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Some plans of the Akashi I found online. There's a few details not in the Pit Road kit or Five Star set, so I will try to scratch build them. 

I usually prefer to scratch build things like piping, as the kit parts are usually too thick and a bit soft in details. 

Started damage from 500lb bomb. Unfortunately could not find any pictures of the damaged Asashio so this is my own creation of how the damage looked given that the damage was near the stern and the Asashio wasn't too badly damaged and could make its way to Truk under its own power. 

Damaged section completed. 

Started work on the Akashi 

Akashi mostly assembled, ready for paint 

I ended up scratch building most of the main mast using brass rod and some brass masts from Five Star (their various mast sets have a very slight taper which I think looks better than just using brass rod). 

I added my own piping out of brass rod from the main funnel. Looks more to scale I think. 

For the poles at the bow and stern, I like using cut-down insect pins which are stainless steel and do not bend. Given where they are on the model, I find that I am always bumping them, and the brass PE ones in the Five Star set ultimately end up bent or broken off. Instead, I drill a hole into the deck and insert the pins into the deck and they are solidly anchored. Plus, they are three dimensional, rather than two dimensional like the PE ones.

For the supports, I just use cut down brass rods (very thin diameter). 

Asashio mostly assembled, ready for paint 

Base coat on Asashio. 

Base coat on Akashi.