Thankfully the diversion was brief - I’ll tell the sub hunter/killer team to stand down… 
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Tim,
Think those are stuff at 1/200 scale they are even stuffer at 1/350th, but worth the effort. As I am sure you know just take your time with each step, your results are looking outstanding.
Mark 
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Tim,
Think those are stuff at 1/200 scale they are even stuffer at 1/350th, but worth the effort. As I am sure you know just take your time with each step, your results are looking outstanding.
Mark
Thanks, Mark, and you are right - Veteran’s 1/350 kits are the exact same design as their larger 1/200 guns I’m working on now. The 1/200 is small enough; 1/350 would be even more challenging!
Anyway, slow and steady…
After adding the etched brass gear sprockets, the finished gun assemblies were attached to the support carriages. I’m doing all four mounts at the same time to ease production and to help ensure consistency. In the background are the first completed triple and one of the kit parts for reference.
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After combining the guns and carriages, I am removing the mounts individually to attach each to a small box for fitting of the elevation gear and azimuth training assemblies.
Placing the mount on the tape holds it in place during construction and enables me to move the piece around without touching it directly as I add the separate detail parts. The tape also provides a convenient way to gently secure the easily lost smaller parts as I get ready to attach them.
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Betcha you don’t work on these after your third cup of coffee…
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Lovely work as always Tim and making much more progress than I of late 
: for my own part I’ve been a Master of Disaster, with a major painting mishap yesterday, delaying an update yet again 🤦 
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Russell
Lovely work as always Tim and making much more progress than I of late
: for my own part I’ve been a Master of Disaster, with a major painting mishap yesterday, delaying an update yet again
Thanks Russ - especially in view of my own admittedly glacial building pace! As I’m sure you have noticed, I fear painting as the step where I experience most of my own disasters and put it off as long as possible. 
I’m sorry to hear I’m not the only one - but you will recover with your usual aplomb, I am sure!
As for the 25mms… the elevation gear and azimuth training components secured, I have moved the mounts back onto the larger common tape for fitting of the final bits.
Here the gunner’s etched seats are bent into shape and ready to go.
And with the addition of those seats and the gun shields, the four 25mm triples are done!
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The guns look good test fitted aboard Hatsuzuki, although the space between them on the platform is sadly empty of the ready use ammunition boxes that should be there.
The Nichimo kit actually came with the boxes molded onto the platform, but they were so uninspiring that I cut them away with a view to scratchbuilding better replacements. I may end up doing just that, although Melvin Tung (who runs Veteran Models) has promised that these are on his priority list for future releases… so I guess I’ll just have to be patient!
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Hard to beat the current resin 3D printing technology today but these look to be well within your considerable scratch build skills Tim .
If there are multiple units to be made have you considered making a master of each type and then casting ? ( I just love making more work for you )
All looking good !
Cheers - Richard
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Thanks Richard, and I am up for a little scratchbuilding of the ammo boxes - if it comes to that. I’d still rather wait for Veteran, since I’d have to make the prototype boxes, cast RTV rubber molds of them and then cast multiple polyester resin copies… bleh. I’ve done that before on other projects, and it is a lot of uninteresting (at least for me) work. Plus, if Melvin (Veteran Models) produces them, they will be guaranteed to be first rate!
Anyway, I have plenty of other tasks with which to busy myself in the meantime…
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Ahh, glad to hear Jan and I aren’t the only ones chasing down glaciers! 
Whilst I love the painting side of things, it’s always fraught with an element of risk 
Meanwhile your systemic approach to the AA suite, and super neat work is going to result in a superb result! 
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…Meanwhile your systemic approach to the AA suite, and super neat work is going to result in a superb result!
Thanks Russ. “Systemic” sounds so much nicer than PLODDING, which is how cranking out all this repetitive AA sometimes feels…
Anyway, next up - the 25mm singles!
Like their larger 25mm triple brethren, the IJN Type 96 25mm single mounts from Veteran Models are superbly designed multimedia kits. These little beauties come six per box, which is a good thing 'cause this specialist anti-aircraft destroyer is gonna need a bunch of them!
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Even before looking at the model parts, a standout aspect of Veteran Models has always been their well-prepared instruction sheets. Many aftermarket producers seem to regard the instructions as an afterthought, but Veteran gives them the same level of care as the actual model parts. This one is no exception with detailed color renderings clearly showing all the parts and exactly where everything should go. Kudos to Peter Chen, Veteran’s graphic designer!
As for the parts themselves… beginning with the gun bodies and mounts, the resin components are tiny but nearly perfectly produced. Almost no cleanup is required, and as usual, the level of detail is incredible!
The petite ring and bead gunsights for the guns are provided as etched brass to parts to be bent and twisted into shape. This process should be straightforward, but I appreciate that Veteran has provided spare sights just in case.
A more comprehensive photoetched brass sheet includes the optional gun shields, two types of bases, and other fittings. Again, extra parts are provided (two spares each for the shields, recoil guards, and shoulder braces/handles) – which is nice, since all of these parts will also require a certain amount of bending/twisting before attachment.
Finally, there are the 25mm gun barrels. These extraordinarily sharp three-dimensional brass parts feature open muzzles, delicate flash suppressors, and amazingly fine ribbed heat-dissipating rings.
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The first assembly step is to add the brass barrel to the resin gun. This is crucial to get just right, as a barrel mounted out of kilter with the gun would be quite noticeable. Fortunately, the fit is perfect.
Veteran would have you attach the gun to the mount at this point, but fitting the subsequent recoil guard, shoulder braces/handles and ring and bead sight would be difficult to accomplish with the gun perched on the fragile mount. Instead, I lightly attached the gun assembly sideways to a piece of tape on a small box to stabilize it and then added these details.
Finally, the finished gun assembly is attached to the resin mount. The fit is so good here that it just snaps into place, which is great as this will allow the gun’s elevation to be adjusted later after attachment to the ship.
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Having completed the first gun, I set about assembling the other five in the set.
As before, I revised the recommended assembly sequence to begin with attaching the brass gun tubes and etched recoil guards to the gun bodies.
Temporarily attached to a box with tape, the guns were outfitted with their sights and handles/shoulder braces. This is the most challenging part of these little builds since each of the etched brass parts must be precisely bent and twisted in multiple directions before mounting. Also, in place they must be accurately oriented both with the gun and with each other. Building the guns production style like this helps ensure consistency. It is also useful in limiting damage from handling.
The assembled guns were then set on their mounts.
Veteran Models thoughtfully provided two types of bases for the guns: a circular pad with non-slip ridges for steel decks, and a square detachable type used to go on planked areas of aircraft carriers and battleships. I won’t be using either of them for this build, but they do look nice!
Anyway, Hatsuzuki carried a total of twenty single 25mm mounts when she was sunk. Fourteen more to go…
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Hi Tim,
JUST WOW!..those guns are absolutely fantastic!..they and all the
other scratch detail you have done so far, are really taking that kit to the
next level of modeling!
Cheers,
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Sterling work, Tim
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Joe and Russ, thanks!
As with the 25mm triples, Veteran Models’ 25mm singles may be a bit more work, but they are sure an improvement over the old Nichimo kit parts!
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Indeed they are !
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