IJN Hatsuzuki 1/200

The detail you have added takes this Build to another Level. Simply stunning work…Cheers mark

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The detail you have added takes this Build to another Level. Simply stunning work…Cheers mark

Thanks Mark!


The moulded ones are seriously… Yuk… Looks like the resin ones will save the day :+1:

Yes, John, I’m anxious to get my hands on those Veteran parts!

For now I’ve been doing some minor improvements on the hull. The kit prop guards, for example, are not that great.

I’ll eventually build up replacements with wire, but for now I’ve filled in the overlarge holes with cyanoacrylate and drilled small pilot holes for the wire guards to come later.

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Loving the TTs Tim,

There is so much in there, they will really lift the model.

And there’s me being a lazy badger using a load of 3D orinted parts.

Cheers, Si :beers:

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Loving the TTs Tim,

There is so much in there, they will really lift the model.

And there’s me being a lazy badger using a load of 3D orinted parts.

Cheers, Si :beers:

Thanks Si. Honestly, I’d happily use 3D a printed torpedo launcher and guns if they were available in 1/200!

The one-piece foredeck as provided by Nichimo isn’t bad, but there is definitely room for improvement.

Early in the build I shaved away the molded anchor chains to make way for real chain. I also replaced the blobby kit fairleads (test fit here to the right of the resin piece) with better parts from Corsair Armada. Despite the scale difference, many 1/350 scale aftermarket parts can be pretty easily adapted for 1/200.

The initial plan for the mooring bitts had been to use the kit-molded representations, but since then I have discovered these awesome Kamakura Model Workshop brass parts.

Intended for a 1/350 scale Yamato, the Kamakura brass parts also turn out to be a perfect fit for my 1/200 Hatsuzuki, so the bitts will be upgraded as well.

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Having replaced the bitts forward, I moved aft.

Oddly, although they look good, the mooring bitts provided by Nichimo aft are smaller than those forward. Here you can see the molded aft bitts alongside one of the taller ones removed from up front. Fortunately, the Kamakura set includes two sizes.

I have no idea why the aft bitts might have been smaller than those forward, but the 1/200 Miyuki-Kai plans for Fuyutzuki as well as both the 1/200 Akizuki and Suzutsuki plans by Kagero all agree with Nichimo on this point, so…

I just went with this and removed the kit-molded aft bitts and replaced them with the shorter “Type C” parts from the Kamakura 1/350 set.

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Lovely updates tim, she is looking better and better each time :+1:

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Great work Tim,
and every time you find more details to improve her. Just amazing!

Room for speculation here…as I have no idea how the Japanese praxis in ship handling is/was, I’m not saying that’s the reason, it can be anything including just a structural oddity. But one way getting a small ship underway without help of a tugboat is helm over full as to steer right into the pier, dead slow ahead (preferred only outer engine), away aft lines and keep forward lines tight. That will angel your stern away from the pier. Reverse engine and away forward lines, pull back until you have enough water between ship and pier to allow swing her around without hitting the pier with the stern. Slightly bigger forward bitts might come handy for that, however, there will never be any strain on the lines that would require larger bitts…

Cheers
Jan

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Wow, Jan, I think you may have nailed it! My own untutored speculations wouldn’t have been of much value, but I respect the assessment of a real sailor. Thanks!

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Thanks Tim, still it’s just guessing. Anybody who knows will supersede me.
The maneuver as I described it was pretty standard with our older frigates, with bow thruster it’s completely out of fashion. But with most evolutions going on, forward / foc’sle is more busy than aft…

Cheers
Jan

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Hi Tim,

Those turned brass bits are a real improvement, very simple, but very effective.

Coming on really well.

Cheers, Si

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Hi Tim,

Those turned brass bits are a real improvement, very simple, but very effective.

Coming on really well.

Cheers, Si

Thanks Si. There were very few upgrade parts for 1/200 ships when I began this build years ago, but more are becoming available all the time.

Model Monkey, for example, produces some beautiful 3D printed chocks, in this case 3mm.

Hatsuzuki had a small number of these, but the kit depictions are vague.

Better!

I also added a pair of these to the bow.

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I find it amazing that you put more detail, by parts count if nothing else, into the turrets on this build than most of my armor kits have. Even though I am not a ship modeler, I find your builds both entertaining, and educational.

One thing that I find amusing about the ship models is shown in the image above of the bow… all those small breakwaters on the deck. Yes, I know why they are there, and what they represent, I just find them funny all the same.

Anyway, carry on… am definitely enjoying this one.
Bob

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Ditto.

Tim,
Continuing to watch in awe at the detail you’re adding to this build. Little bits at a time (pun intended). You’re setting the bar mighty high for the rest of us. Keep it up!
John

Little details like these chocks really do make a difference.

very nice work Tim.

Cheers, Si

Bob, Mark, John, and Si - thanks!

The curved breakwater in front of the forward gunhouse comes nicely molded to the kit deck, but it lacks the angled buttresses evident on both the Kagero Publications and Miyuki-Kai plans.

I made the buttresses from .010 X .030 inch Evergreen plastic strip. First, the ends were cut at 30 degrees to reflect the angle of the breakwater from the deck.

Each of these pieces was then cut to the appropriate length…

…and then given a second angled cut to create the buttress.

I also added hinges and dogs to the hatch.

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Truly one of the most incredible build threads. Your skill is astonishing!

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It’s amazing what a little plastic strips can do to enhance an assembly. Mark

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Truly one of the most incredible build threads. Your skill is astonishing!

It’s amazing what a little plastic strips can do to enhance an assembly. Mark

H.G. and Mark, thanks. And Mark, I agree, the humble Evergreen plastic, strip, and rod products are among the most-used resources in my modeling toolkit!

In addition to the hatch, the Akizuki-class ships also had a louvered ventilator just behind the breakwater.

The hatch is molded to the deck and decently done, but the vent is another story. Poorly molded and oversized, it looks more like a Hawaiian Tiki than a louvered ventilator!

I tried working with it but wasn’t able to improve it much, so I cast about for a replacement. The closest thing I could find was one of the larger deck-mounted vents from a 1/350 Fuso that has been languishing in my stash. The circumference and style of the top were right, but it still needed louvers and a taller base.

Using my Waldron Model Products punch & die set and .010 inch plastic sheet, I made three .120 inch discs with .089 inch holes cut out of them, and three wider rough-cut discs with the same .089 inch punched holes.

Stacked alternately and cemented in place, these wide/narrow discs replicate the louvers on the lower part of the vent.

The larger rough discs were then sanded down and smoothed to the circumference of the molded ventilator piece. I also added a plastic rod base.

Test fitted in place, the vent tends to disappear a bit into the surrounding detail, but I just couldn’t live with that ugly kit part!

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