Very nice work!  I especially like the paint jobs for the floatplanes, though it might have been a good idea to mask off the canopies?....

you have your 2 aft gun directors(mk34 & mk37) pointed forward instead of toward the stern. the 2 side gun directors(mk37) above the 5" gun turrets should be pointed out not forward.

Either remove the Union Jack and jackstaff or move the National Colors to the fantail.

I think it looks Fantastic for an Out of The Box Build. Do you have any idea on how much time "Toom" has invested in building this kit for you ? Thanks for adding the link to the other pictures.

Nicely built, but the weathering is way too heavy in my opinion.

Mark

Nice OOB build.

I echo the flag comments and you need to remove the insignia from the starboard wings of the two float planes.

I'm not sure what year you've chosen for the model, but US aircraft markings of the type you show were only on the top of the port wing. If the markings were to be just the stars in the circles, they could be on both wings. The markings you've chosen were not used until mid to late 1943.

A small nit to pick, but one you can change.

Thanks for sharing.

Mike

I'm not too sure about the weathering -- I think it is done in the "Verlinden Style",   heavy black with drybrushing to bring the details.  Some people like it.

Far more egregious than the weathering, flags, or aircraft markings are the wavy railings and gaps between the bottom rail and the deck.  

MM, I hope you didn't spend a whole lot of money to have this model built for you.   Your builders are once again paying poor attention to detail. 

Many thanks for all kind comments, compliments and suggestions! I really appreciate them!

A few people said that this is a OOB build which is incorrect. If you follow the instructions and build OOB, you'll end up with no riggings and no railings because the kit did not provide any materials or instructions for riggings and railings. This is an all-plastic kit with no PE of any kind provided. And though flag decals were provided, there were no instructions on where to apply them.

ps1scw suggested about moving the Union Jack, the jackstaff, National Colors and fantail., Those are technical terms to me and I don't know what they are. Can you show in a picture about where they are now and where they're supposed to be?

plasticjunkie would like PE catapults but that's not available for me here. All I could find locally for this ship is PE railings. Anyway, I have two ships with full options under construction by two modelers. They're IJN Battleship Matsu 1:350 w/ three detail-up sets (most expensive kit ever bought) and Oliver Hazard Perry 1:350 w/ detail-up parts from MK1, plus some more ships in stock.

Summit asked how much time "Toom" spent on this ship. I don't know for sure but I guess it took him not less than 100 hours.

EdGrune pointed out the wavy railings and gap between PE railings and the deck. There's a reason for that shortcoming. "Toom" has no car and he had to deliver the ship to me by a motorbike. He had to secure it in its box, bound with nylon threads, packed the box in his backpack with part of the box protruding from his back over his head and rode a long way to my home. I guess it's something not possible for you to do. You said he's not paying attention to details.  Well, apart from building the riggings lines by burning & stretching CottonBud sprues, detailing-up the catapults, scratch-building the white life-rings around the ship, he also sought metal chains from a flea market for the ship. And do you know how many rounds of maskings and paintings were needed before he could turn plastic deck into wooden one?

Same as warshipguy, I prefer this ship not to be camouflaged. "Toom" didn't paint it camo saying that he's not keen at painting camo colors. I think camo colors only hide details. For me, heavy weathering like this is OK. It sure looks better than a brandnew ship. ;-)

Model Maniac wrote:

"Toom" has no car and he had to deliver the ship to me by a motorbike. He had to secure it in its box, bound with nylon threads, packed the box in his backpack with part of the box protruding from his back over his head and rode a long way to my home.

 

Wow!! My hat's off for Toom and his transportation method. He did one hell of a job at minimizing damage. It must have been one heck of a ride! Again, a very nice build.

subfixer, thanks for your link and pictures. Very informative but makes life harder for modeler. I'll let Toom know your suggestions.

plastickjunkie, yes I was amazed to see his transportation method. A picture is worth a thousand words. Here's Toom's package:
 

Tracy, you may say that again!

BTW, since the above pictures don't show clearly the riggings, I'd like to show some more digital pics which got better lighting: