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IJN Shokaku - GPM 1/200
I started this model years ago then stopped due to lack of some skills. After finishing Zuiho, I decided to finish her and paint the mostly built shell of a hull. The printing on the basic kit is horrible but typical of early pre-computer days from GPM. The deck and airplanes however were printed magnificently. Why the double standard I don't know. The kit funnels were a disaster, so I built these from scratch by tracing out the funnel cap and making a former for each bent section. They are not raked back enough but I am satisfied by the overall look. I also struggled with getting the deck to lay flat and wasn't able to put a curve downward on the stern but decided not to push it. I used massive amounts of drywall filler on the hull but the form actually turned out good including the bulbous bow. The kit guns are so bad I discarded them in entirety and scrapped my old Nichimo Yamato stealing the AA guns for both this model the Zuiho. (My old Yamato was built in 1989 and used as RC several times in a river. I have purchased a new one to build a proper display model someday so she was expendable. I also recovered about $5 worth of ballast pennies and about 3 lbs of bb's from the hull.)
The Kate and Zeros for this model are very well designed and they built into very good planes. I think the are a step above the much newer planes on both my Junyo and Zuiho kits.
This is a huge model.
Joe.
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03-11-2017, 02:57 PM
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