It's a Small World - the modelling thread.

Making some progress with Akagi. Here's a shot of all the internal supports that give the two parts of the hull some rigidity. Looking carefully will reveal two supports slightly out of alignment. These were the two mistkes I mentioned earlier. They will be hidden when complete.


It's definitely a case of 'build a bit, paint a bit'. At least two of these lifeboats will only be seen through sponsons when complete.
partial.jpg



Here's a shot of the box art. Note the distinctive downward facing stack. This was done to avoid sending smoke across the flight deck. It gives the ship a very small island and a fairly uniquely Japanese design. It also has the island on the port side but the standard now is to have it starboard. This is because prop driven aircraft naturally torqued to port (ie the fuselage moved in the opposite direction to the propellor), making them more likely to collide with a port sided island.

Her sleek hull lines reveal her origin as a battlecruiser. These fast ships made the obvious choices when converting to a carrier when speeding into the wind was the best way to create lift for the aircraft when taking off.

box art resize.jpg
 
Foxbat said:
Her sleek hull lines reveal her origin as a battlecruiser. These fast ships made the obvious choices when converting to a carrier when speeding into the wind was the best way to create lift for the aircraft when taking off.
Click to expand...
That's exactly what the RN did with Fishers 'large light cruisers' that he had built for the Baltic campaign that never happened.

HMS Furious

As built (two single 18" guns!):
1711451556574.jpeg
First conversion:

1711451667158.jpeg
Second iteration:

1711451814368.jpeg
Final form:

1711451877884.jpeg
But she kept her beautiful hull lines to the end (scrapped 1948)
 
I remember reading about the second iteration with the superstructure in the middle. There must have been a few crashes and even more hairy moments when coming in to land on that deck.
 
Just finished what I consider to be the most nerve shredding part of building Akagi: the flight deck.
I've had problems before with applying very large decals so I decided to paint the flight deck, apply lacquer and then decal before attaching to the hull. It's one large very fragile decal and i thought doing it this way would give me the best chance of success. I blu-tacked the deck to a piece of wood for extra stability and I think this was the most important decision because there's nothing worse than applying a decal on a model that rocks or moves as you do so. It worked and all I need to do now is to wait for it to dry (I've used a dry brush on it to push out any air bubbles). Once dry, I'll seal it with Micro Set. There was one tear on this decal as it was applied. Can you spot where? Okay. I'll tell you - the red and white stripey bit tore in half but I'm pretty sure you can't see the join.

Port island is built but yet to be attached to the deck.
deck.jpg


Meanwhile, the hull build continues. I've added that characteristic downward funnel and a load of deck supports along with a plethora of other fiddly little bits that you can hardly see. The black marks I made with a marker pen (they'll be hidden once the deck is attached). I can't remember why I made those marks but there was a reason at the time:)
so far.jpg
 
Foxbat said:
Just finished what I consider to be the most nerve shredding part of building Akagi: the flight deck.
I've had problems before with applying very large decals so I decided to paint the flight deck, apply lacquer and then decal before attaching to the hull. It's one large very fragile decal and i thought doing it this way would give me the best chance of success. I blu-tacked the deck to a piece of wood for extra stability and I think this was the most important decision because there's nothing worse than applying a decal on a model that rocks or moves as you do so. It worked and all I need to do now is to wait for it to dry (I've used a dry brush on it to push out any air bubbles). Once dry, I'll seal it with Micro Set. There was one tear on this decal as it was applied. Can you spot where? Okay. I'll tell you - the red and white stripey bit tore in half but I'm pretty sure you can't see the join.

Port island is built but yet to be attached to the deck.
View attachment 116907

Meanwhile, the hull build continues. I've added that characteristic downward funnel and a load of deck supports along with a plethora of other fiddly little bits that you can hardly see. The black marks I made with a marker pen (they'll be hidden once the deck is attached). I can't remember why I made those marks but there was a reason at the time:)
View attachment 116908
Click to expand...

Wow. How long was that decal?
 
THX1138 said:
3cm for me!
Click to expand...
This particular decal is the biggest I’ve successfully applied. There have been a couple of others (not as quite as large as this) but they have ended in tears, much wailing and gnashing of teeth. Even this one wasn’t 100% successful but at least the tear was clean and easy to put right.

Luckily, in both previous cases, I was able to salvage them but they never looked right. The biggest lesson I learned was to make sure that the model was firmly set in place and always apply to the simplest surface possible. This is why I blu tacked the deck to a piece of wood and applied the decal before gluing the island to the flight deck.

I also made the mistake in the past of thinking the lacquer should be applied after the decal but this is wrong. Applying the lacquer before fitting the decal gives a smoother surface. The Micro Set applied afterwards should both fix it and protect it.

I think building models is probably 90% learning from your previous disasters so, given the number of failures I’ve had, I’ve learned a fair bit:D
 
1/700 Akagi
002.jpg


Akagi with Chitose alongside
001.jpg



The toughest part of the build was the set of planes. Each tiny plane had to be glued together (1 body, 1 cockpit, 2 undercarriage and 1 propellor) They were all made from see-through plastic (perspex?) that was much more brittle than the normal plastic used. Also, the connections to the sprues were incredibly thick, which resulted in parts pinging across the room or breaking when attempting to cut them free. There were meant to be nine aircraft but three were lost in action and only six made it to the carrier. Acceptable odds in a build I classify as a war between me and my lack of competence.
 
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