1/350 Fujimi Haruna

[madhatter]

hey all

OK, so this will be my next full build and I have a choice to make in so far as colour scheme. There is no way in heck I am going to be painting this IJN grey - yeah it's historically correct but, man, I'm almost falling asleep at the thought of overall grey.

So, it'll be in a scheme derived from World of Warships Legends (Xbox console version of the PC game), so be assured it'll be colourful and a herculean masking effort!

These are my choices:

A) 

B)

C)

D)

E)

F)

That last one is the one is my son wants me to do the most, but yeah - even that's probably way above my painting skill level to achieve. The only way I can think of doing it would be with masking liquid.

I dunno - what do you guys think? Which one would you do?

[406 Silverado]

I really like that first picture you posted up Simon but I can see why your son would like you to pull off the last one. Both are most certainly wild schemes. Looking forward to this build bud.

[madhatter]

so that's one vote for A then?

[madhatter]

actually, there is this variant of A which I quite like too:

[floki]

I really like scheme C

[Joe Rix]

I'm partial to variant "E". Though any one of those is going to be boss.

[tcoat]

Jun 9, 2024 7:59:35 GMT -5 madhatter said:

actually, there is this variant of A which I quite like too:

This.  Looks like a low rider scheme. 

[madhatter]

thanks for the votes fellas! Still undecided, but I had better make my mind up soon as the hull is now together and I will probably start painting it very soon.
Speaking of starting, how about a couple of pics?



I'm not sure how old this kit is - I'm pretty sure it's relatively new but it shares parts with the Kongo (unsurprisingly given it's her sister ship) and along with that comes things like this:



It's nothing to deal with - in fact, I've already filled the sink marks, but what can't be fixed and what is really bothering me is this:





These hadn't even come out of their packets before I noticed the broken and bent PE. For such an expensive kit, this should not have even been the case had Fujimi packaged it better. I have no idea on how these parts - inside a plastic cover etc can end up this badly bent and broken?! Luckily, the main offender is a part that I won't be using but that's kinda not the point. It shouldn't have happened at all. I've heard Fujimi are notoriously bad at customer service and getting replacement parts outside Japan is near on impossible. The other part is just railing and I have plenty spare of those.

Anyway, complaining aside (and I should say this is the only negative aspect of this kit), I also made a start with the main guns. Fujimi give you way to many guns for the ship - like literally twice what is required. I have 8 turrets - not 4. Go figure.





That was a whopping 2 hours of work for all you see above. Don't worry - I won't spam the boards with every single little thing I do, but I just wanted to show that I have actually started this
I'll finish off the turrets today and get kicking with priming the hull.
Thanks for stopping by and please, if you're interested, do put up a vote
Si

[handiabled]

Following along with this! Nice progress so far. My vote would be for F

[406 Silverado]

Jun 9, 2024 7:41:00 GMT -5 madhatter said:

so that's one vote for A then?

Yessiree! 

[madhatter]

Thanks guys I asked a few people at Expo today whom I know from another forum and they all said A. So, I am going to go for A but I'm going to swap out the purple for blue as I really dislike purple/magenta. Don't know why I dislike it so much but I do.
Speaking of Expo, my Bismarck made quite an impression, so if this goes well, I will enter it in next year. Almost every ship there was monotone grey and people seemed to like the colourful camo.

Got the main battery finished already, and they're ready paint.

[kyledehart5]

Cool! Can’t wait to see this one come together. And another super cool scheme too!

[BattleScale Collectica Show]

I'm partial to the blue and grey version for some reason. this looks like it will be really Coll regardless of what color you end up with.

[themongoose]

I was thinking about “A” myself. Overall though I’m with your son and that orange splatter paint on the last one is definitely calling to me!

[madhatter]

Thanks fellas
Mate, I would like to do the "Kong" camo too, but it is just too complicated a scheme for my painting skill level to achieve.
Got some more PE work done last night. I'm making as many PE parts first as possible, as PE and I are not the best of friends at any time. The radar thingy at the top got made last night. The box went together lime a dream but it got messy when attaching it to the brace. In true me style, I managed to get most of the globs off....
The catapult on the other hand came out perfectly and that was really intricate. Weird

[dukemaddog]

My vote is for C and E as the best choices. Your mileage may vary....

[themongoose]

Do you have more pictures of that last one?

[madhatter]

Jun 14, 2024 21:26:39 GMT -5 themongoose said:

Do you have more pictures of that last one?

If you mean the orange splatter one - I have it as a skin for the ship on the game - so I can call up any angle I want

[madhatter]

Main battery is all painted etc ready to go on. Had some fun with oils and various washes. Came out OK I think





AA suite coming together. These are seriously fiddly and I did one with PE and decided that the PE just wasn't worth the hassle and TBH, there is not much that is brought to the table with some of the PE except a headache.



Just got to finish painting the barrels. Catapault, radar and PE structure for up front are done too







I am currently waiting for the first deck colour to dry before I start the wanna-be-wood process.
Nothing else at this stage to show. I am currently under the weather and not really "feeling it" tonight, so will tools down for today and pick it up again later
As always, thanks for looking
Si

[handiabled]

Your washes really brought out the details of the main battery nicely. Great progress so far, I hope you feel better quick!

[project510]

Jun 10, 2024 4:52:42 GMT -5 handiabled said:

Following along with this! Nice progress so far. My vote would be for F

X2

[kyledehart5]

Fantastic progress so far. This is going to look awesome. The details are looking mighty nice.

[madhatter]

Thank you guys. Sadly, I'm down with flu and can't stop coughing. Not long enough to do delicate PE structures anyway. The most I was able to do was some deck masking and not worthy of a picture yet.

[kyledehart5]

Hope you feel better soon!!

[madhatter]

well, the Antibiotics have kicked in and I am feeling much better. I have even stopped coughing enough to attach some PE. Its here that I just want to say, I HATE working with PE. I see these ship modellers on Youtube and they make it look so easy and tidy. I even have my own brass wire applicator to keep the amount of CA used to a minimum and yet somehow, I still manage to make a mess out of it. Either the PE part bends in places it shouldn't or I get it bent perfectly and it all looks great, but then it doesn't stick to the plastic and frustration ensues and I add more CA and it still doesn't stick, so I scrap off the old CA and try again. Un-cure works to an extent but it can make a mess out of the plastic. Same result. ARRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!! I f*&$*g HATE PE!!!! I don't know why I keep doing this to myself?! I think I have this stupid notion that the more I use it the better I'll get with it but somehow, its just not gelling.

Anyways, I have completed the 2 funnels and some other small things. The worst PE parts are those stupid hand rails, or what ever they are, that run along the sides of the funnels. Those things caused me the most frustration and there is one more source of anger that comes with this particular PE set: the lack of instructions with the major braces. They literally do not cover any aspect of where they go or what they replace. Its a real guessing game at times. I think what I'll need to do is find the instructions from the Kongo premium set as they are covered in that but not this. I think someone @ Fujimi needs to stop drinking Saki at lunch time.

Right - enough complaining and whinging, time for some pictures - not that there is much to show really
I painted most of the decks now as I have a feeling that trying to do them once everything is glued on would be too much of a challenge.



The funnels.







And one of the small braced sections. I had initial concerns that the PE would not be strong enough to support the top shelf, but it was sturdier than I gave it credit for.



Have I said how much I despise PE? There was no way I was going to try use the PE part that sits on the very top as it is so flimsy and weak and bends the wrong way just by looking at it. I do not have that much patience for that type of rubbish, so I'm sticking with the plastic part. I am totally fine with that too.
Sorry for the complaining. I can only vent about it here with people who have no doubt also experienced PE issues. If you haven't - you're a robot and we have nothing in common
Hopefully, the next update will be less frustration fueled and I'll have more to show!
As always thanks for stopping in and having a look
Si

[deafpanzer]

Holy smokes! You definitely have my attention too.

[themongoose]

“I HATE working with PE. I see these ship modellers on Youtube and they make it look so easy and tidy. I even have my own brass wire applicator to keep the amount of CA used to a minimum and yet somehow, I still manage to make a mess out of it. Either the PE part bends in places it shouldn't or I get it bent perfectly and it all looks great, but then it doesn't stick to the plastic and frustration ensues and I add more CA and it still doesn't stick, so I scrap off the old CA and try again. Un-cure works to an extent but it can make a mess out of the plastic. Same result. ARRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!! I f*&$*g HATE PE!!!! I don't know why I keep doing this to myself?! I think I have this stupid notion that the more I use it the better I'll get with it but somehow, its just not gelling.”

Yep me too! I got some advice a couple years back now that was super helpful. Buy a new bottle of CA when you start. True that! I never would have guessed but sure enuff the stuff loses it’s instant cure characteristic after a month or so of being opened, sometimes even less. Your description fits mine to a T so this may help you out alot. Be careful, every once in awhile now i forget that and the 1st piece gets glued somewhere i didn’t want it because i let it touch something on the way to the right location 😂

[madhatter]

thanks for reminding me about that aspect. I think mine was a bit too old to be useful. I have since gone out and bought a fresh bottle and whilst the new one is good, I'm finding this one is fogging a lot. Its BSI too which is meant to be non fogging but I think its the BSI Gold and not the purple., Live and learn though right