Mogami Aircraft Carrying Cruiser

[Green KreationZ]

I have decided to give a few ships a go with the first being the Imperial Japanese Navy Aircraft Carrying Cruiser Mogami in 1/350 by Tamiya. This ship started off World War II as a light cruiser, then was converted to a heavy cruiser, and finally was converted into an aircraft carrier/cruiser. 




A few initial critiques of the kit is - No PE railing or degaussing cable were provided. Both are depicted in the artwork. It was a disappointing to discover Tamiya decided to withhold those two items as I was trying to build primarily straight from the box. I was just going to buy the Eduard IJN railing set and a Tamiya degaussing cable set, but by the time you add shipping.. It came out to the same cost as buying the FlyHawk super detail set.










I can honestly say, I have already had at least 2 mini mental break downs working with this PE. The Flyhawk PE set I purchased has some of the worst directions I have seen. The included directions only instruct you through images on how 40% of the parts are to be folded and placed. The other 60% of the parts are not even mentioned in the instruction manual at all. Luckily I was able to stumble across another modelers build log I found on ScaleMates.com. The build log isn’t nearly as intuitive as I would like, but still leagues better than what is included from FlyHawk.

[stikpusher]

Great subject choice! This should be a nice project to follow with your apparent skill level.

The Mogami Class cruisers were quite impressive ships. They were longer than any of the WWI era USN battleship classes present at Pearl Harbor, and able to be up gunned/converted from triple mount 6" gunned Light Cruisers to twin mount 8" gunned Heavy Cruisers from their original configuration.

[Tojo72]

Love it,was a beautiful cruiser but they ruined it,but still makes an interesting build looking forward to this

[Green KreationZ]

Nov 22, 2023 16:48:55 GMT -5 Tojo72 said:

Love it,was a beautiful cruiser but they ruined it,but still makes an interesting build looking forward to this

The Tamiya 1/350 IJN submarine would perhaps have been an easier first naval vessel, but wasn’t as appealing to me.

I thought the Mogami would be a better entry point for my first navel vessel. Primarily because I have the Tamiya 1/350 Yamato with Flyhawk PE in my stash and also want to eventually build the Hasegawa 1/350 Akagi. This version of the Mogami is like a small fusion between the two lol. 

[tcoat]

Nov 22, 2023 18:03:35 GMT -5 Green KreationZ said:

Nov 22, 2023 16:48:55 GMT -5 Tojo72 said:

Love it,was a beautiful cruiser but they ruined it,but still makes an interesting build looking forward to this

The Tamiya 1/350 IJN submarine would perhaps have been an easier first naval vessel, but wasn’t as appealing to me.

I thought the Mogami would be a better entry point for my first navel vessel. Primarily because I have the Tamiya 1/350 Yamato with Flyhawk PE in my stash and also want to eventually build the Hasegawa 1/350 Akagi. This version of the Mogami is like a small fusion between the two lol. 

The I-300 kit is very nice but no where near as spectacular as the Mogami will be. 


My I-300 build

I will be watching this one closely since I managed to snag the 1/350 Tone kit at a flea market for $40. Not the same but close enough that any pitfalls could be present in each.

[406 Silverado]

Yeesh!!! That PE set looks daunting!! You sir.....are a better man that I am. I have no doubt about your skillset in which to pull off a good build out of this but I do NOT envy your PE endeavors. WOW!!!

I've got this one bookmarked.

[Tojo72]

Nov 22, 2023 19:21:45 GMT -5 tcoat said:

Nov 22, 2023 18:03:35 GMT -5 Green KreationZ said:

The Tamiya 1/350 IJN submarine would perhaps have been an easier first naval vessel, but wasn’t as appealing to me.

I thought the Mogami would be a better entry point for my first navel vessel. Primarily because I have the Tamiya 1/350 Yamato with Flyhawk PE in my stash and also want to eventually build the Hasegawa 1/350 Akagi. This version of the Mogami is like a small fusion between the two lol. 

The I-300 kit is very nice but no where near as spectacular as the Mogami will be. 


My I-300 build

I will be watching this one closely since I managed to snag the 1/350 Tone kit at a flea market for $40. Not the same but close enough that any pitfalls could be present in each.

I love the Jap. Heavies,so sleek I built the Aoshima Takao sometime ago,that Tone should be nice,might have to grab a Mogami over the Black Friday weekend.

[kyledehart5]

Nearly everything in the Japanese military lineup was just so cool. No exception here. I am dropping in to watch. That PE already has me pulling my hair out. I'd really like to try out a ship sometime or two. I know I want to build the U.S.S. Chauncey as I have a cousin that was on her in the Korean War complete with a round the world voyage. But I'd also like to build some Japanese subjects.

[handiabled]

Following! That looks like an ambitious amount of pe!

[Joe Rix]

Awesome choice of subject to build TS. You are off to a terrific start especially tackling the PE parts. Like others here I love IJN ships. They are simply sharp looking. I got this kit for a decent price when I was at the Las Vegas Nats. There was a time when I was all amped to build ship kits but, once I started to build one I found it required a new level of patience. I hope to find the motivation again some day. I will definitely be following along on this one as you may just provide me with some inspiration.

[Tojo72]

Well Terrorzscale,it's all your fault,I just had to grab one on Amazon,it was listed for $109 and when I signed up for their Amazon crefit card,they gave me an instant $100 gift card,so it ended up costing me $16 total,hard to beat.So yes,I will be closely following

[Green KreationZ]

Nov 24, 2023 8:48:10 GMT -5 Tojo72 said:

Well Terrorzscale,it's all your fault,I just had to grab one on Amazon,it was listed for $109 and when I signed up for their Amazon crefit card,they gave me an instant $100 gift card,so it ended up costing me $16 total,hard to beat.So yes,I will be closely following

Haha glad to hear! Hopefully I’m able to stumble across issues and solve them before you get to yours. 

I picked up the Hasegawa 1/350 Akagi yesterday.  It was down to $220 from nearly 400 on SprueBrothers… idk when I’ll have to build it, but it will def be the highlight of my closet stash. 

[406 Silverado]

Nov 24, 2023 10:19:25 GMT -5 Green KreationZ said:

Nov 24, 2023 8:48:10 GMT -5 Tojo72 said:

Well Terrorzscale,it's all your fault,I just had to grab one on Amazon,it was listed for $109 and when I signed up for their Amazon crefit card,they gave me an instant $100 gift card,so it ended up costing me $16 total,hard to beat.So yes,I will be closely following

Haha glad to hear! Hopefully I’m able to stumble across issues and solve them before you get to yours. 

I picked up the Hasegawa 1/350 Akagi yesterday.  It was down to $220 from nearly 400 on SprueBrothers… idk when I’ll have to build it, but it will def be the highlight of my closet stash. 

That Akagi is a dang MONSTER of a kit. Steve ( modelcrazy) built that one up a few years ago and these turn out beautifully. His can be seen here: Akagi's Last Hurrah

[406 Silverado]

Nov 24, 2023 8:48:10 GMT -5 Tojo72 said:

Well Terrorzscale,it's all your fault,I just had to grab one on Amazon,it was listed for $109 and when I signed up for their Amazon crefit card,they gave me an instant $100 gift card,so it ended up costing me $16 total,hard to beat.So yes,I will be closely following

 I wish I had a dollar for every time someone built something or was in the middle of building something and I went out and bought it. lol Good on you for getting one of those and I'll be watching for the thread Tony.

[Tojo72]

Nov 24, 2023 10:25:04 GMT -5 406 Silverado said:

Nov 24, 2023 10:19:25 GMT -5 Green KreationZ said:

Haha glad to hear! Hopefully I’m able to stumble across issues and solve them before you get to yours. 

I picked up the Hasegawa 1/350 Akagi yesterday.  It was down to $220 from nearly 400 on SprueBrothers… idk when I’ll have to build it, but it will def be the highlight of my closet stash. 

That Akagi is a dang MONSTER of a kit. Steve ( modelcrazy) built that one up a few years ago and these turn out beautifully. His can be seen here: Akagi's Last Hurrah

That's a great price for Akagi,that's what I paid when it was released,I did it 4 years ago,but Steve's gem made me not even want to post mine,but it came out good,you'll enjoy it,well engineered I built it OOB

[406 Silverado]

Nov 24, 2023 10:38:05 GMT -5 Tojo72 said:

Nov 24, 2023 10:25:04 GMT -5 406 Silverado said:

That Akagi is a dang MONSTER of a kit. Steve ( modelcrazy) built that one up a few years ago and these turn out beautifully. His can be seen here: Akagi's Last Hurrah

That's a great price for Akagi,that's what I paid when it was released,I did it 4 years ago,but Steve's gem made me not even want to post mine,but it came out good,you'll enjoy it,well engineered I built it OOB

We’ll you’ve done let the cat out of the bag now Tony! Post that Akashi of yours up dude!!

[Green KreationZ]

Nov 24, 2023 10:25:04 GMT -5 406 Silverado said:

Nov 24, 2023 10:19:25 GMT -5 Green KreationZ said:

Haha glad to hear! Hopefully I’m able to stumble across issues and solve them before you get to yours. 

I picked up the Hasegawa 1/350 Akagi yesterday.  It was down to $220 from nearly 400 on SprueBrothers… idk when I’ll have to build it, but it will def be the highlight of my closet stash. 

That Akagi is a dang MONSTER of a kit. Steve ( modelcrazy ) built that one up a few years ago and these turn out beautifully. His can be seen here: Akagi's Last Hurrah

Wow that’s an inspiring build! Hopefully mine is half as good! 

[Green KreationZ]

Nov 24, 2023 10:38:05 GMT -5 Tojo72 said:

Nov 24, 2023 10:25:04 GMT -5 406 Silverado said:

That Akagi is a dang MONSTER of a kit. Steve ( modelcrazy ) built that one up a few years ago and these turn out beautifully. His can be seen here: Akagi's Last Hurrah

That's a great price for Akagi,that's what I paid when it was released,I did it 4 years ago,but Steve's gem made me not even want to post mine,but it came out good,you'll enjoy it,well engineered I built it OOB

Glad to hear it’s great out of the box! I’m in some kinda serious PE kick right now and prob need to stop before I start to lose my mind. 

[Green KreationZ]

I was able to get a few more PE pieces on the flight deck last night. The rails that hold the planes were quite challenging as they are roughly 10” long and still had to be folded onto themselves.

[Green KreationZ]

The long PE rails for the planes are done and my brain can finally relax! I typically don’t mind working with PE… But these long bits that bend and deform if you breath the wrong way were something else. This particular section ended up taking me roughly 2 hours because of how fragile those long pieces were. I’m going to rest easy tonight knowing this step is now complete.

[Joe Rix]

Boy, I can see how those would be a bugger to bend. Your patience and effort certainly paid off. Very nicely done.

[406 Silverado]

Dude!!! That's frickin' CRAZY!!! That gives a whole new meaning to working with PE and I usually don't mind working with it that much but I think this would give pretty much anybody a good run for their money. Exceptional diligence and a great outcome Keith.

[chromdome35]

Nov 28, 2023 23:52:21 GMT -5 Green KreationZ said:

The long PE rails for the planes are done and my brain can finally relax! I typically don’t mind working with PE… But these long bits that bend and deform if you breath the wrong way were something else. This particular section ended up taking me roughly 2 hours because of how fragile those long pieces were. I’m going to rest easy tonight knowing this step is now complete.

WoW, I admire anyone who can work with that small PE. Working with PE below 1/35 intimidates the heck out of me.

This looks like it will be a great build that will take a lot of bench hours to complete. Do you tend to focus on one model at a time, or do you have several different builds underway simultaneously?

How do you like that proxxon, looks like you have the rotary tool hooked up, do you have any of the other tools that work in that system?

[Green KreationZ]

Nov 29, 2023 6:52:07 GMT -5 chromdome35 said:

Nov 28, 2023 23:52:21 GMT -5 Green KreationZ said:

The long PE rails for the planes are done and my brain can finally relax! I typically don’t mind working with PE… But these long bits that bend and deform if you breath the wrong way were something else. This particular section ended up taking me roughly 2 hours because of how fragile those long pieces were. I’m going to rest easy tonight knowing this step is now complete.

WoW, I admire anyone who can work with that small PE. Working with PE below 1/35 intimidates the heck out of me.

This looks like it will be a great build that will take a lot of bench hours to complete. Do you tend to focus on one model at a time, or do you have several different builds underway simultaneously?

How do you like that proxxon, looks like you have the rotary tool hooked up, do you have any of the other tools that work in that system?

Thank Brian. Typically I try to focus on one main project at a time. The Mogami is my “side project” and it is my first time attempting to do 2 builds at the same time. I’m pretty much alternating days between the Mogami and a D3A1 Val and it seems to be going smooth enough.

As for the proxxon, I primarily use it to clear away material or drill holes. I have a large dremel attachments kit that includes various cutting, sanding, and polishing heads. I primarily like how the Proxxons speed is so variable. When I purchased it, I had a dream of one day needing to polish a model. So far I’ve not done that, but I have polished a few brass knife scales in which it excelled lol. 

[tcoat]

[Green KreationZ]

Nov 29, 2023 5:08:52 GMT -5 406 Silverado said:

Dude!!! That's frickin' CRAZY!!! That gives a whole new meaning to working with PE and I usually don't mind working with it that much but I think this would give pretty much anybody a good run for their money. Exceptional diligence and a great outcome Keith.

Thanks Joe! It is both frustrating and satisfying. 

[406 Silverado]

Nov 29, 2023 8:03:33 GMT -5 Green KreationZ said:

Nov 29, 2023 5:08:52 GMT -5 406 Silverado said:

Dude!!! That's frickin' CRAZY!!! That gives a whole new meaning to working with PE and I usually don't mind working with it that much but I think this would give pretty much anybody a good run for their money. Exceptional diligence and a great outcome Keith.

Thanks Joe! It is both frustrating and satisfying. 

I hear ya Keith. Oh the "necessary evils" we make for ourselves for a great outcome in modeling.

[deafpanzer]

WOW! Thanks for reminding why I love being here at MSC so I can follow amazing builds like yours! I love following ship builds because of those extra details and I always liked ships too.

[handiabled]

Superb job on those rails! Getting long pe pieces to bend in half without them curving is a big challenge for me

[Green KreationZ]

Nov 29, 2023 9:54:50 GMT -5 handiabled said:

Superb job on those rails! Getting long pe pieces to bend in half without them curving is a big challenge for me

Oh they did curve lol. Removing the curves is what took majority of my time.