1/350 Hasegawa Akagi Complete.

Oh Chris, sorry, yes I'm using the needel trick. Thanks!

Hoo Yah, I believe it was bad smokey and probably why they injected water into the smoke screen to try to cut down on it. It doesn't look like it worked though.

It looks like shs's under full boiler here, probably on trials??

Here's another after the rebuild, probably at cruse I presume. Still looks pretty smokey.

That's why the 12cm guns on the starboard side aft the funnel were enclosed, so the crew wouldn't choke.

Buddy,

Hey man those are new! They are being reliesed in Sep. I have them in the wishlist now but they wouldn't let me pre order. Some of those guys look like they are modeling the latest in IJN uniforms LOL.

These are what I have on backorder

Certainly not as nice but will give some life the her.

These are what I have coming....some day from Northstar. I already have one set but I figure I'll need at least 150 guys min on the deck.

Lets see here.....9 Zeeks, 27 Kates on the first wave..... That's at least 1 pilot per plane....the Kates had 2 extra crew....carry the two....yep, I'd say 90 aircraft crew. Probably at least 63 standing at the briefing at the island....27 at their Kates....at least 2 to 3 maintance personal at each plane, one sitting in the cockpit....hmmm...lets call it 80 maintance personal..grand total 170 crew on the deck, cut that down out of sheer work to 150 deck, not to mention the crew around the guns along the sides and on the bridge. So probably 200 wee little guys, some white, some dark blue (gun crews), and some tan. Yeah I'll need to order at least one of those sets. With that set I can tell Northstar to take a hike.

Awesome, thanks for the complements and thanks for watching guys

Steve looking incredible! 
are you using a needle to apply CA to each of those mounting points on the PE? I'm just amazed at how clean it looks mounted to the plastic.

Steve,

Just found this on HLJ's website.  Don't know if these are the ones you are waiting for.

https://www.hlj.com/1-350-scale-ijn-japan-navy-aircraft-carrier-crews-pilots-142pcs-zplfs-05

From the accounts I've seen, was done to have less disturbed air over the deck, along with the small island.  

Wasn't as sucessful as thought and they went back to a more conventional arrangement

Our CVE's had a similar set up.

You know, having served aboard ships, everytime I see those style stacks on the Japanese carriers, I wonder how they survived the stack gas that must have permeated the side of the ship and hanger bay. It must have been awful, especially if they were doing a full power run with all boilers on line.

Nice work on the kit, it's looking great. Well beyond my abilities.

Thanks Scott. I am enjoying myself, even though some of the process is slow and tends to be tedious. I keep the final vision in my mind to keep things going. I am a little peved about the lack of crew and planes avaliable. It seems Covid has slowed the manufacture of several things. I can find the plane sets but at outragous prices. I need at least one more, two preferably. I could use another 3 sets of IJN pilots but Northstar is the only ones who carries them and they're out of stock as well. Their shipping when they do have something in stock is in months not weeks, even before Covid. I'm waiting for a Hasegawa set of IJN crew from HLJ but again, out of stock, no idea when they will be in. Had I any idea that this pandimic would have cause such a depleted inventory I would have stocked up instead of spreading it out. Then again, I wasn't going to start her until next year so there was no reason to hurry.

Steve, that stack is really something special.  Makes me want to climb on it.  You look like you are really enjoying yourself and all the while doing a spectacular job. 

wow , wow , wow , that's gorgeous steve , can't wait for more .

Thanks Silly. It's really not that hard, just time consuming. I have upwards of 250 hours in it now.

Hasegawa call then "Jackstays". Of course to us Jackstays have to do with masts, to the Japanese they are handholds and footholds. The Degausing cable is the thick plastic line just above the PE. They didn't give me PE to replace it although I found some on eBay. I'm not going to go back and replace that thing 

lewbud

Steve,

What are the photoetched bits that run the length of the hull above and below the portholes?  Are they a catwalk of some kind?  Outstanding work my friend.

 

Are they degaussing cables?  Used to de-magnetize the hull to reduce effectiveness of mines?  Or something like that?

And Steve, that funnel PE is nuts!

Steve,

What are the photoetched bits that run the length of the hull above and below the portholes?  Are they a catwalk of some kind?  Outstanding work my friend.

Every time I build I get better with PE, but the work on the funnel that you've done;

modelcrazy

Nope, no way no how would I ever be able to do that with that degree of mastery.  Wow.

Yep, I was able to craw my way out of the pit for a break. I'll jump back in shortly. I have a year to complete her and at this rate..... I'll need all of it.

Ok guys.

I arrived at the place I wanted to stop and take a break on the big ole Akagi. I ordered some ladder rungs to replace the pi#@ poor plastic lines that were molded on (like those on the second picture) however, until that time arrives.....I'm putting her aside and working on something else in the que....not Japanese.

Ignore any missing ladders and such. They were removed to easily facilitate the removal of the plastic handholds and instalation of the new PE. Those will all be taken care of once I get the rungs in.

I know it doesn'tlook lick mush that there's many hours involved.

Ooo, close up shots show some stuff that still need attention.

modelcrazy

Steve,

His email is jhchi1@naver.com. His name is Harry and has a blog with more pictures. It's in Korean so you'll need to translate it. He's very easy to work with and responsive. The set seems expensive until you figure in the work and time he put into it and how much a compreable brass PE set (if someone made one) would cost.

https://blog.naver.com/jhchi1/220890705230

 

Cool and thanks bud.

Here's some pics of Alliance's 12.7 cm type 89 AA gun conversion to a reasonable facsimile of the 12 cm type 10 which the Akagi had, using some kit parts. The guns were to be replaced after Midway.

Steve,

His email is jhchi1@naver.com. His name is Harry and has a blog with more pictures. It's in Korean so you'll need to translate it. He's very easy to work with and responsive. The set seems expensive until you figure in the work and time he put into it and how much a compreable brass PE set (if someone made one) would cost.

https://blog.naver.com/jhchi1/220890705230

modelcrazy

Thanks Scott and Steve.

Steve, if you're intrested in the paper set for the fine bracing work let me know. I'll post Harry's contact info.

 

Yes, please and thank you.

Steve

Thanks Ben. I haven't worked any more on the planes. At present I need a few more kits but they are way out there on price. I did order some from a company in China at a reasonable cost but they said there's no shipping yet and they haven't charged me . I also need about 4 more IJN pilot figure sets from Northstar but they only have 1 in stock. I can't find any anywhere else and it takes about 4 months shipping. I think I'm going to run into issues receiving things in time (a year away). The Infiny IJN ladders I ordered from BNA, another item you can only find in one place, still haven't arrived after 3 weeks using air mail.

Currently I'm modifying the 12.7 cm type 89 guns I received from Alliance Model works. They are the only AM 12 cm guns available but the Akagi had the older type 10 guns which look similar. I'm bashing kit parts and Alliance parts to come up with something passable. I just have 3 to modify, then on to the starboard side of the hull.

Hey Steve, its me.. just checking in on this wonderful build. I echo everyone elses comments on your replacement of the lattice work. Did you complete the remaining aircraft or will they be one of the past things to finish? I really love the landing gear and canopys, etc. 

By now you have probably rounded the ends of your fine point little tweasers with the amount of PE put into this thing! I bet the weight of the model had doubled because of the amount of brass added to it. 

Glad to see it is moving forward at an IPMS contest pace. 

Ben

Thanks Scott and Steve.

Steve, if you're intrested in the paper set for the fine bracing work let me know. I'll post Harry's contact info.

That is some beautiful work there Steve. I love your scratchbuilt lattice work. Looks like I need to pick up the Kagero book on the Akagi now. 

And just to let you know, after following your build, I “had” to buy the full Hasegawa PE set for my kit. It’s all your fault! At least that’s my story and I’m sticking with it.

Steve

Excellent work Steve, the scratchbuilt lattice looks much better and to scale.

Thanks Chris and Steve