Search the Community

Hi All, So at last Taiho is done, there is admittedly only part of her airwing but i need a break from decals so will add them a few more photos when i get around to finishing them. She hasn't been my sole focus granted, but has taken 2yrs and 1 month to complete. I've not tracked all the time on her but i know this year alone I've spent just over 165h hours on her. This kit was brand new to market when i got her and what a kit it is! The moulding, the detail is all phenomenal, the fit is exceptional and the extra DX packs raised the level way past my comfort zone. There was more than one time i wanted to chuck her out the window, but here we are, model intact and me ..well nearly..... . Build log here; Brief summary of the ship from wikipedia, Taihō (大鳳, "Great Phoenix") was an aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. Possessing heavy belt armor and featuring an armored flight deck (a first for any Japanese aircraft carrier), she represented a major departure from prior Japanese aircraft carrier design and was expected to not only survive multiple bomb, torpedo, or shell hits, but also continue fighting effectively afterwards. Built by Kawasaki at Kobe, she was laid down on 10 July 1941, launched almost two years later on 7 April 1943 and finally commissioned on 7 March 1944. She sank on 19 June 1944 during the Battle of the Philippine Sea due to explosions resulting from design flaws and poor damage control after suffering a single torpedo hit from the American submarine USS Albacore. She was big, heavily armoured and fast, being 37,000t full load and capable of 33knts. With a theoretical complement of 82 planes in reality she carried around 60 mainly Zero's, Judy's and Jill's. But the Japanese weren't sure how to use her, her armour should have made her very durable in fleet operations under air attack but her not having a third lift (it was omitted to save time in construction) made her slow to get her air wing up on deck and reduced flexibility. As a result had she of survived she would likely have been assigned to support duties for the main attack fleet. One of the advantages of building her is that there are three, maybe 4 actual photo's of the ship so no one can really tell you you're wrong with any of it. Summary of kit and paints; Veryfire 1/350 Taiho main kit with detail upgrade sets A, B, and C. The latter has the majority of her air wing. Paints were solely Sovereign hobbies IJN Kure Grey and Anti fouling Red for the ship along with Zero Green, Mitsubishi grey green, and Nakajima amber grey for the aircraft. Rigging thread was 0.1/0.2/0.3mm from infini Taking photo's has been tricky, i find phone cameras have a very fine focal point and so getting a decent overall photo is tricky, i'll add some better ones at some point - likely when the other 35 planes are done, I cant tell you how happy i am to finally finish her I honestly wondered if i ever would at more than one point. She is part of a double build so just the other to complete on the thread now, but after a long time and a little under 2800 parts (yes each plane is 14+ parts) here she finally is; All of the moulded gussets have to be removed and replaced with photo etch....took a while, Nearly lost a plain - sneezing is risky! Thanks for stopping in,

So here is (potentially) the start of part one of a dual/joint/two at a time build. Jury is still out in my head if to try two at a time having only completed two builds in 1/350 in the past 3 years especially as I still have a lot to learn and want them to turn out well. Also whether to do a joint thread or separate ones? As a kid I built 1/600 battleships, if it didn’t have big guns I wasn’t interested. A few years back I dabbled in 1/400 and built battleships, (you may see a pattern), now that I’m rather hooked on the hobby again I’ve started by building you’ve guessed it – battleships, specifically Zvezda’s Dreadnought and Hobbyboss’s Dunkerque (95% complete). As I looked at my stash of 12 and counting with a couple of those started I realised bar a modern Russian destroyer I needed to change it up. I settled on Aircraft Carriers, specifically 3, the bank said I could have 2 - fair enough I said. I wanted something unusual looking and Graf Zeppelin is certainly that. I’d actually discounted her as the aftermarket options aren’t great, Mk.1 do a set three times the cost of the kit which I personally think is too much. Eduard do a set in 4 prts, 2 prts of which are now discontinued. I contacted them about this and another set for Roma they have done similar with and they very bluntly said they wouldn’t bring it back into production even if demand went up which seems odd but that’s up to them. So I have coming on monday trumpeters kit of Graf Zeppelin in 1/350 with half of the eduard sets available, I did track down all four parts but when I compared the kit parts with those offered by eduard I found multiple areas when eduard merely replaced what was already included in the kit with little or no marked difference. I’ve also an extra set of six ME 109’s and Stukas. I plan to do my best with it, maybe scratch build a few bits, it won’t be jaw dropping in terms of PE but I think there is enough to lift the base model up a level or two. Part of the thing with Graf Zeppelin is of course she was never finished (about 95%) and in the process of not being finished she was changed several times. A brief history can be found on many a website, likely including this one on other builds but essentially, she had an Atlantic bow added post launch, was put on hold a couple times, had bulges added as well as changes to her super structure, AA armament, Aircraft complement and make up etc. You get the idea, the brilliant thing is it means you can’t really go wrong and where the line is drawn is any ones guess. As you’ll see from the following photos, Insert obligatory pictures (all from scale mates and Wikipedia) I plan to make minor changes to the super structure and funnel cap as I think trumpeter got it very very very wrong. I’ve no idea on paint schemes she’d likely have adopted, the Germans didn’t seem to do much up to early 42 which is potentially when she could have entered service had she not be placed on hold repeatedly. There is this picture on Scalemates that are supposedly GZ but to me I'm not convinced, the step/angle in the bow is gone, the tip of the bow is different as is the rake, as are the missing casemates (which is possible) but the bulge comes a lot further forward and the superstructure is stepped out to one side which would be massive work to undertake during the brief times she was actually worked on post 1940, I wondered if these are perhaps pictures of Weser but I don't think she got that far in construction? Now as for the second ship I may concurrently build – I’ll say nothing partially not to jinx it, Im told it'll be here in short order but time will tell. I'll be initially working to complete to a point of airbushing as the bank balance has taken a hit and so I can’t invest in an Airbrush right now. So any areas hairy stickable I’ll look to do and other areas be left ready for airbrushing later in the build. I'm not sure how easy to do as sub assemblies carriers are - but I'll guess I will fid out. Dunkerque has taken 10 months and isn’t huge but is nearly there so I doubt this will be a quick build initially but if you’d like to follow on and have made it through my inane ramblings I’d be glad of any input and suggestions as to: - paint schemes - paint sequencing given my Airbrish plan/delay - and modifications that may make her stand out. Photo's of the kit and PE to follow when they arrive, Thanks for bearing with me Sam

We have Very Fire Model's latest detail-up set available on pre-order now: USS Alaska CB-1 in 1/350 scale for £185 https://www.sovereignhobbies.co.uk/collections/1-350/products/vf350006-very-fire-model-1-350-uss-alaska-cb-1