1/350th Tamiya IJN "Tone"

Some more work from the dark winter days:

Had to drill more than 300 portholes in the hull and fill them with Krystal Klear. Not difficult but took some work.

The main bridge has progressed slowly due to the fact that it has two colours (grey and linoleum brown), so was not really sure on how to build things is correct order. And of course, lots of PE stuff envolved. I used transparent polystyrene sheets for the bridge windows (PE frames) which was in this case far better than Krystal Klear.

Also, managed to almost finish the two masts. Rigging to be done later on.

With this model, I wanted to test different manufacturers for the AA guns. So I have products from Fine Molds (triple 25 mm), Veteran Models (twin 25 mm) and Epic Hobby (single 25 mm). I think that Fine Molds is the best compromise for me: fairly easy to build and enough details for my eyes. I had high hopes for the Veteran, but those small resin parts are extremily fragile and the whole setup is not to my liking. I have not started the single 25 mm guns which are pure PE stuff with brass barrels. So that should be fun!

Finally, some work with main arnament and boats. I also added some aeroplane spare parts (wings and pontoons) which will give a nice touch together with those PE racks. Strange that Tamiya has not included these in the set. Luckily I have Hasegawas set for IJN seaplanes.

After Easter we had some unbelievable nice weather, so modelling was not an option. But now, the last weeks has been incredibly cold and some more snow. So back to business...

Managed to put together the catapults, which were surprisingly easy.

Finished the assembly of the lifeboats which look pretty decent. Had to improvise a bit with those straps.

And finally had to courage to tackle the single AA guns. Only 23 to be finished ... Wonder how am I going to paint these?