HIJMS Nagato 1931

[JohnMGD]

Originally Posted by Papercut

I have seen your work at the other site and as always you build museum quality ships. I have a copy of this vessel and did pay a premium for it. I also ordered a set of turned barrels from JBModels.eu. I tried to order the laser cut frame work from GPM, but so far every time I have tried to order, it will stop and then I am not allowed to go any further. But would still like to get hold of the frame set for the Nagato. I will I am sure, refer to you photos for help. I so wished you had of posted a build thread for this vessel, maybe the next build you will post so we can follow your skilled hands in the assembly of another master piece.:DRick

Rick,

I have no problems ordering from GPM, did you register at the site ??
GPM - modele kartonowe
This is the link for the lasercut frames of NAGATO, wich I did not use for my NAGATO ofcourse. The hull of the 1931 NAGATO is different from the Fly Model.

Will try to make a build report from my future models.

John.

[dto]

Originally Posted by D-H

Cannot see that operation passing muster today!

Did the axis forces repaint their ships more often than the allies or change colours more frequently?
David

Due to extreme heat, funnel paint frequently blistered and needed to be reapplied. Many early steamships with tall smokestacks had similar railings. Also, when ships were idle in port for extended periods it was not uncommon to stretch canvas covers over the stack caps so rain won't enter. Funnel railings were quite handy for these tasks.

Later funnels were encased, meaning that the exhaust gases escaped in a thinner insulated flue surrounded by the funnel casing. Those stacks didn't need to be repainted as frequently, though they were more often seen on civilian ships where aesthetics play a greater role in ship design. Consider the huge stacks on the liner S.S. Normandie -- while they implied massive power, they were just thin sheet metal cylinders hiding much smaller, less visually impressive flues -- and the third stack was a nonfunctional dummy just to balance the overall appearance! Since they had to be lightweight to keep the ship from capsizing, such funnels often had extensive bracing wires (like on the R.M.S. Queen Mary -- the Normandie had interior-braced funnels for a cleaner look).

Most warship designers didn't bother with such decorative matters -- added topside weight was wasteful, and an oversized funnel presented a larger profile for enemy radar and rangefinders, while impeding firing arcs for the ship's own AA guns. So warship funnels were often uncased, especially on smaller vessels. Thus the continued need for funnel railings well into the WWII era.

[Jimr]

John-
Very clean, elegant builds. Very good indeed! Thanks for posting.
Jimr

[JohnMGD]

A little update on my NAGATO 1931 model. After so many years sitting in her display case , it was time, finally, for an upgrade on her trunked, front, funnel. I found this funnel a bit looking like "crap", but never found the time to correct this.
I started yesterday looking for good photographs and drawings showing the funnel. At the same time I also saw the other funnels she wear, during her life. So I came to the idea, also to make the other funnels, because the bridge etc. looked almost the same in the years, she had the trunked funnel, and make it this way that I can "flip" funnels in an easy way.
Next time I will show some photographs of my proceeding work on the funnels.

[JohnMGD]

Here some promised pictures of the "new" trunked funnel. On the first picture you can see the "old" trunked funnel, which does not really has the right form.
Oh.....yes, the scale of NAGATO is 1:250.

[JohnMGD]

Almost forgot, this is how the "old" trunked funnel on my model looked like before removing it !! Together with drawing on how it should look like !

[Wad Cutter]

Incredible build. So much eye candy to look over. It looks like a really hard build. I hope it will be incased in a clear plastic box to keep it clean of dust. Super good model. Thank you for showing all of us what is possible. WoW! wc

[JohnMGD]

Thanks Wad,
by the way the difference in color you see is caused by using a flash light on my camera. When the build is ready I will take photographs without using flash light. You can watch this already on the picture of the "old" trunked funnel, which was taken without flash.

[skidoosnopro]

WOW IS all I can say about this !

[JohnMGD]

Here some pictures of the progression of building my new funnels for NAGATO.
The first pictures shows the template and the funnel made from frames, which did not work out well, because I could not get the roundings ok. On the left is the funnel made of balsa wood, four layers of 4mm.
The second pictures shows the sanded balsa wood funnel and the template.
On the third picture I fitted the funnel temporarily on the ship, as is seen in picture four with the straight funnel as was placed on the ship in 1925.