#1
|
|||
|
|||
IJN Nachi / USS S.L. City, DKM Hipper, RM Zara
After my success of the 4 build set of BB's I decided to try this with some CA's. In this case 4 navies, 4 ships.
IJN Nachi - Angraf USS Salt Lake City - WAK DKM Hipper - GPM RM Zara - Wak I framed each one using Laser Cut,The Nachi uses dual bulkheads for a thicker fram than the other 3. As a result of an error on my part I had to manually fabricate lower hull plate 16. Most of the cent plates are too short in my opinion to warp around the hull so I split each one. In addition there is inadequate support for the bulges so I filled the lower hull with balsa strips and sanded the shape. Ultimately I like this so much I decided to do each one this way. I plan to paint Nachi except for the deck surfaces and not sure the model fit is good enough for my skills to do it any other way. Like Kongo before, I believe this model will build into a great kit, just can't rely on fit up. The hull sides cam up short at the stern as seen in the picture. I'm also not a fan of the many individual plates at the bow, consider WAK uses well designed sheets that formed amazing well to get a rake (later). I will add the shafts and rudder later and will paint after they are installed. Anyone with a hint on how to mask a paper hull, please let me know. This kit uses bulge and armor plate covering that has the gray/red transition printed in so I won't be able to free hand paint while relying on the seem between the upper and lower plates to provide a 3D guide. Joe, |
Google Adsense |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Addition images. Seen above in the image of the hull bottom you'll see the separation required to get the interface for the hull side armor plate/bulge and main hull sides to line up.
|
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Salt Late City's hull form is extremely simple when compared to Nachi but I filled the spaces with balsa anyway. Due to its simple form sanding was a breeze in comparison. No complaints here, the fit is very good with this model. I always paint the hull bottoms. The balsa filler all but eliminated any shrunken forms with plates. The bow on this model I feel is the best I've ever seen. The design enabled the bow plates to literally snap into shape. I didn't glues the edges until after I placed the forms. When dry fitting the paper just formed the concave shape with no real issues. I used extra thick CA on the former frames and placed the sides in place with only gentle pushing. Once the CA dried I used white glue and brushed in the edges. The prow formed decently well and the color matched up perfectly. I works back to the stern until the 2nd to last plates. I install the stern plate, nicely wrapped a single piece from the end going forward. WAK provides a little extra length for the 2nd to last plates that I just glued over the stern plate leaving a paper thick bump that is only visible when looking from the stern forward. I uses a black sharpie pen on the bulkheads to visually control the depth of sanding.
For reference, my old Fly Portland is shown at her side. The Fly Portland may have been the best of the old hand drawn kits I ever seen and I'd still recommend it today. Both ships are by far the most successful cruisers the US Navy had in WWII. The US treaty cruisers paled in comparison to the Japanese counters, but these two earned 20 battle stars between them and did more damage to the enemy than any other US cruisers while sustaining punishing damage. The Japanese ignored the treaty all along, for comparison Nachi is actually a couple months older than Salt Lake City and was by far the superior vessel. Joe, |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Additional pictures. The bow rake is visible.
|
#5
|
||||
|
||||
A formidable project. Beautiful and historic ships. Fair winds and following seas for this build.
Don |
Google Adsense |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
Fantastic build. I'll be following the progress.
|
#7
|
||||
|
||||
great range of ships.i prefer the zara from zio but thats my personal choice
__________________
Carborundum Illegitimi Ne Herky |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
Beautiful work, awesome ships, will be watching and learning!
|
#9
|
|||
|
|||
Very nice work. Love the 2 carriers on your shelves, and it appears you are a basketball fan. Since you are from North Carolina are you Pro North Carolina or Pro Duke?
Darren
__________________
Darren |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
Pro syracuse actually.
|
Google Adsense |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|