Posted by Matty
on February 2, 2008, 22:57:01, in reply to "Matty's Nichimo HIRYU Build In Progress"
Message modified by board administrator February 17, 2008, 0:51:40
OK so I lied when last time I promised to post additional pics of the quick-constructed build - instead I decided just to go to work and thereby show you the really well-done result that much faster.
Here, however, is one last look at her beforehand:
Click on Image to Enlarge
Beginning with a very unusual step - definitely a first for me - which was, if I may mangle the classic (if insane) slogan from the Vietnam War: "to improve her I had to sink her":
Click on Image to Enlarge
Meanwhile creating an opportunity for a little bit of art. The dissolving glue clouded the water, making for the pic at bottom right; once I shifted (in Photoshop®) all its hues toward the blue-green - creating this impression of Hiryu sinking in the mid-Pacific. Pretty cool, huh? (Don't be surprised if you see one of my subs photographed just like this in the future...)
Returning to the build, the above did cause shedding of all intended parts, knocking the build back to this:
Click on Image to Enlarge
And all with very little breakage - only 3 items - grouped together at lower-left: the tiny RDF mast on the island, the top of one radio mast and one 5-inch gun barrel (severely bent). Also, one prop strut - a permanently-attached piece - was half-broken on the hull.
The above process, including soaking, removal and cleanup of glue residue, took a full two hours - not including additional time for every nook and cranny to air dry. Also, while fixing the above, broken parts I broke two more: an island support stanchion as well as a rangefinder "ear" on its gun director. It seemed to me they both broke so easily that the soaking in warm water must have weakened them quite a bit. Thus, the net effect of this approach, while successful, was to significantly add (yet) more time.
However this did not bother me, as it directly enabled me to start on something I had been anticipating for several years now:
Click on Image to Enlarge
And, along with it, to also start painting the hull:
Click on Image to Enlarge
For the hull color I chose Tamiya "Haze Gray" - which is, as you can see, far too dark for any (modern) USN Haze Gray I've ever seen. Someone(s) once told me it represents "the darker, WWII Haze Gray", but I don't buy that, either. What I do believe is that it could be an almost perfect match for how I figure the bluish, IJN grays should appear; lightened for "scale effect" on a 1/500 build such as this. In any case, this is exactly the kind of slightly-pastel blue I want to have next to the bright yellow flight deck - and dark anti-fouling red, below - on this build.
I know I have (repeatedly) remarked how good this build already looked, as simply assembled right OOB, but now the original vision for this build is all flooding back - again, it's been several years waiting in the wings - and at this point I have to say: you ain't seen nothin' yet! But you will...
Cheers,
-Matty
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