1/350 Hasegawa Akagi Complete.

How fast will she be going?,

      If at aircraft takeoff ops. speed she would need a good wind into or across the bow and a Bone in her teeth wake wise, as well as Bow wave!

Tanker-Builder

If at aircraft takeoff ops. speed she would need a good wind into or across the bow and a Bone in her teeth wake wise, as well as Bow wave!

Yes sir.

Her flank was 31 kts, not bad for a carrier of that age and size, so she'll be clipping along.
Kaga was quite a bit slower, being a converted battleship, even though the Japanese had done all they could to increase her speed, but I digress.
They came out of a squal that morning and looking at the few pictures avaliable, the sea was choppy. My plan, and the way I prepared the base is she's a little high at the bow and slight roll to port, as in cresting a swell. I figure she was keeping pace with the Kaga so as not to outrun her so probably what.......27, 28 kts?? The Zeeks were staged at the front since they didn't need much room to take off followed by the 15 Kate's loaded with the type 99 model 5 AP bombs then trailed by the 12 Kates with the type 91 torps. Since they were the heavest they needed all the room they could get.

The deck scene will have all the aircraft will be running with maintance crews attending to their charges. Some of the Kate's gunners will be running toward their mounts (I need to do something with the figures) while the navigators and pilots are attending the briefing.

BTW, the Akagi's Kate bombers targeted the Maryland, California, West Virgina, Tennessee and Oklahoma while her Zeros first wave attacked Hickam and MCAS Ewa field.

thank's steve for showing how you build your diorama , and for reminding me to  cut the shape first . 

Hi;

       I would say about maybe 24 knots. The Zekes and the others had pretty good ground effect reactions, believe it or not! Rolling at ten or fifteen would hamper some ops , but there were pilots that didn't worry about that. They were the ones off in the first wave.

     They wore their Headbands, Drank their Sake to the Emperor and yelled Bonsai and ran to their planes. These guys meant business, as we found out. Some of their best pilots managed to stay around for a few sorties.

Thanks TB,

Take a look at a few of these pictures of the base and let me know how fast it looks like she's moving. I know, she look she's riding a little high but I found that after all the additions to the base it changes that preception. Also, she's up at the bow and rolling to port slightly.

I situated the Akagi into the base and started the cotton for the wake and turbulance.

I used arcylic varnish ot attach the cotton, just pulling off the slightest amout. You don't need much and can always add more not less. Also using arcylic gloss medium, I started crafting the bow wave.

I continues wit the cotton on areas where there should be turbulance and wakes. let it dry overnight and took some pictures out in the light.

Liking what I'm seeing, I started the mutiple varnish process. I'll brush on 3 to 4 coats to add depth to the water. On my last coat I'll add some more cotton the the stern and other areas here and there. There is really no wrong way to do it. You can overdo the effect but if you ever study a wake on a boat or ship just about anything goes as long as the waves are believable. I feel like I'm rambleing.

The first coat of the varnish applied and waiting to dry. This process thakes several days but will dry with a high gloss.

And my helper is trying to pick out his new build.

Steve,

It may be hard to judge speed without a wake from the sides or stern.  I would image that she would throw a lot of water off her bow, but that would depend on the wave and water action.

Just my thoughts.

Marcus

Look at that beautiful blue Pacific water! 

Thanks guys,

I added the 25mm AA guns and attached and rigged the fold away antennas. I also applied another coad of varnish.

Yeah Marcus, each ship and situation so so different. I will add some more cotton here and there on the third varnish application. The cotton I already applied is more or less "subsurface", you know, the turbulance of bubbles rather than foam. I won't add a lot more because it would look worse to overdo it.

I also started working on the 27 Kates.

Total insanity 

Thanks Chris,

I'm almost done with the Carrier (I really can't believe it). I finished installing the safty nets and orderd another set of 25mm AA gun PE so I can finish the last four. One more coat of varnish and glue on the Chrysanthemum and she's done except for her crew and cargo. I'm going to make a cover for the base out of plexiglass tonight to keep the dust out and protect it from incidental damage. Once shes done, I take a couple of pictures but will wait for the money shot until all he AC and crew are on.

Aha!!

 Now I don't feel like the wackiest person here! I mean building a 420 piece crane on flat surface doesn't hold a candle to those witty bitty planes being detailed. Good luck! Oh and by the way, Have you traveled the Pacific? You sure got the colors right. Isn't it funny? The Atlantic, while not as deep in spots is a darker blue usually than the Pacific? And your wake is looking great! I think the coloration has something to do with the Temps too.

   I have seen the North Atlantic turn an Ugly Blue Black just before a big storm! Don't look now, but you did something most model ship builders with a base like that NEVER pick up on. What is it? Get yourself in the water mate! Look at the bow of the great ship near your eye. She just got the order to increase speed for plane ops! What does a ship do in that situation? Her Stern squats from more revs being fed to the screws and the Bow rises accordingly! You nailed it and don't you go change it either! It looks grand!

        I have to note here; My trade was Hull Design and Powerplant fitment!The Japanese, Without a fault built their liners with a similar but not identical Bow than the warships. The effect was this. Watch a ski boat with the Engine in the middle. As it throttles up the bow rises up till it achieves planing speed. Well, a liner is NOT a ski boat. so they designed for the Bulk of the ship to start to rise at the bow first to achieve less hull resistance at manuevers. The hull rose and the ride was smooth.

       It's an odd quirk that no one has caught on to yet. Look at ships designed since the war. All have largish bulbs to almost ridiculous giant ones, below the waterline. YES, this serves to smooth out the water movement down the hull. Consider how much water one of these monsters draw compared to the Akagi! The Titanic had an underwater bow similar( No Bulb) and she like all her sisters rose at rpm change to a higher speed. I watched our battle Group come to speed after getting new orders. The carrier was the only one that didn't "Rise to the Occasion"  ! Now our stern dug in and we almost jumped forward! We had what was called a bulb but I believe the action of it was defeaated by both the Sonar dome being deployed and the screw size compared to other designs. Of course we were the little guys( Destroyers) and we were expected to "Jump to Action!" to add a pun here!

Thanks Tojo and TB.

TB, yes I spent most of my USCG carrer in the Pacific...actually the Bearing. Talk about storms and rolling ships. It all looks black when you're in a storm in the Bearing. We would often reach a roll of 45 deg. Now if that don't get your panties in a bunch I don't know what will, especially in water that will kill you within 10 min or so. You'll be dead before the con reacts to you being overboard and they can get a boat over to pick you up. We would wear those "Mustang" suits, you know, the orange ones you see Costies wear. Those will add about 5 min to your survival time. Not much when your life depends on the "Boats" to get the RHI over and the cockswaine to get to you quick enough.
But yes, I spent some time in the Pacific. I have a "Domain of the Golden Dragon" plaque to prove it too. Stickpusher mentioned the darkness of the sea as well and you both are correct, it should be a tinge greener. I should have added 2 parts green instead of 1. It's tough to get the mix just right but like you said, it could be temp related, they were comming out of a squall after all. Far too late to do anything about it now. If the judges take off points for the color being slightly off because I'm portraying the Pacific instead of the Atlantic then Pfft on them. The only ones that could possably pick that out are those of us who have been there. Btw, I've also been called out on the hight of the bow wave and the speed of the ship on other forums. To scale that wave is 7 feet high! Lets see those guys make a convencing seascape LOL.
Man I tell ya, there's always somethin.

BTW, one of my boats was the WHEC Jarvis (it's owned ny the Bangladesh Navy now). The Hamilton's were powered by conventional engines and turbines When they spun up the birds and punched it, the ship would squat at the rear and kick up an impressive rooster tail.

Yike! The Bering ?

      Good heavens to Betsy, Now you talk about dangerous water! Yes, the Bering Sea is always darker than the Southern parts of the Pacific. Again I think it's Temp related as well as Underwater configuration. The Hamiltons and the Secretaries could and did put out great Rooster tails!

     I have to tell you a funny tale you've probably heard before. A crewman wanted to wash his oil soaked jeans in the wake. He secured them with good line and made sure they were connected well. A few minutes later he came back and found his pants gone! It seems the ocean likes to eat pants in wakes! Like carpets and model parts! I imagine you dealt with that too!

      My only dio that ever won anything was the U.S.C.G Taney picking up ( Well, fixing too) pick up, a survivor from an aircraft sinking. In very severe, Aircraft carrier damaging, storm waves. I called it "Angels in Time". I often wonder where I would've wound up if I had done a lateral to the U.S.C.G instead of the U.S.M.C.

Never did hear the jeans story but I wouldn't doubt. The wake probably chewed them up but good. Water vs anything and the water will eventually win. Ask the Grand Canyon

And some peopli wondered why I went into the A.F. when I got drafted.  It's better to fly over the water than smash through it.  And I hate flying.

You have done a amazing job on this one.

Thank you Ikar, and Domer

I applied the last coat of the acrylic varnish last night and am waiting the the AA PE set to come in (probaly in the next couple days) so I can finish the last of the 4 25mm guns, add the chrysanthemum and spray some future to give some areas, hull mostly, a wet look.

I made the cover for it last night then worked on about nine of the aircraft. I ground off the canopies and started removing the material in the middle. The bit slipped and one Zero I melted beyond repair (now I have 4 spares). Tonight I'll grind out some more before working with the file for more precise control. Eventually I'll have them where I can drop in the PE interior. That's the toughest part of the process, the rest is just attaching the exterior pieces IE. stabs and wings, and PE to the plane such as the landing gear, wheels, gear doors wire canopie and the like. I'll most likely have one of the maintance cerw in each plane monitoring the gages as they're idling

I'll have one more picture session before going dark. I want the final revial with the planes and crew on the deck.

domer94

shes not the sexiest of vessels for sure

No but she's a mean looking one.

OK, so, it doesn't look like much but this

Represents two day of work. I'll install the PE canopy frames and give them a primer coat to see where I may need to add some filler. 8 Kate's and 4 Zeeks (plus the one I already assembled) so far which leaves 19 Kates and 4 more Zeros to build.

The Zeros are the same IJN light grey top and IJN light green/grey underside but the Kates, well the Kates can be a variety of green tops with slotched, peeling paint and a variety of other schemes, mostly green though.

Now I know some of these are fictitious but it does show the variance of the Kate paint schemes.

Fuchida's mount was green with peeling paint. Several pictures to refrence.

All are going to be fun, seriously.

I should be receiving the last of the AA guns tonight so I'll get those built and on so I can take the last pics before I add the planes and crew

See!

 The Japanese learned early on,The paint being perfect didn't make them fly better. Seeing that amount of wear and tear is what I expect to see from dios about W.W.2 and the Battle for freedom with the Bombers that flew over Europe. Never do though.Or even single Aircraft!

I'm really looking forward to these planes .

Well those paint schemes are fine for pre-Midway as I am sure after refitting from the Indian Ocean campaign and before Midway her crew repainted the existing planes. Also Fuchida didn't fly in the Midway campaign as he was recovering from surgery.  He was on the ship's bridge when Akagi was bombed.  After the Indian ocean campaign all of the carriers were carrying tired old birds that took their best mechanics to keep them operational.  They were tired old birds during the Midway battle but they looked good.

Marcus

I'm recreating Pearl. First wave.

You deffinitely need a litle head shrink help after this one

Whoever designed the conversion of a battlecruiser into that monster and gave it about 10,000 more tons should have had it too.

I have a question.  Not knowing much about wqrships, shouldn't there be some kind of exhaust showing near the water?  I don't know, I'm just going by what I saw in TOra, Tora, Tora.  Air Force guys don't usually find themselves near big metal things in the water.

Ikar, yes, I made up some exhaust and I'll take some pictures with it. It's not attached and wanted some feedback on it before showing it that way. The Japanese would add water to the exhaust to cut down on the smoke particulates so their exhaust looks more the bottom of a waterfall then an exhaust plume.

The Japanese were going to build two Amagi class carriers out of the battlecruisers Amagi and Akagi but the Amagi was severely damaged during an earthquake in the drydock,  so they scrapped her. They took the battleship Kaga to convert instead to keep within the Washington Treaty. Converting the ships was less expensive than building new. 

OK guys, here she is without the aircraft and crew. The exhaust is not attached and I wanted your feedback on it. If I add it, it will be more spread out on the water and blended in with the water using acrylic varnish. I may be able to thin it out some more.

Here is the Kaga, similar layout, stack wise, to the Akagi. Pictures of the Akagi under full steam are rare and I can't find any that aren't computer generated.

Here she is.

Here's what it look like landing

Here are my first 13 out of 36 aircraft so far. Still a lot of PE to install and all need paint.

My thought in looking at the Kaga pic, is that you have about the same wave and wake size/pattern.  Kaga's smoke is streaming aft more due to her speed and wind, where your depiction is more straight down.  Minor nit in the big look.

Don't know how much time you have invested in it, or to do another in a more streaming fashion.

Would hate to see the judges ding it for that, you've gone overboard on a trophy winner.

Steve i think the concept and your portrayal here is fitting for the scene. Definitely think you need to set the scene with the water and show the effect of steaming into the wind. Comparing the photo to your depiction and thinking about how the exhaust would react the leading edge of your exhaust stream looks too straight. In the picture the stream appears to fold over itself. Maybe try twisting that front portion over so it looks like it's being blown backwards?

Yeah, I agree. Easily done I would think. Since it's not attached I can take it off and pull it apart more or do another. I firm it up with hairspray.