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

[Desertrat77]

Good grief Lou.. I am amazed at your work my friend. Cant wait to build these for my collection. Just wondering if you are possibly going to be doing the American Cruisers from Guadalcanal like San Francisco, Portland, Helena, Juneau or Atlanta?

[georgerutherford1861]

Looking good Lou. I took a few days' break from starting on the floatplanes. I need to cut out all the pieces at once, then edge color them (I use acrylic paints) and start on production.

Since mine will be at 1/700 scale, I am thinking of adding an additional "width" of cardstock to beef out the fuselage a bit more (I will basically double the white center spacer you already have) and see how that works.

I believe from my very limited research that the Hiei carried two floatplanes - I will probably put one on the catapult and the other on their storage "tracks," is that the right word?

Doug

Also, looking forward to Tone, no matter how many floatplanes...

[LouCoatney]

Note: Literally for decades, I have begged American plastic model manufacturers to come out with 1:1200 task force sets ... to NO avail.
(Renwal did come out MANY years ago with its two FULL-HULL ??!! 1:1200 sets of 60s era USN ships, including our stern-missile cruisers, but that was all. And there was that now-ancient Revell Christmas set of some of their ship models at random scales.
Britain's Airfix did finally come out with their 1:1200 Sink the Bismarck set of Bismarck, Prinz Eugen, Ark Royal, Hood, Suffolk, and 2 Tribal class destroyers ... after my LONG hectoring ... and it appeared to sell well.)

Our market-insensitive business majors and MBAs never figured out how popular task force sets could be. The Japanese have just released huge Japanese-only task force sets ... but for obscene/extortionate prices ... at 1:3000??!!

So now I'm doing MY (IJN and USN) task force sets, albeit in a different medium.

There will be a U.S. Navy Pacific 1942 era set, after I complete the Japanese set, DR77.
I already have the South Dakotas mostly done, as well as the Astorias - San Francisco, etc. - and one-off Wichita working up.
The Brooklyn and Atlanta classes are already available in Wiking 1:1250 plastik, but I have already done the Brooklyns ... and, I believe, Helena variant ... in CAD.
My Sims class destroyer is done and up on CoatneyHistory.
My Sangamon escort carrier is about done in CAD.
Haven't done our subs ... or PT boats at 1:1200 ... yet.

As far as the Japanese task force, the Kongos are now done as well as Shiratsuyu class destroyers. I think the Tone and Mikuma/Mogami heavy cruisers are now done. I'll be doing an aircraft carrier class (of 2).
Then there are the subs.
So I'm close to finishing the first, Japanese task force set.
This ... after so much work ... I'm intending to up on Wargame Vault for ca. $10.00 I think.

Compared to Tone, Mikuma/Mogami's assembly is (mercifully) FAST ... and easy.

There is a floatplane there on Tone, Doug. Did you see it?

And yes, at 1:700 you definitely need to fatten out their fuselages. An extra layer is needed for the Tone/Mikuma searchlights, even at 1:1200 scale.

And now, back to Mikuma/Mogami! I had the longitudinal and transverse bulkheads glued onto the keel and then realized I HADN'T CURVED THE HULL SIDES??
So had to pop it off my (kitchen counter cut-out) working surface, did the curving, that didn't warp the hull, and I then (Elmer-)glued the keel back on the surface.

Then, I discovered I hadn't shortened the upper fore level on the longitudinal bulkhead, so I'm going to have to do that with my trusty cuticle clippers, since my precision scissors can't get that low past the rising bow ... and it will probably pop off my working surface again.

But if I have the aft deck already installed, that may keep the hull rigid and regular enough, so ....

[Don Boose]

This is a great project, Lou.

In the past, I amassed a collection of 1:1250 Neptun and Navis U.S. and British warships and 1:1200 Authenticast U.S. and Japanese warships that reside in the basement. I don't have a good image of them, but this image is cropped from an image of my basement workshop area and shows the 1:1250 ships. The 1:1200 is on another shelf. In the 50s, I also built a few wooden 1:1200 models.

I am currently focusing my limited paper model building time on Interwar U.S. Army tanks and 1/48 aircraft, but it is tempting to try my hand at your ships and those of Wayne McCullough.

Meanwhile, I will continue to track your project and Doug's naval construction.

Sincere congratulations on achieving the CAC award!

Don

[LouCoatney]

EXPENSIVE, Neptuns, too!
The god Neptune must be pleased. He certainly was propitiated.

I've collected and kept a few: Italian Giulio Cesare, da Bolzano, di Savoia, Montecuccoli, Soldati, British Barham, L/AA destroyer.

I don't know how Neptun does it, Don, although 3-D printing may soon be able to match them.

I forget: Do you do naval (miniatures) wargaming?

Og tusen tusen takk for det, Sir!: "Sincere congratulations on achieving the CAC award!"

To an Academy dropout and then draftee, getting that after winning the tournament?! really meant a lot ... and I was in SHOCK when I did.

I wonder if my little Postcard Guadalcanal could be put up on Vassal too, for international/online gaming.

[PaperLab]

Wouldn't want to hijack this interesting discussion but since you mentioned collecting metal models in 1250 as somebody who produced many masters for Rudi ( Neptun ) his son Egbert ( NN-CAD ), Johann Ottmann ( Spider Navy ) and several other metal and resin 1250 manufacturers I can tell you I started using 3D printing back in 2005. Today almost everybody is using it.
Attached is couple of shots of one of the latest projects for Spider Navy. First 3D digital and than into a real metal model.

Lou if you need some ship fittings or weapons for your 1250 models I have 65 different sets in production under Paper Lab label. Everything 3D printed in house. Off board, if interested, I can provide full list and images.

Good luck with your model.

Darius

[LouCoatney]

Actually, Doug, I *have* considered doing the Atlantas, since I lived in Juneau for 15.5 years. AND the USS Alaska, which looks fairly simple.

Anyway, here is my IJN task force a-building. CanNOT believe how fast Mikuma/Mogami is progressing, even with my clumsy building "skills."

And thank you for the offer, Darius. VERY impressive. Is that Essex ca. Korean War?

[Desertrat77]

Lou, If you make the Alaska i would be the happiest man on the planet. That is one of my favorite ship classes next to the Brooklyn class Cruisers and Tennessee class Battleships.

[LouCoatney]

Well, next after the 1942 IJN task force set comes the 1942 USN/RAN set, Dr77. (Perth(-Sydney-Hobart) was the first cruiser class I did using the CAD skills my older son taught me in ... 1997? And I've done the Norfolk/Dorsetshire Counties in CAD already too.)

But after that, maybe ... probably ... Alaska and a few others. BEAUTIFUL ship, the Alaska. Love the plan for it in Cranwell's United States Navy Waterline Models and How to Build Them. The Sumners should be SUPER easy.

[Desertrat77]

The Sumners like the Fletchers before them, were basically the US Navy going "CTRL+C, CTRL+P" with minor modifications to AA Armament. Si i would imagine they would be