Zuikaku

Steven Van Dyck
Yesterday the last required parts for this build arrived, so this can all move to the working table.

Sven Schönyan
Wonderful project! I´ll keep an eye on it!

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks, Sven, you're welcome. I changed the elevator wells to a more realistic shape. Also, the wind break has got some very elaborate PE parts.

Treehugger
Nice detail, for what looks like the lower hangar deck. I hope you can create a seamless surface there between the gray plastic and the styrene sheet. It seems a little cramped, but maybe bits of Tamiya sanding sponge can help sand down unevennes there. It helps if both surfaces are as flush as possible from the start.

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks, Treehugger. After some investigation I found out I wasn't using the best material I had in stash, it appeared Shipyard has a far better windbreak and an entire photo-etch elevator platform. While replacing these I took it upon me to improve the situation and make a full two storey hangar interior out of it. Therefore I had to adapt the Fujimi compartiments to the addition of two hangar decks. It's hard to study the elevator mechanism in IJN CV's but I compared to the Rainbow 1/700 elevator upgrades (why don't they exist in 1/350?. I made the vertical components of styrene I-beams and made it so that the top hangar floor can still be removed for painting purposes.

Paul
following, this kit is high on my todo list

Steven Van Dyck
Welcome Paul. The interior of the elevator well is detailed with counterweights and guide rails. Then it is primered grey.

Sven Schönyan
And looks very good! Do you know this book:

christian-schmidt.co..0q26lr9q5vsb81eefsq0

There is a lot of detail information provided.

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks, Paul. I hadn't seen the book, this is also my first IJN ship.

David Taylor
May I take a seat.

Steven Van Dyck
Welcome, David. Yesterday I painted the outline of the plane positions inside both hangar decks. I decided the easiest way was to rescale the Morskie plans from 1/400 to 1/350 (114%) and to make a paper cutout mask. Because I only trimmed 3 paper planes, painting had to be interrupted to mask off every plane position.

Steven Van Dyck
I removed all plastic detail from the Fujimi deck and started to construct the PE replacement parts. Most of these girders are sharp as airbrush needles, but sturdy enough to deburr. The last picture shows a problem in the construction that will have to be solved with a Dremel polishing stone. Strange how these support triangles weren't filleted, they interfere with the deck droop.

Steven Van Dyck
I added the PE boat supports, the ship's anchor chains and the front AA platforms. The stern deck girders were abraded at the posts so they would fit the deck.

Sven Schönyan
Great progress so far! Nice job you´re doing with all the support beams.

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks, Sven! I have still a lot of them to go by.For now, the upper sloop deck and the chimneys were built. These were already testing. It appears that the aft anchor chain should not be tended straight to the anchor hole, because of the middle deck support being on top of that. The chain wasn't very fix, so it was easily redressed, but it still seems a design error from Fujimi because the chain now deviates from the steel plating, where the support is planted on. The smoke stacks have some very delicate PE railing, but the hard part is the large plate covering the top. This has to be curved exactly like the funnel sides and aligned to the edge. This I had to retry twice on the second chimney, so I had to remove large chunks of CA to ensure a tight fit.

David Taylor
patience is paying off,looking good.

Steven Van Dyck
I made a start with the ship's boats. The Shipyard wooden deck for them is clearly superior to the Fujimi one, that has more burn marks, some fitting issues and is more work to remove from the sheet. I alos included a comparison picture for the front Shipyard deck and the plastic one, you see the improvement in planking and even the anchor points are more prominent.

Steven Van Dyck
The boats are being painted before the decks are added. Also, some ceilings are sprayed white, but some will be hardly visible.

Maarten Henderieckx
I hope that the deck will fit nicely but it will be fine with your skils

David Januska
Wow, hats off👍. Nice job so far. Watching with interest and looking forward for the next pictures and final result.

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks, guys. Today you get the first deck painting pictures. All was sprayed Pale Green, followed by some shading with olive green. The boats are now planked with the Shipyard deck and got their PE railing. I think masts etc. have to be plied down to be able to fit on the low decks, no info on that though.

Sven Schönyan
You´re right Steven: when the boats are stowed away the collapsable masts were collapsed in order to safe space.

David Taylor
Very handy work on the little boats Steven.

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks! Now the lower decks are varnished after weathering with green wash and a black pencil. But I found out that the two covered boats do not fit because of the PE changes. I even had to hollow out the ceiling to be able to make the upper boat deck fit. I also prepared the diorama base. It will be 80x20 cm.

Steven Van Dyck
Another 3 pics to show the problem of the sloop placement. Now there are 7 of 8 sloops mounted, but the ship will be cruising too fast to use the davits for the 8th one.

Steven Van Dyck
The fight deck is placed and all support structures are razed.

Steven Van Dyck
Hunderds of PE-parts are needed on the deck edges. Some of those are difficult to place, being under 1 square millimeter. It's necessary o follow a certain order not to impede yourself.

Steven Van Dyck
Some detective work to find the right part number is needed with the Fujimi PE set. Also bear in mind that it was meant for the forerunner of this kit, the Shokaku. So there are some slight differences, necessitating some improvisation on some areas.

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks for all the likes! The 127mm Type 89 A1 Model B is constructed with the Aber barrels and some Fujimi PE. A lot of the starboard barbette structure is added.

Lex Jassies
Wow, all those tiny brackets 😮. Looks like some tidious monks work to me. Funny that what looks like waste on you'r finger translate in a perfect detail once in place.
How are the Veteran Model parts? I ordered some stuff and am curious.

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks! I made these pictures when I started the build:
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I now also have the Pontos upgrade for CV-9 Essex and this contains also Veteran resin turrets:
[img6]

Sven Schönyan
Looking great! Impressive work on the support beams!

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks, Sven! Now the island is built, with a small interior scratched in it. This is based on the Gakken 13 plans for the bridge, but it is nearly invisible.

Steven Van Dyck
Finally all the brackets are done. I did have an issue with the rocket launcher assembly. I have two of my reference sources contradicting each other. Gakken 13 has 4 launchers, Morskie only 3. I decided to look if I can fit 4 on the platform, plus an extra barbette with director (A).

Lex Jassies
The benefit of these contradictions is that you can choose the option you like the most and nobody can state it's wrong😉

Steven Van Dyck
I apparently did it right, because somebody has pointed out that 4 launchers can be recognized in the famous top view reconaissance picture of the ship. I now posted a large update of the island brass PE additions, the Shipyard anti-skid plating, the installment of the ship's crane stowage bay, not provided in the kit, and the relocation of the mid and aft elevators according to the wood deck. The anti-skid strips had to be modified slightly to fit the deck, but nothing that causes visible damage.

Steven Van Dyck
The antennas are created out of the Fujimi PE. All plastic parts will be replaced. Some of the parts had to be adapted to relevant lengths. Also the mast seems too heavy and will be replaced.

Steven Van Dyck
The main mast is scratchbuilt, showing the changes after reparations of bomb damage. The 127mm guns were changed with Aber barrels. Also, the Hasegawa planes are compared tot the kit ones and they show beter panellining. But the Suisei fuselages have some sinkmarks.

Slavo Hazucha
Checking in! A great start 👍

Steven Van Dyck
Welcome back Slavo! Today we fix some stairs, but one landing light had gone astray. It seemed to vanish in thin air, but this was because it had sneekily adhered to my index fingernail. Some additions to the DP guns. The airwing is completed with some Suiseis.

Steven Van Dyck
After the barbette support PE additions, I started with the first pack of Infini 25mm-guns, the triple ones. The barrel placement is somewhat fiddly, but the small parts are in fact quite easy to pose, if you apply the glue sparingly.

Sven Schönyan
The first time I see the Infini 25mm guns build. Looks good!

Norbert Steffens
the AA guns are marvellous. But much to small for my eyes. Do you use a magnifier lamp ?

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks! I don't need a magnification device, but I do have a small Daylight lamp pointed at it.

Steven Van Dyck
Finally the triple guns are finished. Also two turreted guns are added, with some of the single gun barrels in them.

David Taylor
How is the eye strain,brill work.

Slavo Hazucha
25mil tripples... not so great at actually shooting something down, but man, do they look great in 350-scale. A model-in-model, truly!

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks! Today's update shows another load of 25mm guns. Now in single mode, but this was hard to remove from the sheet, so half of them had to be repaired. The next update promises to be one of the more wacky building steps in my modelling career. No, that's not a pile of brass filing, it's actual parts to be assembled. The manual also makes clear that the former building steps were for the noobs.

Steven Van Dyck
25 gun posts are finished now, using an airbrush needle with gum to pick up the 0,5mm brass triangles and depositing them on a drop of glue, then turning the post 90 degrees. Not all are deposited upright, but this is not very evident and impossible to correct anyway.

Mario Thomas
Looks like waste on pic 279 , Not like Parts. ????

Steven Van Dyck
The problem is, when brass burrs fall between these parts, it's hard to distinguish. But now the number of gun posts is dimished to 12, so in about an hour it should be done. To recover I already built the port railings.

Slavo Hazucha
I guess this is the best year for works like this... I would not dare approach pic 279 other than properly wearing a FFP-2 mask...

Fascinating work, truly... I guess you´re using some magnifying lens setup? How do you actually apply glue on assemblies this small?

Steven Van Dyck
No lense needed, Slavo. A bit of glue is actually applied to the large part with the tip of a blade. The small parts are taken on the tip of an airbrush needle, being the sharpest object I had, with some gum to make it adhere.

Steven Van Dyck
All guns are now finished, only the rocket launchers remain. Some parts look like an ant colony attack.

Lex Jassies
Tsssss.......and wow!

James C
That's some really impressively detailed P/E work Steven👍

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks, guys! The rocket launchers are now built, but they're a bit crammed in their slots now. Planning to remove the plastic partitions. Compare to the Fujimi launchers only having 9 of the 28 holes. Further the starboard side has railings now. The railing set is comprehensive, but very fiddly. It seems the ladder entrances are not always left free, so some cutting is advised.

Steven Van Dyck
Some anchers in PE are made and a modified launch platform is scratched out of spare parts from the kit. It's partly hypothetical as the number of launchers varies from 3 to 4 according to the source.

David Taylor
Amazing work.

David Januska
Steven, I must say your work with photo etches is unbelievable. Really GREAT performance 👍.

David Whiteley
This work should be featured on Ancient Aliens - no human being is capable of this. Mind boggling ...

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks, guys, also for the likes received. It all came along nicely until this point. The safety netting was added now, but all this happened with minimal instructions from Fujimi, so I don't think it all came out correctly. The problem was, that only 6 of about 50 PE parts were indicated with balloons and more than half are impossible to distinguish on the instruction photos.

Michael Osadciw
Wow, what an ambitious build! Fantastic!

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks, Michael. Even the painting will be ambitious, but first to finish the netting and the North Star crew. Like their American counterpart, they tend to break an ankle or two.

Michael Osadciw
Oh man, the PE!!! Those AA guns are amazing! You are clearly a wizard of applying superglue properly; what sort of applicator and glue do you use? I've tried all sorts of things for gluing PE and my results tend to be messy, weak bonds. The scratch built elevator mechanisms look fantastic.

HSC1932
I love those 3D figures, can't wait to see you try to paint their eyes😉

Steven Van Dyck
Here are some more, and today I ordered even more for a future project, but those are Black Cat figures.

@Michael: there are means of improving the use of glue, but I'm sure my methods are not the safest as they could be. I'm almost down one bottle of CA and this means that the flow of the glue is getting very unpredictable, even if it's the liquid kind of CA. So it's a question of making the glue run first to a spot where it can be assessed that it's still liquid enough to form a shiny drop if you dip the part in it. If the part then still moves after 10 seconds, there probably was not enough liquid left and it should be repeated. Glue can also be brought to the model, but only by applying it to any sharp object that can be regularly cleaned of dried glue. This I do with a worn Excel blade, though that often has to be shaved clean after only two to three applications. Of course a thread with an eye is more precise, but the cleaning is harder.

Michael Osadciw
Thanks!

Skyhiker
I'm late

David Taylor
Oh my,so many men so little time.

Lex Jassies
Well well David Taylor, that reads rather strange

David Taylor
LOL

Skyhiker
Only in the Navy

David Taylor
Came out so wrong LOL.

Lex Jassies
👍 😉

Steven Van Dyck
Read too many manga, I presume... Now the ship is masked off where it was pre-painted. The small parts are gathered on a new turning disk. The airwing has got the cockpits drilled out, but no worries, I am not going to add instrument panels or the likes.

Steven Van Dyck
Zuikaku is now primered in black, covering all PE plating, and then I used NATO green for the hull camo color, because the Fujimi choice, Gunze 80, was not in store.

Sven Schönyan
Oh nice colours come into the game! NATO green looks good.

Slavo Hazucha
Looking very good indeed in the shaded green 👍 - and can't wait to see the 1/350 aircraft!

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks for the comments and the liking! Here you got some weathering pictures, before we go on to the light green camo. And to have some double talk again, I'm making homegrown joints. Expansion joints, that is. This is because of the shipyard deck, making the Fujimi PE joints useless because they use all different dimensions.

Steven Van Dyck
The expansion joints are made out of the Fujimi strips separated from the leading edges. Then most of the deck edges and planes are painted tan to be able to overspray the wooden deck without pre-shade effects. Most of this will be overpainted in camo. The Shipyard deck is then added, combining the self-adhesive side with Bison contact glue for better adhesion. The fit of the deck is near perfect, but keep in mind that the last joint has to be put a bit off. I also added pics of a few products I bought from Sven, the Infini crates will be used here but the Black Cat figures are for my LST project.

Skyhiker
And I thought 1:72 was small...

Steven Van Dyck
Today some of the old deck markings are painted to let them shine through the deck camouflage. This was a tip I got on The Ship's Forum. I also made the ammo crates from Infini, this is a quick build but care must be taken how the PE parts are removed to avoid damage.

Steven Van Dyck
The green camo is now painted over the Shipyard masking set. The planes have got props made of leftover WEM US Navy PE.

Steven Van Dyck
Just completed the deck scheme and preparing for the final hull camo masking. I want to unpack this badly, but it's better to use the Shipyard masking while painting near the deck edges. If you use this masking, start in the middle and then go both ways to avoid a bad fit in the middle. I decided to redo that as far as I could recover and also recut the elevator shaft masking. That was used for the elevator floor inside the ship.

Steven Van Dyck
Zuikaku is now painted all over and unmasked. Some overspray was almost inevitable and was soon retouched. The guns are now waiting to be painted and installed.

David Januska
Nice, nice, nice.

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks, David. Now I painted the guns and some airplane surfaces. The ship's extremities got some pre-painted railing, which was shaped on a spare deck part.

Steven Van Dyck
The deck markings , the anti-fouling and the planes were painted yesterday.

HSC1932
How did you mask the deck lines and aircraft canopies?

Steven Van Dyck
Fujimi provides a deck masking set for most of the markings. The aircraft I masked with kneadable gum, I use that for a lot of purposes.

David Taylor
Looks brill.

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks, David. Today the showcase was collected at my pet store. It's a glass case measuring 85x25x20 cm. I intend to build the bottom like in the Princeton build, with a self-made wooden frame and a plastic interior base.

Slavo Hazucha
Looks very good - If my stuff had this level of micro-detail, I´ll consider showcases sealed with vacuum inside... 🙂

Lovely work on the deck camo and all the aircraft 👍

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks, Slavo. And don't go modest on your level of micro-detail... The last two days were spent on building the showcase frame and almost finishing the airwing. I used the Hasegawa decals, that have a more reddish hinomaru color, but some of the tail signs are Fujimi's. I did this before I painted the cowlings, but this was no problem due to a coat of Daco Strong on the decals. Panelline washing will be possible over the decals now. And the large pot of paint is not because I needed more green on Zuikaku, it's for restoring my hobby room floor, so I can find back little pieces of PE easier! I decided to replace the incomplete 4th side of my showcase frame with a new plank. The gold spray-can is for the chrysanthemum sign on the bow.

Steven Van Dyck
The water is filling up now. I used AK Pacific Blue water gel on a pigmented plaster base. When the ship is on it, a second layer will finish the water surface, part of the hole under the ship still needs filling up. The plastic liner is prepared and some details like the ship's mast and the open screen on the deck are fixed.

Steven Van Dyck
Weathering of the hull is achieved with the set from Lifecolor, first some chipping with the shadow agent and then the Fouling Green was tested. This appeared to be ideal on Pale Green, but I had to thin it immediately because the removing agent didn't seem to work. Some details like the heavy guns and the figures are painted by brush. Also, the styropor base was lowered to fit to the plastic frame.

David Taylor
looking superb.

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks, David. Now a dark brown wash is added to darken the NATO green on the sides. The degaussing cable on the pale green was also treated. The rocket launchers are now installed.

Norbert Steffens
Hi Steven, very impressive. The ship looking fantastic. Eager to see the final result....The total building time would be interesting.

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks, Norbert. I started in June and had on average one hour a day of work on it. I expect to still have a couple of weeks before finishing it.

Steven Van Dyck
The ship finally floats. This night, the waterline will even out and become dark blue. Some of the guns had to be grinded to remove the pin and place them under the deck.

David Januska
Nice result, it looks very real👍.

Steven Van Dyck
Thank you, David. Today I finished the wooden base with a piece of multiplex. Now the dio can be screwed on top of that.

Steven Van Dyck
After fixing the dio and some small guns, the wake is added to the water with Bison kit.

Sven Schönyan
It seems to be almost done. Excellent result regarding the shortage of time you needed. For me it would take at least one year when working fully concentrated on this kit.

Treehugger
Those small boats in photo 111 are adorable 🙂

Treehugger
Interesting seeing the turned metal/photo etch anti air, also has a plug that goes into the socket of the plastic, in photo 277.

Looks really nice with the photo etch for the carrier's bride for the window frames.

David Taylor
Looking forward to seeing the end result.

Norbert Steffens
fantastic. What a huge project

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks, guys! Now I added most of the rigging with 0.03 and 0.001 Uschi thread. Two additional 25mm triple sets are ordered, this time it's Alliance Modelworks.

Steven Van Dyck
The nameplate is made with Motip gold, the crash barrier is scratched and I made some lanterns for the stern.

Steven Van Dyck
The Alliance set has arrived. Sadly the barrels are crooked and they differ from the 5 Infini ones I still had left, so one gun still has a missing barrel. I intend to have a replacement scene with a resin one.

Marek Nagy
Wow! It´s very thorough work.

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks, Marek. I just placed all planes and figures on the deck and I also made the radar antenna more obviously retractable. Still some rigging to do. I made a series of photos of all the action scenes I created.

Slavo Hazucha
Wow, all the efforts well invested, the amount of details, both "hard" & "soft" all over the ship is superb. Special mention for a really good placement of "random yet meaningful" groups of crew 👍 Don´t even want to know how painting 350-scale sailors goes 🙂

David Taylor
omg.

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks, guys! It's finally done today. I rigged the boats, passed a last matt cote, finished the bridge glazing, blended in the waves and then set the model up in the garden to make a photo series.

Paul
Hi Steven, I've followed your build with admiration, your dedication to detail is really amazing. Congratulations on the end result!

Sven Schönyan
Congratulations! You´ve managed this kit in an astonishing time frame with a great result!

Neuling
I agree with Paul and Sven. A masterpiece. I admire your dedication and craftsmanship, Steven! 👍👍👍

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks for your comments, gentlemen. In the mean time I ordered this: Book: Flugzeugträger der Essex-Klasse 1943-1945 (by Waldemar Troija Andrzej Szewczyk Zbigniew Kolacha)

Łukasz Gliński
666 pics - well done 😄 That Zero pics look like 1/144 - v.impressive 👍

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks, Łukasz. I change the number of pictures by adding that the Zuikaku has won Gold at the IPMS Nationals in Affligem today. The Princeton got silver. Both have some contests to go, without interruptions, I hope...

Łukasz Gliński
Congratulations, well deserved 👍
PS. Very happy to see the model shows coming back 🙂

Neuling
👍

Rui S
Great work. Congratulations 👍

David Taylor
Congrats.

Lex Jassies
Credit where credit is due Steven 👍

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks for all congratulations and album likes.

Guy Rump
Wow!!! great modelling. 👍

Steven Van Dyck
Zuikaku has won silver at ships standard class in the WME 2022 contest.

Markus Kutsch The Plastic Bench
Well done, Steven. 👍👍👍

Łukasz Gliński
Congrats 👍

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks!

David Januska
Congrats, you deserve it. Wonderful work and presentation.

Paul Moore
I've seen better …. JK! You are on a whole different level than me as a modeler. This is an absolutely incredible build! I'll be coming back to these photos for inspiration. Thanks for posting all of these photos Steven. They are very helpful for us "regular" modelers.

Rui
Just wandered over here from the Princeton build, which was phenomenal, only to find another amazing build. Bravo! 🥇

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks for all the congrats! There will be more of the same within a few weeks. I hope the contents will fit on the garden table.

Marcin D
I love your work, the ship looks incredibly great!

Pietro De Angelis
Stunning job!

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks! Last weekend the ship was at BSMC and won either silver or gold (together with Princeton).

Joachim P.
Hello, Steven, what an impressing work to be witnessed here. My hats off to this high level of skills. I really like the glass cover, by the way 🙂