1/700 scale IJN Ships make over

[rtfoe]

Amazing. PaulE

Paul, it's a challenge switching from this scale to 1/35 as I'm building two dioramas at a time.

Cheers,
Richard

[rtfoe]

Hi Guys, since Haruna has never been featured here as a WIP, I could tell you a bit more about what went into building it...

The kit is the old Fujimi IJN Kongo kit labelled under SeaWay Models and is pretty basic with not much detail. It has extra fittings to make the Haruna as all four sisterships nearly had the same hull but differed in the super structure and rear structures. The funnels were slightly different with each ship, Haruna having her aft funnel raised level with the front one.



The turrets and guns were replaced with upgrade sets from Skywaves 3 sets of accessories for heavy, medium and light IJN vessels.



The triple AA guns were also from Skywave and so were the searchlights and range finders.



Fujimi provided decals/stickers for the bridge windows. I cut out slots and replaced with PE.



There were three levels on the pagoda style super structure and the back support was drilled out. Missing portholes also were drilled out.



Actually nearly all weapons including the side casemates and boats were replaced with Skywave accessories



The anti-magnetic wiring along the side was thin stretched sprue and cut plastic strip spacers. You will notice I have moved the planes around so it doesn't obstruct the stairway detail leading from the seaplane deck to the main aft deck.



I re-worked the solid side of the seaplane deck by replacing the whole section with plastic card and strip for the covered work stations below it with windows and supports.



The crane base wall was lengthened so it sat in a covered groove. The PE for all fittings are from Goldmedal.



The other feature that set Haruna apart from her sister ships was the squared aft deck structure that housed a huge array of AA gun tubs that are raised and envelope the aft funnel.
Rigging this ship will be a nightmare...these were ships built in the first world war and carried lots of rigging.

That's the tour of the Haruna. If you do want Kongo class battleship, get the latest new tooled Fujimi or Hasegawa kits.

Cheers,
Richard

[Steve Jones]

Outstanding!! A quality build. Thanks for the walk around

[Jim R]

Hi Richard
A most enjoyable tour. Wonderful work. To add/improve detail at this scale is remarkable.
Jim

[rtfoe]

No problem Steve, glad you liked the walkabout.

And you too Jim, thanks.

Cheers,
Richard

[JR]

Can't believe how you manage all that detail Richard my fingers would damage most of it, even with tweezers in trying to handle parts that small . Most impressive.

[Wouter]

Hi Richard, just read through the whole thread and my goodness, what a piece of work! Nice extra detailing going on here. And in between some very informative history lessons. One gotta love IJN stuff eh. Looking at your dio in progress and the fact that you live in Asia: were you ever lucky to see the work of Won Hui Lee and Hyun Soo Kim in the flesh? (I might have asked that in the past but my brain isnt what it used to be ).
Anyway, looking forward to seethe next installment of "rtfoe madness" ^^

Cheers

[SimonT]

Richard - I am shocked to find that you have not thinned the catapult plane wings to scale or drilled out the gun barrels :surprised:

:smiling5:

Love the little train

I tried a 1:350 floaty a few years ago but quickly lost interest - didn't float my boat :smiling5:

Hard to imagine these are half the size :surprised:

Will you be populating the dio with a good selection of those tiny persons?

[rtfoe]

Thanks for commenting in guys,

John R, you should've seen the many times I pinged the etch and knocked over the masts. I have found stuff on the floor I've never seen in ages. :tears-of-joy:

Wouter, I'm not able to measure up to those guys as they have mastered the use of resin and cotton wool for motion effects. Yes I have seen their work up close. In 2018 we asked Won to explain how he did his exploding U-Boat and in 2019 watched from behind Hyun's demo at the show in Penang. Here are some images of us interrogating Won with Hyun Jin Kim of Def Models as the interpreter.


I'm squating second from bottom next to Hyun...Won is next to Hyun in a black T.

Simon, didn't you see the navigator eating his packet of sushi in the back seat? :tears-of-joy: I have engaged the services of Liliputians to pose in Japanese costumes when the time comes. The 1/700 scale figures will be much easier to paint as there isn't much detail...just flesh, white and black and of course in this scale there are lesser parts than 1/350.

Cheers,
Richard

[Wouter]

I'm jealous, really trying to get to find more tips from these guys but it's hard. Recently bought a mag with an article from Won, I found a Youtube video where he explains a little and his blog on Naver is gold as well, what a bless the internet can translate Korean webpages these days, though it isn't perfect

Soo is even harder to find how he does it. That exploding sub is just crazy...if I recall correctly it's his third version, previous where trial and error.

Thanks for that link btw, that's bookmarked now ^^

about painting 1/700 figures: Marijn Van Gils has an interesting way of painting them and giving them a shape. He explained that in his Lexington book if you haven't already seen that.

Cheers

[rtfoe]

Don't be jealous Wouter, there are some good ship modelers in your parts too which I'd like to meet. I got into 1/700 because of an article of an Italian modeler who showcased his carriers dios in the Fine Scale Modeler magazine with so much life on the deck. In that exploding sub dio, Won did the pouring of the resin in one go in the dead of winter to lessen the heat and bubbling.

Marijn Van Gils Lexington is out of this world. The figures alone would take me a liftime to paint and pose. I think I have an article on it in one of my books.

I follow Jeff Lin's builds. He concentrates on the ship itself and pours lots of detail on it and is very neat.

Cheers,
Richard

[scottie3158]

Richard,
Great work I have the greatest admiration for ship modellers given the detail and size of the builds.

[rtfoe]

Hi, I removed the turret to get a better look of the floatplane. Oops, the navigator just stepped out to the loo...the salmon sushi must have been off. I replaced the wing and float struts with left over PE railing. At the front of the plane is another PE trolley.



Am not too happy with the bed rolls and may take some off. I will add rope and dangle them.



I'm still chugging along. Simon, I may start on painting the trains.

Cheers,
Richard

[rtfoe]

Hey thanks Scottie...me too. It helps when the tooling of the mold is crisp and detailed.

Cheers,
Richard

[Jim R]

Hi Richard
Brilliant work as always. Have you seen THIS. In my few attempts at 1/700 ships I have found it very helpful.
Jim