Japanese Heavy Cruiser Nachi [1:600 rescale] [Hanliski '92]

**Lex** · #1 10-01-2009, 07:35 AM

So I'm here to document erm, my build on this WWII subject over the past year. [For those questioning what happened to my Ise design, well erm... I did have a teeeeeeeny tine technical problem.:o My laptop broke down at the most convenient time possible and is now being hospitalized in China, so there was little I could do about that.:D So unable to design, I turned back to building something]

The Nachi was a Myoko-class heavy cruiser (allegedly "light cruisers" before rebuilding), built in 1928. The set of slim and powerful new cruisers served Japan well during WWII, as they are a powerhouse in surface confrontments. However they were much less adept at warding off air assaults and which spelled the downfall for Nachi herself. In October 1944 the Nachi was assigned as the flagship of the main taskforce, which included the Yamato and Musashi, during the battle of Leyte Gulf whose purpose was to stop US landing on Japanese strongholds. On arrival into the Surigao Strait to assist in battleships Fuso and Yamashiro's fight against 6 US battleships, the force met a battered and retreating cruiser Mogami, who informed the main force that both battleships were lost and the chances of a victory was essentially nil. The decision was made for the fleet to turn back and retreat, but in doing so the Nachi rammed into the crippled, but still moving Mogami. With Nachi's bow dipping below water, she was sent to Manila for emergency repairs. But her luck was about to run out as she completed repairs and moved out to the open sea, where she was soon bombed by US aircraft and sank on the spot, leaving 220 survivors.

On the model, the kit dates back to 1992, year zero of Halinski so the quality of design was not as good as "modern" Halinski kits, but at least, the fit was perfect which justifies Halinski's reputation. The scale is originally 1:200 but i figured the details were too few that I could afford to scale her down... to 1:600! I have a few Tamiya 1:700 kits lying around, and I hope to gain experience building small scale from this one.

The historical accuracy was essentially nil, and I didn't even bother to modify the larger structures as they were simply too off from the real thing. I did spend the time to paint the model because I felt the original colours were unsightly (I didn't do a great job achieving an accurate colour either... well there is still room for alternate history! :P)

**Lex** · #2 10-01-2009, 07:42 AM

The time was October 2008, and i started the first cuts to the hull. The hull was notorious for creating horrifying fit issues on any kit, but even though designed in 1992, this kit lived up to expectations with the excellent fit seen here. Formers was reinforced by cereal boxes, all too fit for this scale. Hull skin was doubled on regular paper. Only thing i didn't like was how the kit dealed with that "ridge" (?) on the stern... It was a flat piece of paper!

**GreMir** · #3 10-01-2009, 07:43 AM

Ok, you just saved yourself from an angry scream for photos :D

**Lex** · #4 10-01-2009, 07:46 AM

The waterline plating were not attached until later as I have the railings to attach onto the deck. But first, the forward superstructure was not a big hassle. Only modifications made were to remodel the printed details so they remain after painting.

Rear superstructure and aircraft deck also presented little problems

**Lex** · #5 10-01-2009, 07:53 AM

Plenty of fillers and first coat of paint... Hull looks acceptable, although still paint revealed lots of sanding to do

Revell kindly provided the base for making my first strip of railings, horizontal rails approx 1.5mm apart, made out of copper wire extracted out of regular electrical wires.

Painted the deck ('cuse me, wrong color, and the deck pattern was all wrong!... IJN cruisers used horizontal anti-skid rails spaced at long intervals, not the sort of wooden deck seen on IJN battleships.) Never mind that, i built it according to the model, not reality. ("I reject your reality and substitute with my own!" --Adam Savage, Mythbusters)

Railings, yay!

**Lex** · #6 10-01-2009, 07:57 AM

These bugs... In 1:600 you can imagine how difficult it was to cut all those holes in the mast and catapult... Fortunately after reinforcing with superglue then can stand a hamster sitting on it :D

Waterline hull plated. You can see two pieces were missing which i suspect my mum threw away with the waste...... Fortunately I was able to make a mirror copy from the other side

The tip of the bow have to be made from scratch, it's where the IJN crest will be attached, so I couldn't do without it

**Lex** · #7 10-01-2009, 07:59 AM

Extensive sanding going on here...

And making a start on the deck details,

Further work on the rear superstructure

**Lex** · #8 10-01-2009, 08:02 AM

Took me an entire night making this 1:600 F1M seaplane

Thankfully I didn't choose to build a aircraft carrier :D

Test-fit rear assembly

The kit provided only TWO propellers!! I'm sure there was FOUR... (anyone tell me different?) So I made another copy of the sheet...

**Lex** · #9 10-01-2009, 08:09 AM

Torpedo launchers, they are way shorter than in reality, when I found out that my Tamiya 1:700 Mogami kit's torpedo tubes were almost twice as long... BTW torpedoes had to be made from scratch

Onto the turrets. There were no barrels provided so I was forced to make my own... I like it when kit provides everything, but when they do not, it's life... :p

PVA glue was a lifesaver, I used it to form the blast shields on the turrets by applying multiple times, and also since it is transparent when dried, I conveniently used it to make realistic searchlights

**Lex** · #10 10-01-2009, 08:10 AM

Torpedoes painted and armed

OMG a fake Nelson! :D

Still a test-fit