I-400 Submarine Aircraft Carrier Tamiya 1-350

[Tcoat]

So I have been on a bit of seaplane/flying boat kick lately and as I was finishing the Ardo up I had a moment of inspiration. I could do up the Tamiya I-400 and then do a 1/48 Seiran  all folded up with the front of the hanger and start of the catapult scratch built as a base. 

Off I went online shopping and the prices sort of scrapped that idea.

Today I was near the only place in town that still models and popped in for some paint.  There on the shelf was the I-400 kit! Since I happened to have a 25% off coupon I had been holding for a while it is now mine at a cost that makes me feel better about what the Seiran kit is going to cost me.

The history on these subs and aircraft is amazing and anybody that doesn't know it  should give a quick read. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I-400-class_submarine

 

So down to business

 

Normal Tamiya box. Even in 1/350 this is a large sub!

 

 

Pretty much your standard new(ish) instructions and paint guide 

 

 

 

There is a rather nice stand with hardware to secure it and very well done name plates. There is also a stand to show one of the Seirans separate. 

 

 

Hull demarcation line will be easy since two pieces. The deck has nice detail. The space between the planks is a bit large for the scale but paint and weathering should fix that up.

 

 

Not a lot of parts but there never is with subs. What there is are really nicely molded.

 

 

Enough parts for two Seirans with all ready to fly and four folded up for the hanger. Only need three of them so have a couple of spares for something. They are very well molded. The panel lines are a bit heavy but again paint will help.

 

 

Nice little photoetch mostly for the aircraft and radars. Also two big "ballast" bars. Like their 1/48 armour line I guess they think small kits need weight?

 

 

 

Beautiful decals. Not sure why they went with black glass and white frames for the canopies though. I will try painting one as well and see which is better. The flags are on a very very thin sort of parchment paper and are a complete work of art.

 

 

OK off to the paint booth!

 

 

[ddw867]

I have the same kit and was planning on cutting open the side of the hanger to show the folded aircraft inside the hanger (like the limited edition kit)

[Tcoat]

11 minutes ago, ddw867 said:

I have the same kit and was planning on cutting open the side of the hanger to show the folded aircraft inside the hanger (like the limited edition kit)

I am considering doing the same. What I think I am going to do is put one of the spare folded wing ones on the separate stand and a ready to go one on the cat.

Edited February 26, 2021 by Tcoat

[ddw867]

2 hours ago, Tcoat said:

I am considering doing the same. What I think I am going to do is put one of the spare folded wing ones on the separate stand and a ready to go one on the cat.

Sounds good, i'm eager to see your results

[Flankerman]

It's a great kit - easy to build with plenty of detail.... http://www.flankers-site.co.uk/model_submarines_other.html#Japanese_I-400_Class

 

I put one of the Seirans on the catapult - with one just inside the hangar......

 

 

Can you spot the obvious mistake....???

 

Ken

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday, that derrick won't do the plane's wing any good, or vice versa?

I like the model. You expressed concerns back in an earlier post regarding the decals for the aircraft canopies. I think they look quite good, the black being somewhat discrete, IMHO.

Regards, Jeff.

[Martian]

I like the look of this: following!

 

Martian 👽

 

 

[Tcoat]

5 hours ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

Gidday, that derrick won't do the plane's wing any good, or vice versa?

I like the model. You expressed concerns back in an earlier post regarding the decals for the aircraft canopies. I think they look quite good, the black being somewhat discrete, IMHO.

Regards, Jeff.

Maybe they just recovered the aircraft and haven't folded it all up yet!

 

Yep. I tried silver paint and then a light sanding so the canopy frame showed through but it was too garish. Went with the decals and although they put up a valiant fight some liberal use of Micro Sol put them in their place (both figuratively and literally). Good thing they give you extra though! 

[Tcoat]

Some sub assembly's done but boring so no pictures. 

Aircraft all done but still in their high gloss coat of tinted Future. A coat of dull coat will subdue the weathering. 

 

Rear one has a rough painted yellow band since you can't see one little part of it anyway and those bands were a fight to get on.

 

Will be on the cat.

 

 

Since you can't see them inside the hanger and I think cutting it open so you could is still not going to show much I will display one on the trolley. There is a small base that it can go on and at least you can see what they look like all folded up.

 

 

Making good progress on the decks. 

Base coat way off colour because that will change. The few real pictures of show it was pretty beat up even though it was never used as intended so I will be weathering it fairly heavy. Brush painted for a deliberate blotchy look.

 

A darkening wash of Citadel "Agrax Earthshade". More blotches and uneven tones especially on main deck. Some detail painting done.

 

Coat of tinted Future (I use this ALOT) to highlight details, create fake shadows and add depth. Once dull coated this will be very close to the colour mix recommended in the instructions but not just a monotone brown.

 

 

 

[Tcoat]

Decks finished.

 

With tinted Future. Detail hidden.

 

 

 

 

 

With first coat of dull coat. Details pop.

 

 

Whole thing base coated 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 2, 2021 by Tcoat

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday Tcoat, I'm afraid the photos aren't visible in this last post. The others are. Have you done anything different? Regards, Jeff.

[Tcoat]

6 hours ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

Gidday Tcoat, I'm afraid the photos aren't visible in this last post. The others are. Have you done anything different? Regards, Jeff.

Thank you Sir. I don't really understand why sometimes the pictures are fine and others they just don't show up to anybody but me. Guess I will need to check them on phone ever time I post.

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday again, yeah, I can see them now. She was certainly an unusual boat, with that offset conning tower. I wonder if it affected underwater handling? Regards, Jeff.

[Tcoat]

11 hours ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

Gidday again, yeah, I can see them now. She was certainly an unusual boat, with that offset conning tower. I wonder if it affected underwater handling? Regards, Jeff.

I though the same but during my research I found a video that explained why it had no impact at all. Due to the sheer size of the thing they used two pressure hulls joined together side by side. This gave a nice stable platform so the relatively light weight of the tower really had no effect.

 

Edited March 2, 2021 by Tcoat

[beefy66]

Interesting project  

 

beefy

[Tcoat]

Good news! My 6th grade math teacher was wrong and I am capable of learning things. Today I learned how to take detail picture of models that actually show detail.

Gloss tint coat on whole sub. Makes the limber holes in the side black but not a huge contrast like paint would. Gives the rest a nice blotchy look.
Next is a flat coat to subdue it all.

[Tcoat]

Aircraft complete (well so is the sub but no pictures yet)

 

Testers Dull Coat over tinted gloss tones down the dark but lets the tiny panel lies still show nicely.

 

The grey on the folded wing version looks horrible in the pictures but when you consider that it will fit on a nickel (5p?) then you see how it would just look feathered in real life. Same applies for what looks like exccsive weathering on the grey parts of the wings. The almost microscopic chipping came out great.

 

 

The ready to go version shows the effects a bit better. Actually very happy how the canopy decals came out now that the gloss isn't hiding the framing. 

 

 

[Tcoat]

Annnnnd Done!

Just shy of 20 hours on the bench since Friday. As I said at the start of this thread this kit was built more as a side project and reference for building a folded Serian being removed from the hanger so it is strictly out of box with a focus on the finish. This means no railings, ech ladders, gun sights etc. Just a shake and bake build. I may break down and add railings to at least the antiaircraft gun decks later if I can find a nice cheap set of generic rails.

Will post up a bunch of pics in the Ready For Inspection section but here are some teasers for now.

 

Dull coat tones down all those black blotches nicely.

 

 

Built it with crane up but it blocked the area I wanted to see the most so stowed it.

 

 

 

 

That's all you get tonight!

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday, these must have been huge boats in their day. You've done a very good job of this, and the aircraft in the previous post too. Regards, Jeff.

[S-boat 55]

Looking good, interesting idea for a sub, do you have anything else in 1/350 we could see her against to get a sense of scale?

[Tcoat]

40 minutes ago, S-boat 55 said:

Looking good, interesting idea for a sub, do you have anything else in 1/350 we could see her against to get a sense of scale?

Here it is with a partially done Liberty Ship. Yes they are the same scale!

 

 

 

 

[S-boat 55]

1 hour ago, Tcoat said:

Here it is with a partially done Liberty Ship. Yes they are the same scale!

 

..Thanks....thats a big submarine for WW2

 

 

 

 

 

[Tcoat]

16 minutes ago, S-boat 55 said:

 

Yep it was the largest! Was too little too late to have any impact at all though.

If they had done it early it could have been a true terror weapon. Imagine 18 of those appearing off the US coast and launching 50 dive bombers against Washing DC or the navy yards in San Francisco?