p-26luvr Posted December 8, 2011 Author Share Posted December 8, 2011 I am now going to start with the changes to the upper works on the model Before I explain the upper 2 pictures. Over the last few days I have studdied the 2 pictures of the wartime version of the ship, & the instructions for the model & all 3 of my models. I have come to the conclusion that converting the model back to the wartime version, with the one exception of removing the bulge on both sides of the hull, is really not overly difficult to do. I see no reason why anyone who takes his time cannot do it Now to the top picture. Besides making the earlier mentionrd alterations, we have to remove the section that is the outer deckhouse wall on the present model. On the wartime ship the deckhouse was not as wide across. About halfway along the piece there is an opening just behind where the superstructure front will be. To the rear of that opening on the outside face are 2 closely spaced, paralell lines running in line with the bottom of the opening. A cut will have to be made along the lower of the 2 lines thereby removing the top piece. While doing any work on the upper hull deck pieces be sure to have support under where you will be working. Make sure that the rounded ends do not touch your work surface & break. The lower picture above shows what will become the deckhouse roof. What needs to be done with this is to cut a piece of sheet plastic in the shape of the opening to fill it. Once that is done there will have to be deck lines scribed in to match the rest of the deck. Where the smokestack sits will have to be made round from the oval that is there now. This is better done before the piece is glued in place. I will be breaking this up into smaller posts. Carl T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p-26luvr Posted December 8, 2011 Author Share Posted December 8, 2011 In this picture I want to clearly show how little of the lower hull will be left once the side bulges are removed & why I think that the hull should be assembled before doing any cutting on the bulghes. And ,too, why I think that one side should be fully finished before doing the other. For the first few cuts do not put much pressure on the knife. Whenever a blade point breaks, replace it immediately. Make sure that your knife point does not waunder from the line you start in. One other thing, once you have removed the bulges, glue a series of small tabs all around the open hole that you have created, including under the deck. In this way you are providing support for the replacement piece of sheet plastic you will fill the hole with. These 2 pictures are to show the full deck that runs from just behind the superstructure face to the stern. Please excuse that I had to use another model to show it, but it will have to do. We are going to cut this deck piece into 3 sections. The front piece will be where we build the main deckhouse onto. The middle piece will be our lower rear deck, & the last piece will be our upper rear deck piece. Each cut will need to be made exactly where it should be. What I would do is to measure the complete length of the main deck from the bow end to the rear end, & I would cut The back end of the longer piece shorter & glue the lower rear deck on to that. These 2 pictures show how I would make the main deckhouse. Since it needs to be narrower across, but the same length, the outside peces need only be made from rectangles of plastic sheet including the back end. Onto the sheets holes can be drilled to represent portholes, & doors also cut from shheet plastic. The width of the deckhouse I would set at the width of the front former, I would shorten the middle former to the width of the front former. The hieght of the deckhouse is set by the formers. The parts of the superstructure, the wheelhouse, that go on top of the deckhouse can be made using the clear parts supplied for this. This is all for now. If you have any questions feel free to ask them, & as always all comments are welcome. Carl T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p-26luvr Posted December 8, 2011 Author Share Posted December 8, 2011 These 2 pictures are the deckhose base pictures that should have been above. I am sorry for the mix-up The place where I would place the side pieces is clearl shown in the lower picture. The short brace & the 2 L shaped pieces on either side. Carl T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p-26luvr Posted December 8, 2011 Author Share Posted December 8, 2011 I hope that my explanation of how I would make this conversion has not been too confusing. I can plainly see how I would go about doing it, but telling how in writing has proved rather more difficult. If there are any points or areas that you think can be made clearer please feel free to ask about them & I will try to answer them. Carl T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p-26luvr Posted December 8, 2011 Author Share Posted December 8, 2011 Last night while I was taking the pictures just above, I quite by accident found a way to take better close up pictures. So today in order to make clearer where to make some of the necessary cuts on the various parts I have outlined on the instruction sheet where the cuts should be done in red ink. The first 2 pictiures show deck part D17 & you can see where I have written in suggested places for the cuts on that part, & the upper hull side pieces where the deck sidewall pieces should be cut there. Please refer to the text above for better explanation. The next picture shows the propeller parts that need to be removed There is one more picture that I took that I will post once I find it. I hope that these pictures are a help. Carl T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p-26luvr Posted December 8, 2011 Author Share Posted December 8, 2011 I now refer you back to post #93rlier and the picture in the link that Rocketcrazee, Phil. Earlier I had printed the picture out, & today I took it over to the local UPS store & had it enlarged twice. The first time by 200%, the second time focusing on the back half to even larger size. Both enlarghements on 11 X 17 inch paper. I did this because with this picture I have a better idea of what the stern half of the real ship looked like. I have taken a series of pictures from the enlargement showing certain sections of the model better. I apologize for the lack of clarity beforehand, but these pictures are copies from a copy of another picture. This picture is the bow gun platform. This is the searchlight platform atop the dechouse. This is the stern from the deckhouse back. This is the stern gun platform. Carl T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p-26luvr Posted December 9, 2011 Author Share Posted December 9, 2011 I have started to add etch-brass & am getting ready to do some painting, so I do not expect to be making posts for a while. Once I have completed this I will start my posts again. Carl T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p-26luvr Posted December 10, 2011 Author Share Posted December 10, 2011 A couple of things struck me this morning. First, I am surprised that there has not been a modeler from Japan looking in on this thread & making some comments both on the models & the real ship. The second thing has to do with the model that I showed sections of. Was it from a kit, or was it scratchbuilt ? Either way it suggests to me that somewhere there must be more plans & or pictures of the wartime ship. But where ? Carl T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p-26luvr Posted December 13, 2011 Author Share Posted December 13, 2011 My friend Brian furnished me with a copy of the instructions for the etch-brass for the first corps version, & I immediately on getting them started to make up some for those parts that I can do from generic sets. These 2 pictures show the bow, & the foreward mast. Carl T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p-26luvr Posted December 13, 2011 Author Share Posted December 13, 2011 This picture is the bow railings from a different angle. This picture should have been with the ones above. In it I show, by the red lines on the interior piece, where I would put in the replacement deckhouse walls. If you look at the picture above where these pieces go you can tell better where I mean. Carl T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p-26luvr Posted December 13, 2011 Author Share Posted December 13, 2011 I forgot to mention that cross piece A8 should be cut back to the width of piece A7. CT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p-26luvr Posted December 13, 2011 Author Share Posted December 13, 2011 The next few pictures are of the first corps version as it is now. It is now ready for painting. You will notice that the radar arrays on both the rear mast & pilothouse top are plastic kit pieces. This is because all of the etch-brass on this model is generic, not fron the model specific like the other 2 models. Carl T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Hewitt Posted December 15, 2011 Share Posted December 15, 2011 brillant build Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shar2 Posted December 15, 2011 Share Posted December 15, 2011 This really is a great thread, thanks for all the information you're supplying Carl. BTW, I've got myself the 1st Corp kit cheap off Fleabay along with the etch set, so will be bookmarking this for future reference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p-26luvr Posted December 15, 2011 Author Share Posted December 15, 2011 Dave, I hope that means we might see another build thread. I have been giving some more thought as to how I would remove the 2 bulges on the sides of the hull. I would first do each of the rounded ends completely, & then cut along the straight bottom line. I would do the rounded ends just to where the straight line begins. If possible I would lay something of a solid nature next to where I am going to make any & all of the cuts so that if my cutting blade should jump out of the cut groove I am making it will not mar or weaken the hull. Something like self adhesive plastic tape, like dymo tape. I have already mentioned about changing your blade if the point breaks. I buy Exacto stainless steel number 11 blades in boxes of 100 for just such things happening. In the long run this is a money saving purchase. If your blade does break, remove the broken point immediately. For this I use a needle set in a pin vice. Next, I am going to replace all on my etch-brass railings with the Gold Medal Models generic Japanese railing fret. I am doing this for several reasons. I think that they are stronger & will resist bending better. They are easier to use, gluing & placing them is a lot less frustrating. And in my opinion the chain sections look much more realistic. Check the pictures of my first corps version & you will see what I mean. I realize that in the U K these are expensive additions, but again in my opinion they are worth it. I have been having difficulties getting on the photobucket site lately, so my posting pictures will be erratic for a while. I am sorry for the inconvenience. Carl T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shar2 Posted December 15, 2011 Share Posted December 15, 2011 There will be another build thread But not for while, as I have too many projects in the pipeline before I get to this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p-26luvr Posted December 19, 2011 Author Share Posted December 19, 2011 The first corps model has had 2 coats of primer sprayed on it. While that has been drying I have been doing more of the etch-brass. The first thing I did was to remove all of the Hasegawa etch-brass railings on the second corps version & replace it with the GMM Japanese railing E/B. I used both the bar & chain types of railings. I am now well on the way with the 3rd corps version. I figure that I will have all of the E/B that I plan on doing before I start painting Now I want to make a recomendation that anyone seriosly planning on building one of these model consider buying the Gold Medal Models IJN rails fret & their extra ladder fret. I do this because they are stronger, easier to use with a lot less frustration, & most of all for durability. I have hit a couple of the railing sections quite by accident, & they did not even bend under the pressure. I have done this because among other things I want to be able to handle these models now & then, & also my friends can as well. I realize also that to complete the model properly, with the 2 radar arrays, & the safety net around the stern you will have to buy the Hasegawa E/B set. But this is still my recomendation. Carl T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p-26luvr Posted December 20, 2011 Author Share Posted December 20, 2011 These 2 pictures show the 2nd corps version wit all of the railing pieces now from the GMM Japanese rail fret. These 2 pictures show the lower rear deck with the rail pieces in place, again GMM rail E/B. I hope these pictures are of interest. Carl T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norman Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 Carl I am enjoying this thread very much ! keep up the great work and keep posting mate Cheers Norm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p-26luvr Posted December 20, 2011 Author Share Posted December 20, 2011 Thank you for your kind comment Norm. I appreciate all comments. I forgot to say that the bottom 2 pictures just above are of the 3rd corps version, & that I am working on the E/B for the upper deck. Carl T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p-26luvr Posted December 20, 2011 Author Share Posted December 20, 2011 These are 4 pictures of the first corps version in 2 coats of grey primer, courtesy of my friend Curt Huntoon. He does the primer painting much better than I can. Carl T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
denstore Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 Looks great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don McIntyre Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 OK, Carl, you shamed me into commenting… Those are coming along very nicely. The primer really does make quite a difference and I really am looking forward to seeing them with the finish coats. I'll try to look in more often… Oh, and put away those biplanes until you're done here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p-26luvr Posted December 22, 2011 Author Share Posted December 22, 2011 I am looking forward to the launching of the finished models remembering the launching of the USS Normandy up in Bath many years ago, sir. No bottle of champagne on the bows though. Best reguards though. Carl T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don McIntyre Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 I am looking forward to the launching of the finished models remembering the launching of the USS Normandy up in Bath many years ago, sir. No bottle of champagne on the bows though. Best reguards though. Carl T That was kind of a cool ride, wasn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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