1／350 日本海軍航空巡洋艦 最上 製作記錄 (二)

Today, I have just received the items which I've been waiting for. The two Tamiya Color, XF-77 Sasebo Arsenal (佐世保海軍工廠) and XF-79 Linoleum Deck (亞麻油布甲板) Brown; however, I cannot start working yet. Because....I accidently broke my airbrush when I was setting up the airbrush system. I don't want to go over the details because it was very stupid. I've purchased another identical airbrush, so I should get it and get things going in just a few days.

Tamiya Color XF-77 Sasebo Arsenal (佐世保海軍工廠) and XF-79 Linoleum Deck (亞麻油布甲板) Brown.

Along with the color, I've also received this. The deck masking sticker. There are many tiny things to avoid being painted with the brown deck color. Back in the day, It was extremely difficult to paint the deck, but these days, we have this kind of tool which makes deck painting so much easier. I will show you how this works when I'm doing the deck. be patient. :)

Due to my broken airbrush, I cannot spray paint the ship; however, I started a few things that require PAINT bruch. For example, the airplanes and the AA guns.

This is a photo of AICHI E13A (零式三座水上偵查機). American code word for this aircraf model is "Jake".

In the kit, there are 8 Aichi E31As. each of them have to be put together like other parts.

Here's a look of the Aichi E13A with wings. The legs (I don't know what they are called.....) have not yet been installed.

I kinda forgot to take pictures when I add the legs and when I painted the plane, but this is what it looks like when it's completely done. The propeller is from the PE parts provided in the kit. There is another aircraft model onboard the Mogami, the Mitsubishi F1M (零式水上觀測機). I am not yet on the page of building that aircraft, but I will post it in the near future.

There are 10 AA guns (對空機槍) on Mogami, and they are type 96 triple 25mm (九六式三管.25釐米對空機槍). Above is a photo of a type 96.

This is the type 96 PE detail parts made by Lionroar. It is the left over of the IJN Yamato (戰艦大和). It can be of some use after all. The parts are in gold. That's the neutral color. I have to paint them into the appropriate color before I cut them down form the sheet. Gun barrels = Gun metal black. Gun mount and base = Sasebo Arsenal gray.

First, start with the single barrel. I've already painted it in gun betal black, as you can see. This barrel will be placed between the other two barrels. The piece on the left is unfold. simply fold it at the folding line and it will look like the piece on the right.

Here is the process of making the two barrels, from left to right.

Add the single barrel in the center and you will get something like above.

This is the gun mount. Starting on the left as a flat piece. Fold the two sides and the front & rear 90 degree up.

Turn the gun sight side way and add the triple barrels onto the mount.

Here is the base of the AA gun. Notice the seats are painted brown. Fold the two sides first, then center.

Fold the seats, wheel, and paddles.

This is what it should look like if it's done properly.

Add the gun mount onto the base, and the type 96 triple 25mm is complete. start working on the next one until there are 10 of them....

Finally, after a long work, the 6 Aichi E13As and 10 type 96 triple 25mms are done. It took me 3 hr. to get the planes done, and 5 hr. to get the AAs done......

Aichi E13A and type 96 triple 25mm

The planes have been painted in IJN green on top, and IJN light gray on the bottom. metal propeller and decals have been applied.

Type 96 triple 25mm. Look better than the originally issued plastic parts. The PE detail parts make tiny parts such as the gun sight clearly visible!

Now you wonder why they took my so much time to make them.... they are very very very very very very small.....especially the AA guns.

Look at the size of my hand. I have a hand size bigger than average people, which makes it extremely difficult to build tiny parts like these.

8 hrs straight, no eating, no drinking. I've only finished one model of planes and all the required AAs. Have I done much today? you tell me. lol

More to come! Check my site regularly!

ps. My next entry will more likely to be after June 11. I have to deal with school finals....

三菱 海軍零式艦上戰鬥機 二一型

The A6M2 ZERO fighter, a well known and well respected fighter model during WWII. Made by Mitsubishi (三菱), and was put into action during the early Pacific War. The plane was first flown in April 1st, 1939, and was introduced into military in July, 1940. The name "A6M", "A" means it is carrier base, which means it is capable of taking off and landing on the aircraft carrier. "6" for the sixth such model built for the Imperial Navy, and "M", the manufacturer, Mitsubishi. The A6M fighter was most commonly known as "ZERO", it also had other nicknames such as "ZEKE", "HAP", and "Hamp."

When it was introduced early in WWII, the Zero was the best carrier-based fighter in the world combining excellent maneuverability and very long range. In early combat operations, the Zero gained a legendary reputation as a "dogfighter," but by 1942, new tactics and techniques enabled Allied pilots to engage the Zero on more equal terms. The IJNAS also frequently used the type as a land-based fighter. By 1943, inherent design weaknesses and the increasing scarcity of more powerful aircraft engines meant that the Zero became less effective against newer enemy fighters that possessed greater firepower, armor, and speed, and approached the Zero's maneuverability. Although the Mitsubishi A6M was outdated by 1944, it remained in production. During the final years of the war in the Pacific, the Zero was utilized in Kamikaze operations (神風特攻隊).

On June 4, 1942, after the attck on Dutch Harbor, Alaska, flight petty officer Tadayoshi Koga was losing oil and attempted an emergency landing but the Zero flipped over in soft ground and the pilot died of head wounds. The relatively undamaged fighter was recovered by the American on July 11, 1942, and was shipped to North Air Station, North Island, San Diego for repair. Subsequent testing of the repaired A6M revealed not only its strengths but also deficiencies in design and performance. The American then began developing aircrafts that can defeat Zero's capabilities.
American pilot test flying the captured Zero, which has already painted with American fighter color and star.

What I am gonna share today is the Tamiya (田宮) 1/32 scale Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero (三菱 海軍零式艦上戰鬥機 二一型). Compare with the 1/48 scale Zero I built before, the 1/32 scale Zero is really big; and bigger the size of the model, the more detail it is. The most complicated part is the cockpit and all the interior section. Tamiya made each parts as detail as they can possibly make them. It was a long and hard work on the cockpit, but it turned out really awesome! I've never built such detailed instrument panel before.

This is the completed A6M2 Zero and it's pilot, Saburo Shindo (進藤三郎), on the custom built
A/C AKAGI (空母赤城) deck.

This is a figure of the pilot of this particular Zero with tail code AI-102, Saburo Shindo (進藤三郎), a well experienced pilot who was the leader of 2nd Wave of 1st, 2nd, and 5th Air Squadron; Thus, Yellow Stripes on the tail! Shindo still lives today, in Hiroshima City (廣島市)

I saw this data plate of the A6M2 Zero on http://www.hlj.com/ where I usually shop for models and supplies. This plate gives a complete information of the plane. It's made out of metal, and has double-sided tape on the back, so you can just peel the film and put onto anywhere. The text is in Japanese, that sort of made the whole thing looks a bit high class. lol.

As I've mentioned before, Tamiya made the instrument panel looks so detail. the glass of the gauge are clear plastic, and the images of the gauge ar decals.

Here's another view of the cockpit. All the switches and levers on the side of the seat are clearly visible. Notice the seat belt is not mold-on. It is actually made with thin plastic film, and the buckels are made of metal. The seat belts are not after market PE parts. They are originally included in the box.

This is my favorite shot. I think the A6M Zero looks the best from this angle. I made the plane and the pilot sit on the carrier deck to make this diorama look like the plane is prepareing for launch for Pearl Harbor (珍珠灣).

View from the other side. Notice that I've weathered the plane a bit. the black soot from the engine and the dirt on the wing (pilot had to get onto the wing before he can get into the plane).
I've also made scratched-off-paint effect, but you can't really see in this photo, probably the ligth was too bright, but look close at other pictures. Maybe you can see it.

The wooden base was aquired at Micheals, an art supply store, and the wood pieces were bought from Carpe Diem, where I buy most of the supply for my architecture class. They came in 4 pieces in one bag, and each piece is measured 3 ft. in length. I bought 7 bags to cover the whole wooden base. I cut each bass wood into 4 inches. put white glue onto the surface of the base, and put the bass wood pieces on one by one, then use a sharp razor the cut away the extended pieces on the side. As I was putting on the bass wood pieces, white glue was squeezed out from the gaps. I left it alone and use a sand paper to sand the glue off when it's dry.

The top view of the A6M2 Zero. made by Tamiya in 1/32 scale.

日本海軍 航空母艦 赤城

The IJN Aircraft Carrier AKAGI (日本帝國海軍 航空母艦 赤城) was a majesty ship of the whole IJN (大日本帝國海軍) fleet during the early Pacific war. She was the only ship of her class. Although she did had a sister ship, AMAGI (天城), but the Great Kanto Earthquake (關東大震災) destroied the ship hull which was still under construction; however AKAGI's hull survived that disaster. AKAGI was originally a heavy cruiser concept, but due to the earthquake, the IJN changed the concept to an aircraft carrier while repairing the hull at Kure Naval Ship Yard (吳海軍工廠).

In 1941, Dec. 7, AKAGI, with 5 other aircraft carriers and several battleship, cruisers, and submarines had done a famous campaign in history, the sudden attack at Pearl Harbor (珍珠港事件). AKAGI was the lead ship of the fleet; she launched the first wave attack. and her attack group was the lead squadron of the whole fighter group. That kinda sums up AKAGI's position in the Imerial Japanese Navy, a crown jewel.

In 1942, June 4, AKAGI suffered multiple bombard by the American dive bombers launched from aircraft carrier USS Enterprice and USS Yorktown. One of the bomb set off explosions among the armed and fueled planes within her hangar deck that were being prepared for an air strike against the American carriers.

the tremendous explosion was fatal for AKAGI. she burnt through the whole night, but did not sink, early on June 5, Isoroku Yamamoto (山本五十六大將), the admiral of IJN, ordered destroyer Hagikaze (萩風), Maikaze (舞風), and Nowaki (野分) to launch torpedos at the dying AKAGI, and she sank at 05:20 a.m. with the loss of 263 men at coordinates 30°30′N 178°40′W / 30.5°N 178.667°W / 30.5; -178.667. Compared to the other Japanese fleet carriers lost in the battle, she was the luckiest, suffering the fewest casualties.

Akagi is my favorite ship of all. I've built a 1/700 scale Akagi when I was small. Of course, I didn't know much technique of model building back then, and the ship turned out looking funny. In October, 2008, the news of the upcoming 1/350 scale IJN Akagi was released, and I preordered one right away.

Here's a view from the back of the ship. As you can see here, I've add the PE detail parts for this model. The hand rails and safety nets have clearly added realness to the ship.

Here is a view of the platform on the side of the ship. On the platform, there are some dual 25mm AA guns and some distance measure towers. the white straps are used to secure the life rafts.


This is the bridge. To be honest, it was killing me when I hanged the flags onto the rope. In the picture on the top, you noticed there are something in a lighter grey color that are tied to the exterior wall. Those are rolled-up bed sheets in real life. You can see how it looked like in real life in the picture on the bottom. The sailors tied bed sheets on the wall to provide protection for the commanders inside the bridge in case of an attack.

(the photo was taken when the planes were preparing to launch for Pearl Harbor)

The deck is made with real wood. Laser cut wood sheet measured only 0.25mm in thickness, and the surface has been laser engraved with the wood pattern of a ship deck. It has sticky side on the bottom like a sticker. Simply peel off the film and put onto the deck. This makes it alot easier for the deck work. Those who have painted a wooden deck before would know how hard it is to make paint color looks like wood......

Here's a view from the front of the ship. See the gold Chrysanthemum symbol (菊花勳章) at the bottom of the flag pole? It is the symbol of the IJN. All IJN ships have it at the same location.

Here's the middle section of the left side of the ship. The three cannons on the platforms are high angle flaks. Those are for defending against airplanes.

The place behind the jail-like wall is the storage corridor. sailors put mostly wood here. in case if the flight deck is damaged, there is always material for repair. You can also see the wires hanging from pole to pole. It wasn't easy attaching the wires, though....

In this photo, you can have a better look at the Chrysanthemum symbol. Notice the anchor chains are actually small metal chains instead of mold-on. Also look at the hand rails on the side of the ship and on the stairs. took me hours to fix them on.

This is the front section of the under side of the flight deck, which is called bow, or fore. Take a look at the amazing detail of the structure. I altered the structure parts with after market PE detail parts. It took a long time to put together, little by little.

Here's the back of the under side of the flight deck, known as the aft, or stern. Same thing here, amazing detail. In fact, it is crazier than the bow. It has the track hanging from the ceiling. and the pillars are so 3 dimentional because it is hollow on the inside. The original plastic parts are solid with no holes on it.

In this photo, you can see why it has the tracks hanging down from the ceiling, because there are life boats. the crane above move along the track, and hang the boats to put them into water, or pick them out of water.

I spent nearly 1 month working on this model, but I think it's worth the time and money. It was, in fact, the first model ship made by Hasegawa I've every built. and I really respect the fine detail on the parts. Another thing I like about Hasegawa is that they always include some kind of bonus in their first production kits, which are limited, and the bonuses are always some goodies such as PE parts, metal figure, or poster.