My 1:1200 IJN Tone & Mogami class heavy cruisers.

[georgerutherford1861]

Ooooh, I am absolutely going to have to try out your Guadalcanal game Lou. My 10 year old might be able to get into it. I know I will be able to get into it.

Doug

[LouCoatney]

Doug, your 10 yr old shouldn't have any problem. Read through my AAR on BoardGameGeek. It may answer some questions. Games and models complement each other, and you can game with the models, albeit at this scale on the floor (and move around carefully).

So I knew doing the contrasting-curve Tone class funnels was going to be a challenge, and it has been. The other night, I thought I had solved it. Eureka!

But then I looked at a recent Japanese 1:350 plastic scale model of her and ... I missed it. So tonight, I tried again - this time having the funnel cap(s) attached to the aft stack with the upper portion of the assembly attached to the front part to come down and meet the back stack ... and incidentally solve the problem of continuous black and white stripes at the top of the sides.

So which looks better to you guys? My initial try now on the model ... which is going to be fun to remove ... or my new approach?

That's my lighter gray plastik/kunststoff Wiking 1:1250 USS Augusta - Atlantic Charter is probably why German Wiking chose it. I can't tell if that is a torpedo mount in the side or the lifeboat aperture. The secondary 5"/25s are nowhere to be found.

When the lower edge of the Tone stack top is glued to the trunk coming up from under the bridge, I think the edge will be less noticeable ... without the shadow.

And the really cool part of this is that the shape and dimensions are the same for the Mikumas, so I've got them already done.

[Don Boose]

Lou - It's an improvement, but in the attached image of Tone in 1942 the tops of the two funnels appear more integrated and the upper part of the forward funnel is taller than it appears to be on your model.

Don

Image caption and source: "Japanese Imperial Navy - Eric Lacroix, Linton Wells II Japanese cruisers of the Pacific war. — Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1997. // Japanese heavy cruiser Tone in early 1942. Photo was taken from battleship Hiei." Japanese cruiser Tone (1937) - Wikipedia

[LouCoatney]

Maybe it's the angle of my camera when I took the photo, Don, but it looks satisfactory if not perfect to me.
Note that the angle of the after stack in the the photo is the same as for mine.
Or did you not realize that my initial effort ... on the model ... is the fail, and the big test-build behind it is what I'm going to use?
... albeit back at the reduced scale.
In any case, I think this is as good as I'm going to get it, considering the angles/shape of the stack, and I'm going to print it off and work on finishing the Tone ... and then start Mikuma.

[Don Boose]

Sorry. I confused the new one with the old one. Disregard all after "Lou." The new one looks great.

Don

[LouCoatney]

I've happily realized that I had the angled *and canted* air intakes(?) down at the front corners of the bridge identical, when one should be canted in one direction and the other canted in the other ... and so have avoided having to re-do and re-print those too.

[georgerutherford1861]

Whew, lot of elbow grease being put into this one, for which we will be appreciative. Going to be neat to see it with all those floatplanes on it.

Doug

[LouCoatney]

Oh THANKS, Doug. I was of course thinking about how few I might get away with, with this crowd. Mass production methods, maybe?

The new stack is on, and I think it looks BYOODYFUL!

I may wait to take the next photo, though, until I have it ... and its TO&E 5 floatplanes?? done.

[LouCoatney]

It's been a while, and I've been fairly busy.

Photo 1. In the center my design of IJNS heavy cruiser Tone built at ca. 1:1200 ... with floatplane, Doug. In the foreground, a Wiking plastik 1:1250 Brooklyn. Background, a 1:700 plastic Chikuma - Tone's sistership - late in the war, festooned with lots of AA guns.
I'll do the 8" gun barrels (and try to mount the turrets as movable) when I do the Mikuma/Mogami.
The stack looks pretty good. After all my trial and error, it should. And the Mikuma/Mogami stacks were the same, so I don't have to worry about them.

Again, at 1:1200 the slightest poor construction ... and the cardstock paper edges ... are magnified and GLARING. I've got to get to an arts&crafts store and get a gray fine-point marker.

Photo 2. What else I've been doing. After telling everyone we wargame designers can't win games, let alone ... VERY embarrassing. Lots of captains, majors, and lieutenant colonels in the tournament, since Leavenworth was sponsoring it. I tried to help those not familiar with hex-and-counter games ... until they started beating me.

This compact game Battle for Moscow used was designed by my college friend Frank Chadwick and was once free as a promo. I tried to tell Frank my ranking was an accident.

So who needs West Point, the Command and General Staff College, and the Army War College, if you can proficiency out as a general?

Photo 3: Bow view of Brooklyn and my Tone. I guess I should have checked the bow when I was gluing on the deck?
Note the nightmare slanted air ducts(?) coming up out of the deck in front of the bridge.

I just know Tone's Imperial Japanese naval architect was chuckling to himself about all the trouble model designers would have with that.

Photo 4: I guess I talked about our Postcard Guadalcanal game before ... and I can't delete the image.

Photo 5: Overhead of Brooklyn and Tone, and Tone was slightly longer than Brooklyn.

On to Mikuma/Mogami!

[wireandpaper]

Congrats Lou. And thank you for sharing this amazing story General Coatney (how many stars?)
Looking forward to your book.