I built that sub for somebody a couple years ago.  I put one of the aircraft outside getting ready to launch and the next one waiting at the hanger opening.

Finally got some work done on the Ise.  That pagoda design can be a real pain, especially in this small scale.  Next time I pick a capital ship or any other ship, it's going to be 1/350th.  The instruction are all in Japanese and when Itry to figure thiem out I something think they are giving the option of a coupoe variations on a refit.

Do you have any idea what color I need for this thing?

If you had the pre-flight deck conversion, she had a drydock at Kure in 35 so she would be in Kure Grey. If you have the flight deck version I don't know where she had the conversion but the grey will match the yard. The Japanese didn't have a standard grey color like the USN, RN, ETC. They painted them wth whatever the yard as using, I.E. Sasbo Grey, Kure Grey, Yokosuka Grey and so forth.

Finally some progress, aub assemblies:

I have started to put the wood decks on and they are going on pretty easily and show a contrast from the ship's color.

Judging from a couple of articles on the class, it looks like most all of her refits, and reconstruction during the war, were done at Kure.

Just looked at Tamiya site, shows XF-75 and TS-66 as the Kure greys.

Yeah, the Tamiya Kure Grey is pretty close to Lifecolor's. The diffrent greys the IJN used were quite diffrent but I'm not sure anyone would contest you final choice.

Looks excelent. Those were such a great looking pair of ships.

Sorry for the delayed response. I flew down to Dallas Friday to see my big brother who had the same double lung transplant I did. He was in ICU for the last three weeks since his transplant on the 10th. Yesterday just before I left for the airport he was doing much better and was being moved to the general floor. I don't know if my presence and my experence helped, but I hope I did.

i'd say your visiting him deffinatly helped.

Some of the Japanese ships had unusual designs.  The pagoda superstructures were a complex design to say the least'

If I read it right, the Ise was a Battle Cruiser and was involved in several missions but endd up running many trips carrying badly needed supplies of material and sometimes troops to Mainland Japan.  Once I saw a small film clip of what looked like the Ise on its side in Tokyo bay.  Or did I get it wrong?

The Ise may have. The Japanese, both the IJN and IJA used warships to move cargo and supplies (The IJA had their own ships). We had so disrupted their supply lines that they would use just about anything to get supplies to the Island. Kinda what would have happend if the U-boats were more succesful that they were.

I didn't know the IJA had ships.  That would seem to be unique to any other military.

The Imperial Japanese Navy and Army had some big issues between them. They wouldn't even work together unless the orders came down from the top.

Japan had TWO A-Bomb programs - one navy and one army. Basically duplicating the exact same research. Still they were further along with both programs than the Third Reich was with theirs.

There was a amount of animosity between the two. The navy didn't like supporting the army and visa versa. I don't recall the IJN supporting an allied attack other than attacking our ships. There was no ground support, other than pre bombing, that I can think of.
Most of the IJA's ships were more Maru's and landing ships than anything. I do believe that had a few escort carrier-landing ship-depot ships

Some different size barges as well.  They tended to supply their own air cover, too.

About the only time IJN got involved was supplying escorts for IJA convoys.  And to resupply army units, ie Tokyo Express in the Guadalcanal campaign, and evacuating troops.

The IJA pretty much controlled the calls in the war.  We had a similar situation between Nimitz and McArthur until the President stepped into it, and gave both their marching orders.

goldhammer88

Tokyo Express in the Guadalcanal campaign, and evacuating troops.

Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Did a little bit of damage to our fleet while they were doing that as well.

I have lost a couple small pieces aren't they all?

My new problem is color.  The aircraft are molded in clear plastic, but even worse than that, does anyone have any idea what color they are supposed to be?  The insturctions are completely in Japanese and since I never learned to read the language while there, I'm stuck.  I ws thinking about light grey but you never know.

If post conversion, I'd guess IJN dark green, maybe with grey undersides.  They went away from all light grey early in the war, IIRC.  But could be all wet there, MC has more knowledge on Japanese stuff than I do.

And you guys have a lot more than this poor exA/F/ guy does.  The only ships I have been near was the U.S.S. Cod in Cleveland when she was getting ready for restoration and the Charles W. Morgan back when I was in high School.

. You've been around more floaty things than I have.  Ex AF as well.....now if it was a Phantom....

Finally, I am able to create a post with photos to show some progress on the Yamato. As stated in the last update, I began working on further detailing the big guns. Here is a photo of the main gun with all PE added (less the little guns in the tubs on the top of the turret).



The 155mm turrets did not have any blast bags attached between the barrels and the turret mantle, so I decided to create some. The the past I created blast bags using tissue and white glue, quick setting white wood glue, and Milliput. This time I wanted to try to make them using sheet plastic laminated together, inserted, and trimmed to shape by knife and files. Here is a photo of the work in progress. If you look closely you can see that I lost two of the range finder hoods. 



After 5-10 minutes of looking on and around the table and floor I decided I was going to make some replacements using spare PE and thin sheet plastic. here they are completed and added to the turret (the blast bags are still a WIP)



And here is a picture of the front main turrets and 155 behind it. The main gun turrets are done while the smaller 155 turret still has numerous PE parts to add before it will be considered done. Still, this gives you a sense of the detail that PE gives you over the stock kit.



Some other areas I've been working on include the building of the smaller air defense turrets that will be added to the sides of the super structure. While the kit or Lions Roars PE set do not have any hand rails to add to these guns, I may make some PE handrails from my spares to improve the look. 



Some of the other after market improvements arrived since the last update. Here are the air funnels added to the rear gun director / range finder tower that I saw in some photos and the 3D site. 





One more thing I've been working on is the lower rear deck. Part of my improvement was to add handrails around the "pit", where the aircraft are stored. I also added doors and observation walkways inside the aircraft hanger area. 



I still have a lot of PE to add to the guns, around the main superstructure tower, and on the rear target director and range finder. Soon I hope to add the decks to the hull and begin some painting. Before that happens I want to finish the PE on the superstructure assemblies and gun assemblies. 

I hope everyone is still healthy, happy, and safe. Until next time.....

Ben

If you go to Free Time Hobbies they have those turrets and they come with the P.E.  I think Veteran Models are one of the companies making them.  There are all sorts of extras available.

+

Ikar,

The color for the planes were IJN Green. As apposed to IJA Green. Even the two services had their own colors. The underside will be a light grey. The name escapes me right now but it's different than either IJN or IJA grey. Those have too much green in them. 

IKAR, like I mentioned to Steve, I really do not want to invest hundreds into this build. The cost for those guns alone are 29.00 for only 10 so I would be near $90 just for those gun sets. Then there are the type 96 singles and triples that if replaced would be well over $100 for them alone. While I appreciate the recommendation, I am still going to try and make something work from my spares. I cannot see spending over $200 in the small guns considering what I already have in her. 

Ben

Ben, I see your point and understand.  I'm living on my S.S. and V.A. disability so I have to be carefull.  S.S., when you notice it the organization's abbreviationa can sound a bit ominus.

Steve, thanks for the information.  I just started working on the aircraft so it came in time.  I'm not fond of the clear aircraft parts, expecially in the small scale, but I'm working on it.

I'm thinking of getting a model of Nagato, but in a larger scale.  I found out it was at Bikini for both testsbut it survived and was taken to Kwajaline where it still sits, although upside down.  It seems the tow ship lost control and it went into the coral before turning over.

Ben, sorry I didn't comment on your progress yesterday. I only had access to my phone and wanted to sit down and read with interest in what you had posted.

The 155s look great. Blast bags are hard to get to look real. It looks like your laminated sheet worked well. I still use Milliput but have mixed results.

You always impress me with your PE skills, everything always looks straight with no ham-handed bends like I tend to do, usually after they have been installed. The smaller AA guns are the triple 25mm’s I believe. I read somewhere once that the Japanese covered them to protect the crews from the concussion of the 46cm mains.

As usual, it looks like you are on the way to turning a sows ear into a silk purse.

Thanks Steve, here is one of the completed 155 turrets (less the antenna unit):

I today I just received my replacement Type 89 127mm twin guns. Looking forward to getting these bult.

While out shopping with my wife at Hobby Lobby I found these drawer knobs for $5.00 each to use and ship stands:

Other than that I worked more on the small guns. Hope to show more photos soon.

Ben

Ben that looks fantastic!!!!!

Ben & Ikar: I know what you mean. That's one of the main reasons I went with a destroyer- hopefully it's less likely to blow up out of control than a larger ship... 

Wow, the 155 looks great! The 89's should go together without much trouble.

I'm about to finish up two aircraft and mount them on the rails.  I managed to loose the gear for the other two (real small and clear(Carpet monster does not surrender parts easily.

At least the carrier has a better solution for its aiccraft.  But then there's teh PE to worry about.  Maybe I'll order a larger scale to work in.  Perhaps a nice destroyer or sure....we'll see.

I have spare 1/700 aircraft, unfortunatly they are British FAA.

That would look a bit different.  I wonder if anyone would notice in that scale.  At least I have two for the catapults  Thanks for the offer.  I'll start the Soho in a couple days after I finish Bismark for a friend.  After that It's back to 1/350th and some other IJN ship.

I might consider selling my model of the IX-64 Wolverine, formally known as the Seeandbee before conversion.  

And now for some more fiddling around......

As previously posted, I got some replacement IJN Type 89 127mm twin AA guns from a brand called Very Fire (China). Here is the box along with the instructions. One gun assembly consists of four resin parts, two machine turned brass barrels, and five PE pieces. In comparison, the kit guns were two plastic parts.





Here is the gun base. It comes with the gun operators enclosure already attached. In the photo I added the gun sights.



Next was adding the gun sight enclosure. The details on these resin parts are outstanding and the ease of assembly is great.



The gun breach and cylinders are one part and requires each barrel hole to be drilled. They did provide some guide point as to where to drill the holes which made the barrel alignment much easier. the elevation gear was the last item to add beneath the breach and the barrel assembly was done. The completed barrel assembly was then added to the gun base assembly. The last items were the PE for the left and right of the platform and the small ladder to the gun sight station. 

Here is a comparison of the kit parts with a piece of Lions Roar PE on it versus Very Fire replacement assemblies; for me there is no comparison.





And here is the gun battery, ready for paint and assembly to the broadsides of the superstructure.



The next area I wanted to finish was the bow anchor area. Several updates ago I removed the molded in anchor chains and created holes for both chains going out to the anchors. One of the two pins behind the windlass was gone (broken and lost forever) when I open the kit. My solution was to drill out both and replace them with brass wire, you can see this in the photo along with other PE items added.



I wanted to finish up the main superstructure detailing to the point I feel safe to still add it to the hull. In this case that was adding all the ladders to the structures walls, here is the results. You may also notice the addition of a modified searchlight. I have several other after-market lights to add after painting.



One of the bigger challenges for me was to assemble the pagoda portion of the superstructures chain of stairs, door, and ladders to its rear. After some trial and error, grumbling, and with the right amount of cross eyed tongue out the side of the mouth silly squinting, I was able to get it complete to my satisfaction.

Here are my efforts to build the replacement catapults for the rear of the ship. Here are the instructions. When completed it is comprised of 20 parts, all photo etch; the kit catapults are two halves of solid plastic.



The first challenge was bending the side or length of the catapult 90 degrees while simultaneously keeping everything straight. Prior to boxing in the sides and rear you need to fold two pulleys and two carriers for the pulleys. The carriers and the small pulley are not much bigger than a pin head. 



Once they are assembled and attached to the inside bottom of the catapult I folded the other side and end cap together to give it some strength using medium CA cement. The next step was to add all 9 of the cross braces between the sides and into the designated slots that were barely visible inside the bottom of the catapult (again without bending anything else). Once slotted in position the cross braces were glued to the sides using thin CA cement as it flowed into the seams perfectly. 



The last main step was to add the small pulley and extra small carrier under the top of the catapult, a large pulley to the end, and add the top to the bottom sub-assembly. The only items missing in this photo are the two small side platforms. Believe me, writing this was much easier than assembling the PE. After the first one was done the second was a little easier as I knew what to do and not to do. Here is one of them compared to the kit part, once again no comparison. While it may not be perfect, I am happy with the results.



The last problem to solve with the catapults was to fix the broken guide pin where the catapult lays on the deck as it was also broken when the kit was opened and could not be located. To fix it, I drilled out the old pin location then cut and filed a metal pin replacement. Once it was added the catapult was test fitted successfully. 



Next update should be finishing the small guns that I started to assemble using the modified kit breach and barrel assembly with the modified multi part photo etch assemblies from Lions Roar. 



I thought of replacing them as well but when calculating the costs, it was near $100.00 just for them alone. If I can't make 24 from the PE and kit parts I may have to go that route, but I am going to try and avoid that if possible. Till next time!

Ben

I like those type 89's

I used Alliance Modelworks for the type 96 25mm on my Akagi. Admittedly I just needed 14 and they were doubles but.... Here is a set on eBay for a little over $13 for six. It'll be a little less that $100 for 4 sets but I'd probably get 5 myself since I'm such a clutz and loose pieces.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/401851322882?hash=item5d90349202:g:IekAAOSw6ZBdWIpX

Your doing exceptional work as usual Ben. hose cats look great as well as the tower.