Recently I decided I wanted to build IJN Kongo in a smaller scale than usual, 1/1800. Mostly just for fun to see how detailed I could go. I started with tinythingamajigs gorgeous 3d printed Kongo; in the high def black. I was pretty happy with the way it turned out. It does hog a bit but I used a piece of stainless steel bar stock, wired it down flush, and heated it with steam, then cooled it quickly. Flattened right out. The new high-def plastics Shapeways is using will hog on longer ships but I knew this going into it, the hassle is well worth the detail.
I wanted to preserve as much of the artists detail as possible. It's a fantastically made thing and I didn't want to go chopping it up. Removing only the thickest and most out of scale details, I left most of the structure intact. Cutting off major sections of the ship would have meant altering so much that I should have just scratch built the whole thing. That really went against what I was trying to do.
I scratch built the lower hull using styrene and brass. Screws and rudders are there, bilge keels, armor belt.
Railings are photo etched brass and I added as much as possible. Awning supports are photo etched stainless steel and the awning wire and all rigging is Modelkasten tungsten wire. The rest of the details are photoetched odds and ends. The Mitsubishi f1m is photo etched stainless steel from Steel Golem. These photo etched aircraft are impossible to find, so once I found a fret, I guard it like it was made of gold.
Once it was all done, I primed and airbrushed. Some weathering and a wash or two and here she is:
