Building 1/700 - 1/350 ships

[Mundy]

It's hard to keep the work up when all these damn turns keep coming in.  [:D]
 
I did light those two on fire good.
 
I do have a nice Chikuma kit, which I've barely started.

[HansBolter]

ORIGINAL: Mundy

It's hard to keep the work up when all these damn turns keep coming in.  [:D]

I did light those two on fire good.

I do have a nice Chikuma kit, which I've barely started.

Since I play the AI when I end my orders phase the computer has to churn for what seems like ten minutes implementing the AI orders.

I spend that time at the model desk waiting for the turn resolution to start.

[LargeSlowTarget]

ORIGINAL: Cannonfodder

Mundy, so its here that you try to rebuild your fleet? Can you build me a new Fuso?

[:D](am following your AAR)

[Trugrit]

I envy you...great desk....

I would give modeling a try but.......

I have two cats. I think they would be harder on Japanese carriers than the U.S. Navy.

K

[HansBolter]

ORIGINAL: Trugrit


I envy you...great desk....

I would give modeling a try but.......

I have two cats. I think they would be harder on Japanese carriers than the U.S. Navy.

K

My 5 cats know the model desk is off limits so casualties are light.

The clutter is the key. If you leave them no space large enough to be inviting to lay down so they can push everything else off the table top they will avoid it altogether.

[HansBolter]

double post

[nashvillen]

Well, I thought I had my 3/4 of the way done CVL-21 in a cat safe spot, but somehow they pulled it off and all my etched brass has to be straightened before I get to finish it... sigh...

[Mundy]

One of my little girl cats likes to "hit" stray pieces of paper if they are carelessly left around.
 
This happened to my CVL-22 instructions.
 
Fortunately, Dragon's customer service is very responsive and send me a pdf within a few hours.

[TOMLABEL]

Very nice builds everyone!!!

I'm currently working on the 1/350 Merit CV5 Yorktown and have their CV6 Enterprise (Santa Cruz time frame)on pre-order. And, yes, I am in process of sanding down hull but this is the best plastic kit of the Yorktown class carrier to date!! Hull looks even better than the 1/480 Revell kit.

As far as cats - I've got two. Ever since the older one tried to eat a 1/35 .50 cal machine gun from a Dragon M4A3 kit and almost choked to death, they are intent on watching EVERY move I make when building a kit.

I gave up on trying to keep them off the work bench as they always find a perch to watch what I'm doing until I pull out the IWATA!!!!!![:D][:D][:D]

TOMLABEL

[Mundy]

I've been enjoying your talk on the Yorktown thread.  Mine is on the short list to build.
 
I've got aftermarket aircraft decals, brass 5" barrels, White Ensign .50s and the very nice Master Model 20mm guns to enhance it a bit.  I know York carried a mix of .50s and 20s, and I haven't looked too deeply into the kit to see if they differentiate them at all.  I'll probably leave the hull as is, but give it a heavier coat of primer.
 
If you guys want to see a work of art, check out Marijn's Lexington.
 
http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery/cv/cv-02/Lexington-700-mvg/index.htm

[HansBolter]

I have 1/700 Yorktown and Ticonderoga kits in my stash. Can't remember the brand but they are far better detailed 1/700 kits than the typical Tamiya.

Most 1/700 Tamiya carrier kits (I have Hornet and Shinano) have one piece molded aircraft.

The Yorktown and Ticonderoga kits have multi-part clear plastic aircraft that appear a bit daunting for my old and tired eyes to handle assembling.

The DD Fletcher, DE England and I-400 in the photo of my model desk are my only 1/350 kits.

Most of my ship kits are 1/700.

I also have a huge stash of 1/35 and 1/72 Tank and vehicle models including this limited edition Cyber Hobby Michael Wittman Special that was selling for $300 on Ebay shortly after I picked it up in a hobby shop for $100:

http://dragonusaonline.com/item_detail. ... de=CHC6350

As can be gleaned from my avatar I'm a huge tank fan. Hans Bolter was one of Germany's leading Tiger Tank Aces.

[wdolson]

Dragon's 1/700 Essex class kits have a hanger deck and an optional clear deck. Trumpeter also makes an Essex class kit, but it's not quite as detailed.

The Japanese waterline kits have historically been fairly basic, but they have been retooling the old kits and they are far better detailed than the original kits. You have to do some research to find out which is which. The new Soryu and Unryu have hanger decks. The new Akagi comes in the standard war configuration along with the triple decker version as built. Almost every Waterline kit released today comes with an accessory package with small guns, boats, fittings, etc. It definitely dresses up the older kits.

Tamiya, Hasegawa, Aoshima, and Fujimi teamed up to produce waterline kits of all the Japanese warships larger than destroyers along with some examples of smaller ships. In the 1990s Fujimi dropped out of the consortium, but the other three are still in it. Fujimi sells some of their kits that had originally been sold under the waterline logo along with some newer mold ships. The other three have been replacing kits that had been Fujimi molds, like Tamiya did a Shokaku and Zuikaku in the 90s, Hasegawa did the Kongos around 2000, and Aoshima did an Oyodo a couple of years ago.

Bill

[TOMLABEL]

ORIGINAL: Mundy

I've been enjoying your talk on the Yorktown thread. 

I've got more to come!!!![:D]

ORIGINAL: Mundy
I've got aftermarket aircraft decals, brass 5" barrels, White Ensign .50s and the very nice Master Model 20mm guns to enhance it a bit. 

It will be my first time with the Master Model 20mm/s - they look impossible to build!!!![:D][&:] But they look awesome!!!

ORIGINAL: Mundy
If you guys want to see a work of art, check out Marijn's Lexington.

http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery/cv/cv-02/Lexington-700-mvg/index.htm

Yes, that is a fantastic build. Still can't believe that is 1/700 especialy the figures!!![&o][&o][&o]

TOMLABEL

[TOMLABEL]

Here is where I've gotten on sanding off the plates of the Yorktown hull. It didn't take to long to get it to this point if I had worked on it continuously, but you know life gets in the way and then its many weeks later.

I've hit it with primer to help me see where additional work will be needed sanding-wise. Started out with 80 grit (which is probably too much) and ended with 400 grit before I hit it with the primer.

I couldn't find my Revel hull this evening to show a compare, but this hull is fantastic!!!!

TOMLABEL

[SierraJuliet]

That looks like a good smooth finish. Are you leaving the hull as sanded or do you plan on putting new work on it?

[TOMLABEL]

Yes, there is still more sanding work to do. Not much, but the primer will show me the areas that need attention.

I then plan on adding the armored belts on either side of the hull using several layers of a DuPont deep filler primer and add some other small hull details as well.

I then will start preliminary builds but will wait on the Ponto's detail set to be release before proceeding any further on the build.

TOMLABEL

[SierraJuliet]

I would like to see you go about that. I'm forever impressed at the ability to create additions to a model. More so to see it was achieved.

[HansBolter]

ORIGINAL: wdolson

Dragon's 1/700 Essex class kits have a hanger deck and an optional clear deck. Trumpeter also makes an Essex class kit, but it's not quite as detailed.

The Japanese waterline kits have historically been fairly basic, but they have been retooling the old kits and they are far better detailed than the original kits. You have to do some research to find out which is which. The new Soryu and Unryu have hanger decks. The new Akagi comes in the standard war configuration along with the triple decker version as built. Almost every Waterline kit released today comes with an accessory package with small guns, boats, fittings, etc. It definitely dresses up the older kits.

Tamiya, Hasegawa, Aoshima, and Fujimi teamed up to produce waterline kits of all the Japanese warships larger than destroyers along with some examples of smaller ships. In the 1990s Fujimi dropped out of the consortium, but the other three are still in it. Fujimi sells some of their kits that had originally been sold under the waterline logo along with some newer mold ships. The other three have been replacing kits that had been Fujimi molds, like Tamiya did a Shokaku and Zuikaku in the 90s, Hasegawa did the Kongos around 2000, and Aoshima did an Oyodo a couple of years ago.

Bill

I checked my 1/700 carrier kits. They are Trumpeter. My 1/350 DE England was also a trumpeter kit.
Their kits are better detailed than the Tamiya ones. I have built a few Aoshima and Fujimi 1/700 kits as well.

[Mundy]

I liked the England kit. (page 3).  It's simple enough where you can upgrade it to your comfort level.  I replaced the 3"/50s with Niko ones, used the photo-etch set and used 20mm brass barrels. (actually easy to do).  My Benson supplied the replacement for the relatively crude 1.1" gun mount.
 
I haven't had a Tamiya kit yet.  I would rate the earlier Trumpeter stuff down on the detail side.  Their new stuff is improving, apart from the occasional gaffe. (bows on the Yorktowns and stern on Indianapolis).
 
Starting my next carrier is tempting but Independence's air group is wearing me down.  I'm building them in groups of four.
 
I haven't done a lot in 1/700 yet.  I'll mostly waterline those kits on a water base.  I've a start on an Arizona, and want to add Vestal and a quay to the display.
 
TOMLABEL, that's a powerful sanding job.  I'm not sure I can be that ambitious with mine.  Maybe I can tone it down a bit without purging it completely.  I'm torn between a Coral Sea and a Midway version.  I'm guessing the only real difference would be the airplane markings.  A Measure 12 Graded scheme would stand out nicely against all the 21s I seem to be filling my cabinet with.  I'm not sure if I'll Pontos it or not.  Those sets usually run more than the kits themselves.  I do have their set for Zvezda's Dreadnought, which I'm happy with.

[wdolson]

I'm not 100% sure, but I think while the Yorktown was under repair after Coral Sea some AA was added.

Bill