1/350 Carriers Taiho and Graf Zeppelin

[Gisbod]

Look very nice Sam, keep it up!

 

Guy

[S-boat 55]

Of course with doing two at a time, everything effectively takes twice as long, however Taiho now has her shafts in place and the rudders (which I still love)

 

a few early morning shots;

 

 

The kit has elevator/lift wells to give it some interest, they're very nicely coordinated, sitting precisely on top of the respective horizontal hull braces, the four locator pins line up perfectly!. At the moment they are very loosely held together with s touch of tamiya extra thin in one corner. The dx kit also has photo etch perforated beams to go on the underside of each lift 'pad'. For the life of me I cant work out why, you'd never be able to actually see the detail when assembled. I toyed with the idea of sanding off the vertical detail on the well and replacing it with the likely unused photo etch but I think I'll leave well enough alone and maybe just try adding a bit of detail, 

+

 

 

 

The one downside is that the well doesn't go far enough back and you can see into the hull void from an oblique angle, I could extend it for an inch or two if nothing else just so you cant see the void but the question is how often will the model ever actually be seen from this angle while its on a shelf in a cabinet, its not like im taking it to competitions or anything, as you can see Zeppys in the background, I'll update again when i do a bit on her hopefully later, 

 

 

Thanks

 

Sam

 

[S-boat 55]

Hi All, 

 

Im having difficulty posting update pics, I'll try this one and see if it loads, 

 

I decided that Taihos hangar decks needed extending, i'm not planning on really adding detail to them as you can really see them much but it'll stop a straight look into the hull, 

[S-boat 55]

That appeared to work so, I've been adding a few little bits to Taiho but not much to show really, 

 

So Zeppy - been masking up her hull to try and create some hull detail, itd only got to be subtle, 

 

This is because i threw caution to the wind and invested,

Ive started to add detail to the lower hangar deck first, using 1/350 l'arsenal perforated beams, the larger ones were fine, the medium not so much so the smaller section uprights are actually what will be spare photo etch from the underside of the lifts from Taiho, why they suggest putting detail there i don't know as you really never an see it again unless you turn it upside down to drop it out - who on earth would do that. The next inch of so in each direction will be thin evergreen strip as I don't think you'll see the lack of perforations by that point. 

Apologies this is painfully slow, but life is life as they say, 

 

Thanks for stopping in,

 

Sam

[Adm Lord De Univers]

Excellent piece of detail on those perforated beams. And compared to me you're working at light speed.

 

David

[Courageous]

Carriers and 1/350 are not my thing but we're here to observe and learn. You've definitely pushed the financial boat on these with an airbrush on top...naughty but I like it. Two unusual subjects will be interesting to see, you never know, it might spur our @beefy66 on to get his Graf going again.

Nice idea with the lighting, I'd go white as anything else will change the colours you use.

 

Stuart

[S-boat 55]

15 hours ago, Courageous said:

Carriers and 1/350 are not my thing but we're here to observe and learn. You've definitely pushed the financial boat on these with an airbrush on top...naughty but I like it. Two unusual subjects will be interesting to see, you never know, it might spur our @beefy66 on to get his Graf going again.

Nice idea with the lighting, I'd go white as anything else will change the colours you use.

 

Stuart

Yes Mrs S Boat is aware of the purchases... not necessarily the total of said purchases.....long may that stay the case  😉

[steve5]

very nice work sam , like the extra details you're adding .

[RGL]

Nice! Love it how you’ve added the extra deck to Graf Zeppelin 

[S-boat 55]

So, I finally got to do a bit on Taiho, a like all ladies, tucked in her bodice is a suprise, 

 

 

Hey presto, photo etch that went together just so simply, i looked at it and thought - right this will be good practice for the areas that will be easily seen so i'll slog through this, but was reasonably quick to do and very simple after getting the first length and cross beam fixed to each other. This is just a photo of them laid in place, again the coordination is perfect, they sit exactly right in the hole and don't interfere with the deck joining either. 

 

 

 

Seeing as the etch will be hard to see anyway here, im minded to gloss coat it and leave it unpainted so that if looking in (and up) you can actually see it, 

 

 

The following two are the best shots I could get which illustrates the point well, 

 

 

 

There's not that much to do in the foredeck area so it'll soon be ready for painting, - i'll have to get practising with the airbrush! I not actually used it yet as the weather has been so changeable. 

 

I'm hoping the progress on the twenty odd platforms that line the hull will be swift if the fit continues to be good.  

 

thanks for stopping in,

 

Sam

 

Edited October 10, 2021 by S-boat 55

[Faraway]

Looking good.
The things we do that will eventually disappear. 
I think you are right about leaving it, or perhaps a light coat of white ?

What colour would it have been, tween decks ?

Jon

[S-boat 55]

12 minutes ago, Faraway said:

Looking good.
The things we do that will eventually disappear. 
I think you are right about leaving it, or perhaps a light coat of white ?

What colour would it have been, tween decks ?

Jon

Thanks, you know that's a good question, I'd assume fairly light unless there was concern over it being seen which I'd not imagine would be an issue there. That said I could see it being fairly grubby at time as well as its quite sheltered but exposed if that makes sense, 

Edited October 10, 2021 by S-boat 55

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday Sam, I think I agree with Solderman (nee Faraway nee Jon) regarding the colour of the PE framing, I'd go white or very light grey. Your decision of course. Or since it fits so well together you could save it for a structure that will be more easily seen, such as under the open flight deck of your next IJN carrier. Hint hint! 🙂   Regards, Jeff.

[S-boat 55]

3 hours ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

Gidday Sam, I think I agree with Solderman (nee Faraway nee Jon) regarding the colour of the PE framing, I'd go white or very light grey. Your decision of course. Or since it fits so well together you could save it for a structure that will be more easily seen, such as under the open flight deck of your next IJN carrier. Hint hint! 🙂   Regards, Jeff.

I thibk another IJN carrier would likely mean I'd have to sell a kidney....they're soo expensive! That was why I jumped at Taiho which for what you get seemed much better value. 

 

Thinking on it last night and Jon's suggestion seems a very good one, I'm going to go very light up front where they're enclosed and the rear where open will match the hull

[ArnoldAmbrose]

36 minutes ago, S-boat 55 said:

I thibk another IJN carrier would likely mean I'd have to sell a kidney.

Isn't that why we have two? Maybe not. I think the colour schemes idea of the PE is a sound one. Looking forward to seeing how it turns out. Regards, Jeff.

[steve5]

what a pity , to have such a beautiful effect , hidden away . great work .

[S-boat 55]

3 hours ago, steve5 said:

what a pity , to have such a beautiful effect , hidden away . great work .

It is a shame, there's plenty at the stern which will show though so hopefully that goes as well, 

[beefy66]

What a shame to cover all that great PE work the things we modellers do for gratification.  👍

 

Stay Safe

beefy

[S-boat 55]

Back to Zep

 

One thing that bugs my wife is sitting there in bed scrolling at night - however its often a time I find good photos of which ever ship has taken my interest at the time. Seeing this one of Zeppelin I noticed a detail in the bays, the angle isn't and found another which I've marked up. There appears to be opening between the bays, certainly the largest ones at least, 

 

I always said when i got back into doing this hobby that i'd not be one that tries togo for 100% accuracy....but....I'd quite like to add these in. No idea how to do it though any ideas?

 

At present I cant get a knife square on to the kit area, nor a drill t be able to start an opening, the only other option I can think is remove the bulkhead and fashion a new one with opening in and then stick it on, any ideas would be gratefully received.

 

When you zoom in there also appears to be a cat walk that runs along the rear wall of the bays so need to add that in, 

 

Aside that still doing little bits on Taiho and trying adding more detail t the lower hangar before trying it on the upper and chopped out a well base so the lift doesnt sit proud, 

 

 

Sam

[S-boat 55]

Anyone happen to know if its correct that japanese warships were painted the same overall grey to both vertical and horizontal surfaces? 

[S-boat 55]

Well Taihos photo etch continues, theres an awful lot of it, they dont give parts count but it must be significant,

 

 

 

One of the part dry fitted in place, still have the other side of it to do, 

 

 

Did a couple of the forward platforms as well, 

 

 

Thats 3 out of the 20 platforms done - good golly gosh this may take a while, 

 

Might dig Dunkerque out for a change next time i sit at the bench/desk/cave or what ever word takes your fancy

 

Thanks

 

Sam

Edited October 20, 2021 by S-boat 55

[Knb.1451]

It amazes me how modern Taiho looks compared with new carriers. Your work is fantastically clean! Keep it up.

[S-boat 55]

25 minutes ago, Knb.1451 said:

It amazes me how modern Taiho looks compared with new carriers. Your work is fantastically clean! Keep it up.

Thanks, she really is a great looking ship in my opinion, i often think shes like a more flashy version of a british carrier and as you say quite modern, 

[S-boat 55]

So i had a long virtual meeting to attend and cannot confirm nor deny that i used the opportunity count up the parts, kit = 801, PE = 1233 making 2034 total + resin bits, enough to be busy with, oh and +graf zeppelin at 842 kit and 688 PE for 1530 total, 

 

So that's 3564 in total, - don't know that I'm glad I added that up now, eekk - still, I'll be done by the weekend 😉

 

[S-boat 55]

Back to Zepplin, I'm finding as ever things take four times longer than I expect, still, I am making progress, 

 

Nearly finished the lower hangar scratch building just a few more bits to do, given I will be painted light I'm reconsidering if I really need the bother of trying lighting. s its all white it doesn't show up well but there are raised tracks for the aircraft cradle. From reading about it they would be mounted to the cradle ready to be raised in the lift run along the tracks to the catapult system. This was because the aircraft would were to be kept in a ready state in the hanger with engine warmers as needed instead of having to 'warm' up on deck prior to take off,

 

I feel it still needs something, I took out the horizontals as i didn't think they looked right, 

 

The tracks show much better in the main hangar, 

 

Tried removing one of the bay bulkheads and putting in the openings i mentioned, think i like ti and will do the others. In some pics they look quite large and others they appear closer to a normal door size. I've gone with the larger. The top opening is to link up with a  catwalk. From looking at several pictures there appears a catwalk in each bay and in one there looks to be an opening at one end. Thinking on it this makes sense assuming the hangar is the other side it would allow movement along the ships length without having t go down 2 decks first or go through the hangar. 

 

 

The weather in glos. hasn't been great and so I still haven't been able to airbrush her to start the plating effect, I might just do it be hand at this rate, 

 

Im on leave for 5 days so hopefully i'll get a bot done of Taiho and Dunky as well, 

 

Thanks for stopping in, 

 

Sam