thats what all the reviews say.

I'm surprised at the fit of the parts. Aoshima is better than that. You are doing great work, David.

@Naseby, I have seen the same reviews but as with many things its one of those things you have to see with your own eyes. I will push through though and get it done

@Fred, thanks. I am a little disappointed at the fit even though I had read the same reviews as Naseby. I am tempted to pull out my IJN Chokai and see if it has the same fit issues just as a comparison.

thanks for tlooking in gents, hope to have an update this weekend.

Dave

Hi Dave!

Great work so far!

I've not received any update notification emails-seems you've been jinxed by the 'apostrophe' bug the same way I was on the King.

I had Darren Baker rename my topic so that the apostrophe was removed, after that, the notifications emails went out when a post was made on the topic. Maybe you could do the same, so we won't miss any of your updates?

Looking forward to seeing this one progress through 2015 mate!

In the meantime, Merry Christmas and a very happy new Year!

Russ

Im afraid it will. But on the other hand, You will have no issues with the hull bulges - Chokai never received those as far as I know.

@Russel. thanks for letting me know the notifications were not being sent out. I did as you suggested and contacted Darren. Hopefully that will resolve the issue.

@Naseby, in the research I have done your are correct, the IJN Chokai did not receive the Torpedo bulges which will make that peice easier.

On a side note, after working with the FlyHawk PE set for the IJN Maya I have relised that this kit will work with any of the Aoshima Takao Class Cruisers. You might have some left over PE when your done but so far it is a great kit.

@All - my significant other is down with the flu so it has provided my dock workers with a significant amount of time to work this past weekend. I will post some update photos this evening.

To all I wish you a very Merry Christmas and hope Jolly Old Saint Nick is generous in his distribution of Maritime related kits and a big thank you for all I have learned from you this year.

Dave

Wow, what a kit! This'll be fun to follow you on her construction, Dave. I almost feel bad my build for the Campaign is responsible for sinking her....

....almost

Good evening all, sorry for the delayed update but my Dock Yard Foreman fell asleep this afternoon. LOL

@Russell - Darren changed the name so please let me know if the email updates are working now.

@Michael - it is a great kit, there are some fit issues but all in all it is nice. Regarding your Dace, I know what you mean, especially since I am also building a Dace.

Now for the update. As I said earlier I plan on bouncing around a bit as opposed to following the directions. I kept the main deck dry fitted to the hull and moved on to the main gun armament, the Flight Deck, and the Bridge.

The first picture is the PE flight deck. The instructions for the Fly Hawk Kit only indicate removing the rails, the stairs, and the cat walks. As you can see from the photo there is much more to remove. I apologize as I didn't think to take a pre sanding picture of the flight deck before I removed everything, but here is the final result.



The original flight deck had the vents molded onto the deck, as you can see in the picture the PE part would not have aligned with this detail had I left them.

The next piece is the lower bridge. I have taped the sides together and the fit is not bad. There are many different types of water tight doors on the bridge, all of which are provided in the Fly Hawk kit. The only issue is that the Fly Hawk instructions do not cover the doors. All of the Fly Hawk doors have two folds, the outer and inside cover for the doors and the doorway frame. The door way frame is extremely fragile and I broke and deformed a couple trying to fold the doors. The detail for the doors is great as you will see in the pictures.









I see that a couple of the doors are a little crooked, will have to fix that soon. Also you can see in the picture that the Fly Hawk Kit provides perforated bracings for all ledges. Some are a little crooked and will be fixed when I add the next level of the bridge.

The next and what has so far been the most difficult are the main guns. The IJN Maya was armed with 4 8" main gun turrets as opposed to the 5 turrets in other versions of the Takao Class Cruiser. These turrets were protected by a outer cover spaced above the turret so that it could be cooled. While Aoshima overlooked this detail the Fly hawk Kit addresses it as you will see in the pictures. These are pretty fragile but fit well once I figured out what I was doing wrong.









The Fly Hawk PE kit provides enough parts for the main guns so that if mistakes are made there is a replacement. In the picture below you can see the PE Fret for the main guns. I was having a moment when I first started working with this as I could not figure out why the extra brass outlines were added to the individual pieces. At first I thought they were provided so you could glue it to the bottom of the turret and ensure correct spacing but it wasn't working out right. It then occurred to me that you had to fold them flush. The instructions are not very clear in this regard.



So I finally figured it out and have been plugging away at the main guns pretty quickly.

Last few comments, all PE is attached using Gator Grip glue instead of CA. I like the ability to readjust the pieces that Gator Grip provides. Also even though this Fly Hawk Kit I specific to the IJN Maya it would work with any Aoshima Takao Class Cruiser kit, especially since it provides for all 5 Main turrets. There will be left over pieces and the instructions are not the best I ever used it is still a great addition to the Maya.

Well that's it for now. I will have another short update prior to Santa visiting our house and then it is off to Disney World for a few days.

So far all I wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas and a Happy new Year. I do hope that Jolly Old Saint Nick is generous in spreading Maritime related items into your Stockings.

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

Dave