1/350 Yahagi construction

Katya Hodgson
This is my first ever 1/350 ship, so any advice or tips that people have would be much appreciated. 🙂

Martin von Schreckenstein
wow that is some job you started there! do you have PE parts for it? in this scale they make a huge difference. Also I find wows to be an exceptional reference for rigging. I only built one ship in this scale and I have to say that about 50% of all my modelling skill comes from that build. Took me 7 years though🙂 good luck on your side

Katya Hodgson
I have no PE parts for it. The 1/350 Akizuki I bought alongside this does have a bunch of PE, and that was the main reason I decided to do Yahagi first, she's a bigger ship but the kit itself is simpler.

Martin von Schreckenstein
that makes sense. looking forward to your progress

Treehugger
Tip: After airbrushing on paint the model, try avoid bumping the long'ish model into things. 🙂

Tip: Instead of gluing on the various layers of rooms on top of the hull and then paint it, it might look nicer if you paint individual horizontal sections, such that, you can just place them onto another painted part below, and that way you won't need to mask the "wall parts" from the presumably oddly colored "floor parts". It would then be important to dry fit the plastic parts such that they lie nice and flat onto the parts below, so that there isn't any gap anywhere between the two large parts.

Katya Hodgson
I hope I don't disappoint Martin!

Treehugger, I was actually planning to do that, glue together the parts that need to be the same colour and paint them before attaching them to the main ship. That's why the deck in the picture isn't glued down yet, I was just test fitting, i'm going to paint that separately so that it is easier to mask off the "deck coloured" parts.

Most of the kit is going to be the same grey colour, so hopefully it shouldn't be too bad!

I did actually buy some metal gun barrels, but i'm not sure I can use them as they need you to cut off the plastic barrels and then drill a hole with a 0.6mm drill bit, which I don't think I have for my pin vice.

Tim Heimer
What it's worth. When I started my ship I downloaded a lot of pics of models and the real one. I noticed that small walls and pipes were missing as well as other parts, I made the walls and other parts and used fine wire for the pipes. They also make a pe set of open and closed doors. Let me know if you'd like the info on. Also after painting and some assembly I played with a regular pencil and highlighted around doors, pipes and other things. It's still waiting to be finished so that's all I can offer.

Katya Hodgson
I erm... wasn't planning anything fancy... i'm not actually that good so...

Tim Heimer
Katya, I always have a curious mind and have to tweak things, even when I try not to! I'm not that great either, but like I said my curiosity always gets me! Sometimes in trouble too! LOL! You can still see if you like the pencil highlights. Best wishes

Treehugger
Btw, Tamiya has white colored curved masking tape, which is a little easier to work with to make gentle bends. It is important to not stretch the tape too much, and instead try to just let the tape flow natrually across the plastic as opposed to ending up stretching it.

Derek Huggett
Just another part of the 'eternal learning curve' Katya - gently does it and you will astound yourself at what you can do! 👍 🙂

Katya Hodgson
Thanks everyone! I'll see what I can do.

Mostly it seems I have just been drilling endless holes in the decks...

Katya Hodgson
Finally finished drilling holes in the decks, so I went outside and primed the hull and decks with a spray can, I decided it would be easier to prime the large parts with a spray can rather than airbrushing on a lot of primer, but i'll be using my airbrush for the rest of the painting.

Derek Huggett
Nowt wrong with 'out of a can' Katya - it is all 'horses-for-courses' in this game! 🙂

Katya Hodgson
So what I am planning is, i'm going to build all of the parts that are to be painted the same colour (mostly superstructure etc.) as "chunks" and then paint them, and then I should be able to assemble the painted chunks into a complete ship ready for details, decals, and clear coats.

As I said, I have never done a ship before, so I hope I am going about this the right way.

Treehugger
Looks like fun. Delicious ship hull airbrushing (because it looks great in the end). 🙂

Treehugger
Tip: Avoid overspray on any red painted stuff on the hull. I.e if you already have the hull painted red, if you get any black on it, it might cause some annoying issue of your red, not being as "red" as you thought. Basically, you'll find out that if you keep airbrushing on red, the hull changes to a more deeper red, and trying to cover a black/dark spot might be a little tricky in my limited experience.

Katya Hodgson
I was planning to airbrush the hull all grey first, and then mask off the grey upper hull before spraying the red. 🙂

Oh, I have been working on the superstructure! These parts are so incredibly tiny in 1/350 scale...

Martin von Schreckenstein
haha as someone who went to 1/700, 1/350 actually looks kinda big for me🙂 very clean progress on your part though, looking good

Katya Hodgson
1/700 does tend to have a lot less parts though! 🙂

And thanks! I only hope this all paints up ok...

Daniel Klink
Great a japanese ship.. I am in.. Looks pleasant so far Katya 👍

Katya Hodgson
Glad to have you here Daniel! Yahagi is possibly my favourite cruiser of all, so I am hoping this kit goes well!

Just finished here, the bridge of an Agano class light cruiser... in stunning high definition! Just try to imagine it 350 times bigger. 😛

Bryn Crandell
Looking goos so far. My only advice on ships is have a container to store all of the small bits as you assemble them so you know where they are and don't accidentally knock one to the floor. It also helps if you have a cat or two in the house. They will carry small bits away and eat them.

Katya Hodgson
They're still on the sprue currently! But don't worry, I have some small containers perfect for this. 🙂

Dave Flitton
Watching!!

Tim Heimer
So far so good! Those small parts are a bugger! Handle with care. I was a bull in a china shop and had to keep regluing things!

Treehugger
Btw, I like using small plastic zip loc bags (cheap) for keeping all the tiny pieces in one place, or several, as opposed to using a box or some other open container.

Katya Hodgson
I heard you liked binoculars...

Plenty of high quality Japanese optics here!

Sven Schönyan
Watching!!!!

Daniel Klink
Really a beautiful ship you chose Katya.. and you progress with the Details looks great .. 👍

Katya Hodgson
Glad to have you here Sven!

And thanks Daniel! Yahagi is my favourite cruiser for sure, the Agano class really are lovely ships. 🙂

I just hope I don't mess it up with the painting...

Katya Hodgson
Here we have the mast, main fire director, AA platform, and secondary fire director.

Tom B.
I always find IJN ships to be quite intriguing. Will be definetly following this one as I´m still learning about ship models myself😉

Katya Hodgson
Glad to have you along! This is actually my first 1/350 ship, so I am learning as I go along...

Here's one of the main turrets! Yahagi had three turrets each of which mounted a pair of 15cm/50 41st Year type guns.

Katya Hodgson
And here's all the turrets together! It's hard to resist making "pew pew pew" noises...

Katya Hodgson
I made the decision not to use the metal barrels I bought, they not only needed a 0.5mm drill bit that I don't have, but I didn't feel comfortable cutting up the plastic ones to use them.

Katya Hodgson
Assembled some of the funnel, as well as the main search light tower, and the dual purpose AA guns. Also here is a picture of all the small parts I have assembled so far.

Katya Hodgson
Had a bit of a problem with the airbrush, but after cleaning it seems ok now. I'm going to work on the hull & deck next so that I can start painting and fitting parts as I go along.

Tim Heimer
It would be great if someone could make a self-cleaning air brush! LOL

Katya Hodgson
Oh gosh that would be the most amazing thing ever. I like to imagine that in "Star Trek" for model kits you can get an airbrush with a colour selector like on a computer paint program, just select and spray a perfect layer of the colour of your choice.

Treehugger
Btw, have you given any thoughts to one day making an ocean diorama? It really doesn't look that difficult, and apparently there are various ways to do that, from the more simple stuff, to lol submerging a submarine model in some kind of transparent goo (difficult/problematic). 🙂

I really like the look of ship models, and so it is only natural to one time in the future to try that out myself. The use of Vallejo still water combined with bits of toilet paper seems easy to shape splash waves (becomes a transluscent goo that can be shaped into waves, see in a youtube tutorial).

Katya Hodgson
Treehugger, I have never actually made a diorama of any kind... and honestly i'm still terrified to be working on this ship!

I have now finished painting the hull grey though, so next step will be masking off the grey and painting the red lower hull.

Sven Schönyan
In fact japanese ships are very easy to paint. There are only three maincolours which do not too much masking efforts. The rest can be done by detail painting with the brush. So it´s a perfect starting point for ship modelling.

Katya Hodgson
I'm still nervous...

Nathan Dempsey
No worries Katya. You're jumping right on a subject many of us wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole. I think it is looking nice so far.

Tim Heimer
Katya...What's the worse that can happen?? It sinks to the bottom? LOL! Keep up the good work and take your time.

Katya Hodgson
I'll keep trying.

She's my favourite cruiser! I had to at least try...

Tim Heimer
That's the spirit mate!

Katya Hodgson
Finished masking off the upper hull, it was easier than I expected actually.

Next is to paint the lower hull, i'll be using Vallejo's "fire red" colour, as it has a slightly dull shade which seems perfect, as opposed to a brighter red. I just hope the masking doesn't leak...

Katya Hodgson
I picked the perfect red! 🙂

Katya Hodgson
It worked! Might have to touch up a couple of spots, but all things considered, this went very well. 🙂

Martin von Schreckenstein
looking great already!

Katya Hodgson
Thanks! I made a start on the propellers and drive shafts too. 🙂

Katya Hodgson
The brass paint isn't the best, it feels a bit too thin and watery. I hope it will be ok...

Katya Hodgson
Just a bit of advice to everyone, I would avoid Vallejo Model Air's "Bright Brass" metallic paint. Their other metallics I have had no problems with, but this brass is all watery and doesn't stick very well.

Thomas Bischoff
I never managed brass paint myself but yours looks good!
I watch the show - all other shipbuilds with all the tiny photoetch parts frighten me too much 🙂

Katya Hodgson
This one has no photoetch Thomas, which is actually why I wanted to do it first. 🙂

The paint looks ok in the pictures from a distance, but it doesn't cover very well, it's watery and doesn't stick right. I'm hoping it will just look ok when dry...

Sven Schönyan
Indeed a wonderful red! I have to remember this the day I will be back on IJN naval subjects.

Katya Hodgson
Vallejo Model Air "fire red" Sven, it's very good. 🙂

Treehugger
Maybe check your bottle of Bright brass and check to see if the content hasn't solidified like with my two bottles. One wasn't even used. I probably opened that one some time ago to add an agitator glass sphere. I've checked all my 17ml Vallejo bottls of paint (some 70'ish bottles I guess) "Bright brass" is the only weird bottle with the content being solid after having been stored for well over a year in a box unused. Maybe you ended up airbrusing on the remaning liquid in the bottle that is separate from the paint?

I have opened up all the bottles in turn, and manually inspected the paint with a metal stirring/mixing rod, to get a clue as to how fluid the paint was. I noticed that a lot of my rubber cap's (the transparent one) were cracked, not sure how that happened, maybe I screwed on the top cap too tightly perhaps, or maybe they were like that from before, or maybe I jammed my cleaning device into the fragile rubber nozzle and split some of them by mistake.

Katya Hodgson
I'm not sure, it was a new bottle that I hadn't opened before, I have been shaking it up a lot but I get the same results every time. Never had anything quite like this with their other paints.

Treehugger
Did you at least get to see brass color coming out of the bottle? Just courious as you haven't said anything that describes the content other than being too wet or something.

Hister Farjas
great

Katya Hodgson
Treehugger, it was brass coloured (you can see on the photo) it was just very watery and runny, and didn't seem to stick quite right.

Thanks Irving! Hopefully I can get the decks done today.

Treehugger
Maybe lowering the air pressure for such paint helps. Lowering the air pressure is said to help avoid a "spidering" effect with the pain steaking out, but perhaps it also helps paint stick better to the surface in any case.

Richmond
One thing I have done with metallics is black base and then dry brush the metallics - the effect is quite good.

Katya Hodgson
Propellers, drive shafts, and stands painted, I also have now attached the propellers and drive shafts, and placed it on the stands!

Bart Goesaert
Looking good, seems that's the one kitten that doesn't pose any danger to the model....

Katya Hodgson
Which kitten do you mean? My cats have been very good about not jumping on the models.

Dave Flitton
There is a little figurine of a cat behind the model, I think that is the one he is mentioning

Katya Hodgson
Ohh I see, it's a useful little ceramic dish my Nana gave me. 🙂

Bart Goesaert
Yep, that's the one

Katya Hodgson
Well, after yesterday's airbrush mishap I am back on track.

I have sprayed the deck colour, once it dries i'll mask it all off and then spray the grey areas. I'm not quite sure about this colour for the deck, but I think it is ok?

Martin von Schreckenstein
the color looks good, it is the shade they actually used on the deck only irl it was a little darker from being walked on and otherwise used as a ship deck🙂 could be easily fixed with a bit of oils but i would wait until after the grey is painted, it will make it look a lot better & make you more certain about the shade. shades in general are a bit of a grey area🙂

Katya Hodgson
It's actually a little darker in real life, the lighting in photo makes it look more orange than it is.

Katya Hodgson
Well, I feel very sick now, but the masking is done as best as I can. Will have to do a lot of touch ups with brush painting...

Tim Heimer
Call Augie over! She's great with a brush!

Thomas Wirsching
Katya I don´t want to come as a smartass but the propeller shafts need to be painted in steel - your brass color is not correct for them. Watching with interest at your build

Katya Hodgson
They look brass on every other picture I have seen of the model.

Sven Schönyan
Katya, Thomas is correct if you take at least modern ships as a basis: the shafts are made from steel and are either in their natural colour or they are painted in hull red. The props are made from bronze with a brass appearance.
This was the way the props and shafts were painted on german Lütjens class destroyers. I could take a look at them when we were in drydock.
I assume that you can transfer this to other nations and time periods, too.

Katya Hodgson
Every model I have seen has the propeller shafts painting a similar brass colour to the propellers, it's also like this in the games I play which feature warships. The painting guide also shows them as brass coloured.

Anyway, I have sprayed the grey parts of the decks, once that's dry I will remove the masking and see what the damage is.

Katya Hodgson
It's not so bad but I will need to do a lot of patching up with a brush.

Katya Hodgson
And there we go! The deck is painted! 🙂

Martin von Schreckenstein
wow. thats a solid result. still unsure about the shade? looking fine to me🙂

Katya Hodgson
I think the shade turned out ok, it got a bit darker after drying. 🙂

No chance of being doing the brass bands though.

Katya Hodgson
Well, I had to take a break due to some personal issues, but i'm back now, and I have added some small details to the front of the ship! It was definitely harder than it looked. 🙂

Thomas Bischoff
All the hard work looks easy when its done - looks good 👍

Katya Hodgson
Thanks!

Tim Heimer
So far so good!

Donald Dickson II
How did I miss the floaty thing build?

Katya Hodgson
Going veeeery slowly...

But at least it IS going now.

Katya Hodgson
The Bridge is going on!

Katya Hodgson
Thanks Roland. 🙂

And that's the bridge tower done! ^-^

Nathan Dempsey
Still looking nice Katya. Layer upon layer it is taking shape.

Katya Hodgson
Slowly but surely!

Donald Dickson II
You have more patience than I for all those tiny pieces.

Bryn Crandell
Really coming together now. Looking good Katya.

Katya Hodgson
Funnel and searchlight tower fitted, as well as dual purpose 8cm guns, and fore mast. 🙂

Katya Hodgson
And that's the torpedo deck finished! two quad launchers, each of which can fire four 610mm Type 93 "Long Lance" torpedoes.
A full reload was carried for each launcher, and the launchers were capable of a (fairly) rapid reload whilst at sea.

Katya Hodgson
Assembled all the parts ready for the next step.

Katya Hodgson
Today I completed rear upper deck with aircraft handling facilities, aircraft catapult, and AA fire directors!

Katya Hodgson
Rear superstructure and mast is done! Just got small deck details, main turrets, boats, and aircraft left to do. 🙂

Donald Dickson II
You are cooking right along! Looks great. 🙂

Katya Hodgson
Thanks! I could probably finish it tomorrow if I tried. ^-^

Katya Hodgson
So close to being finished now! She's just waiting for her boats and scout planes.

Tim Heimer
Take your time! So far so good!

Martin Oostrom
Well, you have certainly improved a lot. This is so much better than your efforts from a year ago. Your learning curve is looking very good 👍

Katya Hodgson
Thank you! Hopefully she should be finished tomorrow. ^-^

Tom B.
Definetly curious how it looks all together. The progress is very promising, though😉

Katya Hodgson
Due to delays it seems it won't be finished until tomorrow now. But it's very nearly done.

Tim Heimer
We can wait.

Katya Hodgson
Just need decals now...

R VG
Impressive. I like your red color for the hull and deck very much. Is it a personal mix or did you use an out of the can color?

Katya Hodgson
Both straight from the bottle, the lower hull is Vallejo Model Air Fire Red (number 71.084) and the decks are Vallejo Model Air RLM 26 Brown (number 71.105).

Katya Hodgson
I hate these stupid little planes though, the floats keep breaking off, and now they're all crooked. 🙁

Donald Dickson II
That is why I try to leave landing gear and the like until the very end

Katya Hodgson
I did leave it until the end...

Bart Goesaert
did you remove the paint from the mating surfaces?

Katya Hodgson
I was using super glue, not model glue.

It was just a REALLY awkward join.

Bart Goesaert
I know, but when applying glue to a painted surface, there's a big chance the paint is breaking instead of the connection.

Katya Hodgson
It was just a really bad connection.

Donald Dickson II
I can imagine it wasnt the best connection. So flipping small and all that. I am sure you'll get the all straightened out.

Katya Hodgson
Nah, it's finished now, i'm not risking breaking it.