Build Report Mikasa

Some of the ingredients for construction. 

Let's start by putting the fuselage together 

Prepare everything for the stand. 

These are the very nice model building supports from Pontos. 

Now all possible details are sanded off again and will later be replaced by the etched parts. 

Screws for the stand attached. 

The hull structure is very stable. 

Holes for the crampons 

Now let's open the portholes. 

After researching the few images available, I noticed that the porthole that sits on the model below the anchor hawse did not exist.
This was then closed with a round styrene profile. 

Filled and sanded. 

Another mistake that needs to be corrected. Merit made recesses in the fuselage to accommodate the etched piece gunports from the model in the correct location.
Since I’m using the pontos set here and the hinges of the gunport on the original ship were riveted onto the hull from the outside, I close them with styrene.

 

I’ll be busy with that for a while. 

Continue working on the hull, which will probably take quite some time.
Because after I filled the recesses with styrene profiles, I noticed significant sinkholes that unfortunately had to be thickly filled.
On the right side, I think you can still clearly see the small dent of the sink under the filler. 

Since I had to do a lot of filing and sanding here, I could no longer take the surface structure of the hull into account and removed it. Which isn’t a big deal since I’ll be making them again with styrene. 

After the first sanding process, the worked areas were primed as a check and I am quite happy with the result. 

So, I have created the removed surface structure with my styrene profiles.
It's a little bit wider than the original line, but if it's painted afterwards it should fit. 

And so I continued on the port side and completed the areas around the casemates.
Consequently, all structures of this type on the fuselage are now being replaced by styrene profiles. As can be seen above.
Otherwise it would no longer look consistent. 

Ok, let’s fill the holes that I don’t need due to the etched parts sets. 

Then check with a white primer to make sure everything is sanded smoothly. 

Of course the fuselage seams were also checked. 

 

Then we come to my beloved Styren profiles. 

I use this to imitate the seams of the armor plates. At that time, riveting was still taking place, not welding. However, you can hardly see the rivets under the paint on the original. So that’s enough for me. 

The storage areas for the anchors were sanded smooth, as Pontos also fills everything here with brass. 

Now for a special feast for the eyes. The dinghies from New Zealand have arrived. 

Absolute detail madness. I’m blown away. ? 

Continue with the seams for the armor plates.
This time on the underwater ship.
It takes a bit of effort and nerves. They have to be attached very precisely and parallel.
But it seems to work: 

However, I have to move the torpedo tube opening a little at the stern, so I first closed it with styrene. 

Continue with the profiles. It’s slowly going faster now. 

But there are still a lot.

 

Now, however, I also have to take add-on parts into account, such as roll keels and propulsion.
They will only be attached to the fuselage after all the profiles have been done so that I can sand them properly beforehand. 

I created the vertical joints on the bow and sanded everything well.
Now I had to paint part of the fuselage to see if I didn’t make a mistake with the profiles.
I think you can take it. 

The casemates were also checked again.
Can stay like that. 

At first I wasn’t sure if I liked it because it’s actually shown the wrong way around. 

Done with the profiles. 

Because the flaps would have to create a gap and not an elevation. 

I also sanded down the profiles on the underwater hull a lot 

Of course also in the places that you can hardly see afterwards. 

A privacy screen must be created so that you cannot see the portholes from one side and the other side.
That’s why styrene plates were placed in the middle.
At the bow. 

And at the rear.
The whole thing is flexible so I can move the plate back and forth a little. This is how I get the front 3 inch cannons to fit into their openings. 

After that I need a little individual privacy protection. 

One for the muzzle openings of the torpedo launchers, yellow arrows. And for four small portholes that are located under the first deck near the green arrows. It’s hard for me to get the plates right here, hence the angles. 

Good thing I put the Pontos wooden deck on. (Which wasn’t lasered properly and I had to help with my scalpel.)
Doesn’t fit at all. 🤔cream: I’ll have to work a little with the milling head.
But it was actually about creating tubes for the anchor hawse. 

Now that I knew that, I created half tubes. But they are larger in diameter. 

Which should be completely sufficient. It’s just a matter of ensuring that no light shines through on the chain. 

Nice and dark. That’s the way it has to be. :hole: 

First I soldered the shields of the cannons on the bow and stern. 

Then, since you can’t see anything behind the shields anyway, I simply replaced the cannon body with a small piece of styrene pipe. 

This was then glued in… 

…and I’ll simply put the barrel of the cannon through the hole later. 

The same with the middle casemates, only here it is much less complicated. 

Now that all the cannons in the hull are installed, I can prepare the deck.
First say goodbye to unnecessary details. I got a small electric chisel, it simplifies things a lot. 

After the grinding orgy, the deck was glued to the bow. 

And the other two parts. 

Great, deck ready. 

I will also raise the hull to the next level earlier than usual. It’s about the upper row of casemates.
If you glue this fuselage part later, which is actually logical and intended, you can get to the internal structures much better.
But you also end up with a very unsightly slot that can no longer be removed.
Here you see the culprit. I might still put up with the gap at the yellow arrows. But the one with the green arrow, no, doesn’t work at all. 

And that’s exactly the problem.
What I would then have to mask off on the wooden deck, superstructure and other details if I wanted to fill and paint the gap late was almost impossible.
That’s why I’m going to say it in advance. 

Continue with additional small details.
The next picture shows why I add large parts like gun barrels as late as possible. 

I would like to implement this device with which the anchor was lowered into the water. 

To do this I first have to remove material from the fuselage. 

Then all profiles are checked again and some are sanded down a little further 

The torpedo tube opening also has a riveted ring. 

On to preshading.

 

And then tape it off. I’m doing this relatively precisely, even though I’m only in the basic color.
Of course I could spray the red without masking it off, but then too many layers would overlap afterwards and the whole thing would be too thick for me. 

And now the antifouling paint is on the underwater hull. 

The waterline is running great. Profiles attached at the correct height. 

Here are the two recesses for the side with the double anchor. 

I really like the structure I made from the styrene profiles. 

And the preshading also comes into its own.
Now we continue with the details on the upper ship. 

Next I went to the ship’s rudder. I had actually lost sight of that a bit.
Never mind, styrene attached and painted red. 

Then to the upper casemates. Unnecessary holes closed again. 

Sanded and found to be good. 

So the etched parts battle could finally begin.

 

The MK1 set has already scored its first points.
Shortly before I had sanded away the rather rough details, I thought about taking a quick photo of them. Pontus had not planned anything here. Incomprehensible, even if you can hardly see it on the finished model. 

So, one to zero for KA Models.
Still processing the remaining doors… 

Then the first superstructures can go on the deck.
I will probably lay more electrical cables when my 0.1mm wire arrives. 

The holes for the crampons were still missing on the upper casemates.
I repeat myself, but this is one of Ponto’s great strengths. The drilling templates! 

Simply fix it with an adhesive strip and off you go… 

Next I checked the wooden deck amidships. It had to be trimmed a bit to get it to fit properly. Because of the slightly different approach, I have little leeway when installing the parts.
But done satisfactorily. 

So I was able to add the next floor. 

Additional parts placed on top to check whether everything is in the correct position.
Everything fits perfectly. 

Here are the pictures to show why I go to this length.
The slits in the four round casemates would still be manageable. 

But this one isn’t very nice. 

I think this is better. 

After sanding three times… 

…and prime, I am very satisfied. 

And I especially like this one a lot better now.
The extra two days of effort were worth it.

 

Off to the dry dock with the Mikasa. 

There’s enough space in here on the port and starboard sides to protect the ship while you’re tinkering without it becoming too big and unwieldy. 

This means it can be safely laid on its side, for example to work on the portholes. 

I can also attach sheet pile walls of different heights to further increase the protection at the top. 

Let’s attach the first large etched parts. The anchor supports… 

…and the doors at the rear. The ship also had electrical cables all around the back. What purpose they had, however, is unknown to me. It will not have been demagnetizing cables. 

First one, next to go. 

The portholes are closed on the port side. At the bow. 

They cannot be seen in the pictures from back then. Most of the images of the ship are of poor quality and taken from a great distance. There are only some in a decent resolution very close up from the front. But of course you can’t see the casemates from the side.
But on the museum ship. And since I can’t imagine that they were added later, I adopted them. 

I noticed another error in the model amidships. Three more portholes were missing from the upper row of casemates. 

I put my ship on its side again. 

And the portholes at the stern. 

It was time for the final details to be added before painting. For me there are always very few. Most of it is only processed towards the end. This includes the grilles in front of the bow and stern cannons and of course the crampons. 

I don’t use the crampons on the etched part boards. I don’t like these one hundred percent because they are of course flat. So I prefer to take thin wire and bend it to size.

 

In addition, crampons of different thicknesses were probably installed on the Mikasa.
And I want to represent this using 0.2 or 0.3 mm thick wire. I initially had 0.1mm wire in mind, but that wasn’t practical because it was too unstable. ( 0,2mm is 0,007 inch and 0,3mm is 0,01 inch) 

And this is how it turns out after checking the primer. I like it quite a bit. 

A few small irregularities can still be seen and will be removed with fine 1000 grit sandpaper after it has dried. 

But I think you can guess that the different strength crampons are like the original. 

I finished all the rough work on the fuselage and was finally able to finish painting it.
After a proper preshading the whole thing now looks like this. 

What followed was an accentuation. 

Which means nothing other than that I painted fine details in a lighter gray.

 

Here too, water-soluble acrylic paints have a big advantage. Small slips can be removed immediately with water without leaving any residue. 

Which was a real fiddly job. The dry decals from Pontos are really impressive. The depth marks are razor sharp. 

This gives a decent contrast to the preshading areas. 

I’ve already started aging. 

Now i can start aging. 

As always, very tedious. But the result that a little diluted dark gray paint leaves on a painted surface still amazes and fascinates me. Even after all the years I’ve been doing this. 

Hello dear model building friends, I’m a little further along. 

The first round of aging is complete. 

There are three filters on the underwater hull. 

On the gray two. 

Also a first washing. 

Above and below. 

I’m quite happy with it. 

I have finished aging the hull for now and turned a new ship into an old veteran. 

I particularly aged the anchor hawse and the area below the anchor berths, as a lot of dirt is likely to accumulate here. 

 

And port side. 

The chipping is also strongest here, as the anchors are likely to leave clear marks.

 

 

Amidships I aged more subtly. 

And a little more at the rear. 

The painting of the fuselage only continues when the missing parts are attached to the outside, i.e. pretty much at the end. 

The wooden deck was also glazed and applied. 

Now I can start equipping the deck, which I’m looking forward to. 

Ahoy dear model building community.

I hereby report back to the craft table.

My break had lasted a little longer than planned, but I had suffered a few personal blows this year. Three of my immediate family members have fallen ill with this terrible plague called cancer, including myself.
I think it blows up every statistic.

Three of them have now defeated it, only my mother unfortunately died from it three weeks ago.

Nevertheless, everyday life is returning to my life and that’s a good thing. Even though I’m still grieving for my mother, I’m going to start doing my hobby again. I think it will comfort and distract me a little.

And so my Mikasa appeared on my workbench again. 

First start with something small to warm up again. The barbettes were still missing splinter protection. 

Then I soldered the internal parts of the fans. In 1905, not all of the fan scoops were there anymore and that’s how you saw them. But I don’t know why they were removed. 

I researched the orientation of these internal parts as they were attached differently on different models and finally found this picture online where they are parallel to the direction of travel. 

And that’s how I installed them on the deck during the first superstructures. 

Then we want to follow our words with actions and continue building.
Let’s get to the internal structures.
All relatively simple, geometric structures. Neatly sanded and primed. 

Added a few doors and hatches to make the monotonous surface more interesting.
However, I am entering into an area of ​​historically unprovable assumptions. Only the pictures of the museum ship show the inner deck of the Mikasa. But that certainly doesn’t have much to do with the original ship.
So I allow myself some artistic freedom here, such as the railing, which is only placed here for customization. It is not documented historically. But it made sense to me, as you could get to the platform at the chimney via the gallery.
And a ladder should also be attached to the component, otherwise how would you get up to the front gallery!?
And that’s how this came about. 

We continue with the first 32-foot rescue cutter. A dream detail.
However, there is a small problem with the cradles. They are usually not in the places where they come onto the superstructure. That’s why you can see an unsightly gap between the cradle and the cutter, see arrow. 

Nothing that couldn’t be corrected with thin Styrene strips. 

Now the boat is lying neatly in its cradles again. 

And so the inner deck is slowly taking shape. 

Let’s move on to the internal structures and fans. The deck is slowly filling up.

 

One thing bothered me. Two box-shaped structures were squeezed between the two main houses. 

Seems completely illogical to me and cannot be seen on many models, including those from museums. And that’s why I don’t use it, the corridor remains open. 

Especially since a small platform can be seen on both deckhouses. Probably to get to the funnels.
That’s why I won’t install the boxes, but will attach a ladder and a railing here. 

I further refined the superstructure that accommodates the rescue cutter. 

The doors are from the MK1 set, the railings are from the model’s original etched parts set. 

And the ladders come from the leftover box. 

I’m starting to like it that way 

And off to the next etched part battle.
A lot of small boxes had to be bent and soldered. I also got a smaller bending aid, which makes such delicate things easier to handle. 

The first error in Pontos’ sentence is also quickly identified. The component of the box that is supposed to be attached to the front superstructure is unfortunately faulty. It would result in a box whose dimensions would not fit into the recess in the wooden decks. I checked the Pontos set what felt like a hundred times but unfortunately without success.
That’s why the KA sentence saved my butt. 

The slightly simpler lid was underlaid with cut-up etched part gratings and glued to the original component of the model
Then brought to its position for inspection. 

Little by little, the internal structures and boxes are made and collected in my printed organizers to be aged afterwards. 

I made a few improvements to the winches.
The large one did have a small cabinet included, I think a distribution box and the drive for the winch, but without any structure on the outside. 

The little winch would even be complete without everything. 

Nope, not like that…
So I did a little handwork and gave the big winch hinges and a closer made of thin lead wire. The little one got an upright box that functions as a closet. 

Still aging and with lead wire wrapped around the drum… 

Better. 

And so everything could get on deck. 

 

So I closed the original holes and created a new axle with a profile. 

 

Next up were the 6 pounders. While trying out the cannons in their casemates, I had the feeling that something was wrong with their position in the kit. And this was confirmed to me by a user from the “Modelshipworld” forum.
The shots of the cannon body are incorrect.
In the first picture you can see that the axle is not at all in the middle of the casemate opening. 

So I closed the original holes and created a new axle with a profile. 

Made another spacer. 

And the cannons can take their place. 

I like it much better this way. 

Now the pipe is where I think it belongs. There is a profile as a dummy in the opening. 

And thanks to the spacers, it’s also great in the vertical position. 

We’re getting to that QF 12 pounder 12 cwt naval gun.
There are eight of these to build, with 14 individual parts per gun. 

First I solder the gun barrel. Just holds up better. 

The rest is then attached with superglue. What a fumble. 

But as always with Pontos, fantastically detailed 

Painted and aged, they look so good. 

Let´s continuing.
The break lasted quite a long time. The reason: I had to make the remaining eight cannons.
It was a bit scary. 

I have to make eight more of these for the upper deck, sweat. 

Nonetheless, I finally finished all 16 naval guns and am glad I don’t have to do any more. 

And now I’ll show you the reason why I made all of them. A user in another forum pointed out to me that the guns were a little too high. That’s why I sanded down the carriage on the second slide a little so that they could look out of the middle of the opening.
The remaining eight will be distributed on the upper decks and it doesn’t matter. 

Let’s move on to the next conversion. Again, I liked the MK set better than the one from Pontos. Since I will be showing all the gun port covers open, I thought the rope shown was very nice.
What I changed are the hinges. Since they fold down when open, I simply replaced them with a narrow piece of profile. 

This is what it looks like for me. I used a slightly lighter grey to accentuate it. 

And attached to the gun ports.
These are the first external structures. Since it is inevitable that the gun barrels will stick out here, I wanted to have them attached already. 

And so the eight 12 pounders could take their place. 

A few boxes are still missing. 

And so I am quite happy with the position of the guns. 

Now they urgently need the protection of my sheet pile wall. After applying the clear varnish, I will screw it to the dry dock. I am curious to see if I will tear it down again before the construction is finished. ? 

To protect my model from further harm, I wrapped it up nicely. 

This should protect it pretty well from any carelessness on my part. ? 

On to the next construction phase.
The plan is to breathe a little life into the deck in the form of a crew. And this is where the next 3D print comes into play. This time I’m using the figures from ION Model, which I won in a competition with my Bismarck.
After an initial inspection, the quality is excellent.
Then I started looking for photos showing IJN sailors in their uniforms, like this image: 

Wow, much easier to paint than the DKM guys.

I had a few leftover Kriegsmarine sailors and wanted to use them to save on figures. The first ones were supposed to go behind the gun ports, where they’re almost invisible.
So I shaved his head and punched out flat caps from styrene. A small dot of superglue on the top hair, and the Japanese sailor is complete. 

Painted and ready to go on deck. 

To the cannon sailors, ahrrrrg… 

Fire free… 

And so the lid can go on. 

And the deck portside 

Aged and found to be good 

You don’t see much of the figures, but that’s how it’s supposed to be. The hint of the sailors at work below deck adds depth to the whole thing. 

Let’s move on to the support structures that connect the boat deck and the internal superstructure.
I soldered these to ensure maximum strength for these delicate T-beams. 

After testing it, everything seems to be fine. 

Only this connection needs to be slightly adjusted. It’s only provided by Pontos; it’s simply missing from the original kit, and it would create a large gap. Therefore, there’s no offset for it in the model, and the length of the component needs to be exactly right to ensure proper attachment.
 

New sailors have taken up their duties. 

Get to work with them immediately. 

Spread nicely on the deck. 

Provisions have to go into the belly of the ship and the first sailors have to scrub the deck under the supervision of an officer. 

A sailor climbs the ladder to search for the missing funnel. 

 

Afterwards, I opened the dry dock again to see how it all looked through the gun ports.
I think it looks very lively. 

We continue with the preparation of the next internal structures.
The MK set also clearly wins the race for the funnel chimneys over the Pontos set. 

The brass sleeves look excellent. Here too, Pontos had no improvement to offer for the original component. 

I’m amazed at how well the MK set is performing. The extra expense was definitely worth it for me. 

The fourth cradle for the pinnace has also been adapted and installed. 

And so the boat can take its place. 

I did a little research in my archives and came across this picture of the Bismarck’s tenders amidships. 

I then placed the rescue boat on its cradles and positioned it in the pinnace.
Liked it. 

Today I just want to share a small step.
The reason: Micro Master’s boats look absolutely fantastic when painted, and I don’t want to keep that from you.

So here are the two of them, piggybacking. 

A nice duo. 

When painted you can see all the fine details. 

The extra expense was definitely worth it. 

The EME is behind me and the falcon is back in its home. Time to get back to work on my boat.
To warm up, I turned my attention to the two dinghies.
It was clear that I didn’t want to cover them completely. So I designed a little scene to get around that.
I made a tarpaulin out of tissue paper and diluted wood glue. It took me a few tries. 

Then guys made to cover the boat.
Add the railing and rudder blades. 

Nice extra income, I don’t have to tie down the cutter anymore. 

And the first railing was also installed. 

A few spots are still shiny, so I need to apply another coat of clear coat.
I’m pretty happy with the way it is, and now I can move on to the funnels. 

Let’s get to another mini-update today.
It cost me a lot of nerves and the whole weekend. But first things first.
I was once again spoiled for choice between Pontos and KA for the funnel surface.
Pontos offers riveted struts, KA rings that run around the funnel.
So, I once again rummaged through my archives of the original ship and looked at conflicting pictures. Of course, often of rather poor quality.
The deciding factor was once again the quite good picture from Vladivostok, which I believe shows rings. 

And since it’s one of the last photos of the intact ship, I chose that one. I like it better anyway.
So first I cut the components out of the circuit boards. 

And again, KA Model wins.
My enthusiasm was dampened slightly when attaching the rings. They were a little too big. That’s why they were touching on one side, leaving an unsightly gap on the other.
I took them off again, sanded them cleanly, and then primed them thoroughly. Another attempt with the blue BluTack putty. This allowed me to keep the rings centered. 

It works. And since I’m using Mig’s acrylic adhesive, there’s no mess like with superglue. Diluted and applied with a fine brush, it flows wonderfully evenly into the gap thanks to capillary action.
Excess glue can then be easily removed with a brush. 

Ring by ring it continues downwards. 

It’s nice that I managed to solve it cleanly after all, since the funnels are in a rather prominent spot. So I set them up for a test. They look great with the rings. 

Let’s continue with the funnel.
I had to remove all the structures from the chimneys, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to fit the rings onto the cylinders. Now they’re installed, and I’ve recreated them with styrene profiles. Like this ledge at the bottom of the funnel. 

I got resin rivets on decal sheets from Eduard to make the surface more interesting. 

The same thing in a vertical orientation. I had to do a little trickery here to get them nice and straight and parallel. I applied them, let them dry, and then cut them with my sharp scalpel. 

Fits. 

It looks good after the initial aging. It’s a bit annoying that I can still see traces of the rings’ original texture. I wasn’t paying attention.  

But afterwards they hardly matter anymore. 

I had to position the rings so that the second ring wouldn’t interfere with the gallery. Therefore, it was important to measure the ring spacing precisely. 

Now prepare everything for the next step. On the right, you can see the pipes leading to the gallery. Here, I had to add a little bit of styrene to the pipe clamps that hold them to the chimney. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have fit over the rings. 

I can report that the symbiosis of Pontos and Ka Models on the Funnel has been a success.
It did require a bit of trickery, but I think it looks impressive.
Let’s start on the port side. 

Next came the task of threading the pipe into the gallery. The lower pipe clamp could only be attached after the pipe had already been installed on the funnel. A serious fiddly job. 

Additionally, the rings were in the way of the tubes to the right and left of the center. As mentioned in the last post, they needed to be slightly padded. Otherwise, they wouldn’t fit over the rings. 

It was not intended that the two accessory sets would be mixed together. 

I did have some initial difficulties, but I think I got the most out of both sets. And the result feels very satisfying. 

Once again, the details are sanded down, portholes drilled out, and holes filled in to replace and re-clad everything with beautiful brass.
First, the rear bridge house. 

The gusset plates are too thick for me and will be replaced with 0.25 mm thick styrene. 

And again on the deck. 

And now we continue with the application of the profiles.
I used the same ones on the bridge house as on the hull, only this time I glued them on the short side. 

I thought they should look narrower on the smaller superstructures. That’s why they were sanded down quite a bit afterward. 

But today is the end of it for now, the whole thing needs to dry properly overnight before I sand it. 

A first coat of primer to check the profile height. Then I sanded it down further and adjusted it.
Now I’m satisfied. 

The rain deflectors for the portholes are neatly lined up, and the door looks great. Pontos, in fact. 

The height of the portholes on the front bridgehouse is completely wrong; they are positioned much too low. So, they were filled with styrene round material and re-marked. 

Drilled and better… 

It’s fun to put your own stamp on a model that’s produced in large numbers. However, you should be aware that sometimes things won’t work out as you hoped. That’s what happened with the last construction phase.
Cost me a sleepless night, but first things first.
A new coat of primer was applied very thinly to check the profile height and build quality.
I quite liked it. 

As I considered how to proceed with the bridgehouse, I encountered a problem. I have to say that building this ship is considerably more challenging than, for example, the Bismarck, with its rather simple, straightforward superstructure.
Everything on this old ship of the line is so delicate and intricate that you really have to think carefully about the order in which you assemble the model. The mast is another thing I’m racking my brains over, but that will come later.
Now back to the bridgehouse and the culprit that made my life difficult.
This one: 

This is the external connection from the bridge house to the deck above. The supporting structure is once again extremely detailed by Pontos and simply beautiful to behold. 

The problem is that this outer bracket on the bridge house extends very low and could conflict with my profiles. So, to be on the safe side, I removed parts of it and rearranged them.
Believe me, that really bothered me. But I think I solved it quite well. Less is sometimes more.
It was a bit frustrating to remove the profiles at this point, but I wanted to play it safe. With such delicate structures, I felt it would be too risky to just keep going, only to find out at the end that it wouldn’t fit together. 

Okay, let’s move on to the masts and pause for a moment with the bridge houses.
I noticed the really tight space in which the masts have to be installed.
Once the ladders leading from the bridge house to the deck are installed, there’s hardly any room left to properly secure and align the masts. 

There’s even less space toward the stern.
That’s why I decided to attach the lower part of the masts in front of the bridgehouses. It’s nice that the lower mast is then split in two, so it won’t be a problem in terms of height.

 

So I decided to make it larger. This was done using an M4 washer. I drilled it out to the appropriate size and reduced its thickness. I then soldered it to the bottom of the mast. 

Primed… 

I also noticed the very limited surface area where the mast connects to the deck. I consider this a problem. Especially since I’d like to take this model to one or two exhibitions. A little more adhesive surface would be helpful.

 

…and painted and placed in the holes on the deck for testing. 

I quite like this so far. This should significantly increase the strength of the masts on deck and make aligning them at right angles easier. 

Today, it was all about properly securing the masts to the deck. I’m always a little nervous before such important steps.
That’s why preparation is key to ensuring everything goes smoothly. That’s how I did this small plate that serves as a support for the stop angle.

 

By placing it on the bridge house, I can quickly check the angle of each side of the mast. This is important because the time window is very small. I use superglue with a long setting time, but it still has to be done quickly. 

I won’t keep you in suspense, but it worked. I laid some more rope next to it and had a sailor check the ropes.

 

And everything went smoothly at the rear as well. Phew… 

The deck amidships is slowly filling up. 

Now that the short masts are firmly anchored to the deck, I can return to the bridgehouses. First, I soldered additional attachment points for the rigging. It’s simply the best way to hold. 

Now I can continue working on the bridge houses. 

After that, I did a little more research. There aren’t many original images of the ship, but I did find something interesting.
In the following image, I noticed two dark squares. Look at the green arrows. 

In my opinion, these can only be the gratings of the accommodation ladder. Since I will be showing my ship at full speed, as usual, they will also have to be stowed there on this model. But that will only happen after I have attached the bridgehouses to the deck.
What I am already doing is attaching the corresponding davits. I have identified them in the following pictures. Rear bridgehouse… 

And the implementation by me. 

And at the front. Strangely, my image editing program didn’t allow a green arrow. So a white arrow points to the davit. Note that the davits point to the right and left. 

Great, I love searching for details like Sherlock and then adding them. 

Another little mini-update to round off the weekend.

The only thing missing were the support poles for the awning, and then the base coat could be applied.

 

The protruding details such as profiles, davits and the like are accentuated again with a light grey. 

In combination with the preshading, this creates a fine first contrast

 

Now I can start aging next week. 

After a short break, I’m continuing.
The lower bridge houses are finished weathering and can be put on the deck for a test run. 

Now I have to think about the most logical way to proceed. 

I think the rear bridge house is not glued to the deck yet. 

Because directly behind it the steam pinasses come onto their cradles. 

It’s probably better to have a little more room for my fat fingers. 

For the armored control center, I lined the entrance with a profile. It was clearly too thin. 

And there isn’t much space in front of the bridge houses up to the tower.
So I’ve already fitted the lower parts of the tower into their barbettes and made them move freely. They were practically impossible to move.
And I’ve also prepared the lower ladders that belong on the mast. 

Just another small update that I had to do before moving further toward the bow.
I was still missing the bollards and other small items that would go directly in front of the bridge houses. 

These are now also attached to the deck. 

This had to be done so that I could install the companionways that lead to the main deck. 

This means the inner area is almost complete. 

And so the bridgehouse was glued in front of the steam pinnaces towards the stern. Otherwise, it would have been difficult to install the companionways behind the pinnaces. 

Now I can start with the anchor area at the bow and have cut everything I need out of the boards. 

Today we’ll continue without much ado.
I had time over the long weekend to finish the anchor section. 

That was fiddly. 

Let’s continue unspectacularly.
We’re still missing skylights, handwheels, and a winch on the main deck at the stern.
First, another small collection in my printed organizer. 

In this area, the Pontos set was used exclusively. KA failed to score points here. 

Of course, double-link chains had to be purchased again.
It’s disappointing that two very expensive aftermarket kits like KA and Pontos don’t consider it necessary to include proper chains. 

Nothing complicated, so straight to the result. 

The deck continues to fill, both front and back. 

The small stuff on deck is now roughly completed. 

I would like to show you this wonderfully detailed skylight a la Pontos again in a close-up.
That’s what sets these kits apart. Molded plastic can’t replicate that. 

And immediately, I have the next nerve-wracking construction phase ahead of me.
But I was particularly looking forward to this part. I’m starting to incorporate a miniature marvel of 3D printing technology into my model.
The 50-foot steam pinnace.
But first, I have to get it into the cradles and onto the struts.
I made a jig for that. 

One each for the starboard and port sides. The stripes aren’t exactly evenly spaced on the two sides, and I have to take that into account 

I now glue the cradles onto the gauge and can then align and change them easily without damaging the now quite delicate Mikasa. 

For example, the distance to the access to the higher deck is important, as the pinnace’s rudder extends quite far out. And toward the bow, I have to pay attention to the funnel rigging. 

I have the same problem with the cradles as I did with the cutter amidships.
They don’t fit where they were originally printed. And besides, only three were planned. But the pinnace rests on four struts, so I need one more cradle. It’s nice that four boats will be hanging from the davits at the stern later, so I can repurpose the cradles.
Then I took out the profiles and adjusted them. It’s better. 

And so the first pinnace could be placed in its cradles and placed on the deck for testing. You can see a faulty print in the hull. This has already been claimed, and I’m getting a new one.
In front of the boat, you can see a thin round rod. This is supposed to simulate the funnel rigging. You really have to think of everything. At least you should try to, so you don’t end up on your backside in the next step.  

I didn’t do much last week, as it was my wedding anniversary and I was traveling with my wife.
But the pinnaces have come a little further.
First, we had to negotiate this small edge on the upper deck. 

I solved this by padding the front part of the cradles with a little styrene. 

Fits quite well. 

Afterwards I did a little more research on steam pinnaces. At first I wasn’t quite sure about the color scheme of the little boats, but then I found this rather simple model on a picture. 

So I’ll be able to encase them in the simple gray war dress, which is my favorite.
Then I’ll apply the base color. A real test of patience with these highly detailed little gems. 

Then the obligatory aging. 

First washing and dry painting. 

Man, these boats look great. 

Finally, the small pinnaces were put on the deck again for testing. 

The yarn is passed through the deck eye and the second rope tensioner is put into position. 

First, the rigging twine was attached to the eyelet and glued into the lower hole of the funnel. It’s working very well so far.

It’s important for me to always use enough twine. This simplifies the whole knotting and threading process. Being cheap isn’t cool here. 

Then I thread the yarn through the two holes in the cut-off railing support. 

Ahoy, landlubbers.
After a short creative break, I’d like to return with a mini update.
I’ve pushed the pinnaces back again because I first have to take care of the funnel’s shrouds.
I’ve given this a few thoughts. Rope tensioners definitely need to be installed; anything else would be illogical.
How can I best do this without too much effort?
Here’s my solution:
First, I cut stanchions into small pieces. The green arrow points to pre-cut stanchions in a scale of 1:200. I want to use them as rope tensioners. The yellow arrow shows some in a scale of 1:350. They’ll serve as eyelets on the funnel. 

The first piece of rigging on the funnel is finished. Painted with aluminum paint, the thread running along the outside of the rope tensioner is almost invisible. 

I’m happy with that and can now focus on the next pardunes. 

Today just two pictures of the finished guyed funnels. 

This completes the first piece of rigging work. 

This weekend, I had planned to finally finish the pinnaces.
The funnels had already been laid down and installed, but there were still a few small items missing that I wanted to add shortly before the end to avoid tearing them down again. 

Two more boat hooks scratched on each pinnace and the portholes glazed. 

A chain hoist is installed to secure the boats. 

Railings and companionways mounted on the foredeck. 

I need to refinish the deck where the pinnaces rest. During all the adjustments, I scratched the paint surface and had to patch it up. I’ll have to go back to that. 

Slowly life comes into the place. 

A new sailor has also started his service. 

He checks the tension on the pinnace’s chain hoist. 

Let’s move on to the next yawls: the small steam launch.

I haven’t found a 3D printer for this one, so I guess I’ll have to do it myself.
Originally made from the box, the boat really doesn’t look anything like it. First, I removed the rough outline of the engine and the bulky center bar of the upper section. 

Then I inserted a grating floor. The Bismarck’s former bridge wing was trimmed and fitted. Cheers to the etched parts grab bag. And I removed the suggested grating at the rear. 

Now I made a bench seat and glued in the ribs from profiles. I attached an etched grille from the KA set to the rear. 

We still need a boiler. It’s also only rudimentarily represented in the original, so there’s room for more. A small profile should represent the engine and its cylinders. A few flanges on top—you can never have enough. 

Then, little by little, more details were added: piping, a handwheel, and a support for the tilting funnel. A small instrument panel at the front rounds it all off. Everything is then mounted on a styrene strip for easier handling. 

More piping and a second handwheel. It never hurts. 

And then I am quite satisfied with the whole facial expression. 

Let’s put the whole thing in the little boat. Let’s put the funnel in for a test. 

Ferrules are really great for small funnel. So far, so good.
Now we’ll apply the paint, and then we’ll add the small parts like the propeller and rudder. 

Today, the entire machinery arrived in the barge.
Placed on the deck in its cradle for testing. 

The space is very limited and it is damn tight. 

Since the davits are still missing, the barge isn’t secured yet. The chain hoists for lashing it down aren’t attached either. 

The next cutters are again 3D prints. 

The shape of the Mikasa is slowly taking shape. 

I pushed the next cutters back for now, as the davits are missing and I can’t determine the optimal position. The steamboat isn’t glued down yet either.

So I started on the rear bridge. I was a bit apprehensive about this construction phase. You might remember that I removed some of the profiles on the bridge houses because I wasn’t sure everything would fit in the end.

But first things first.
First, I laid the wooden deck while I could still exert pressure on the plastic part.

 

After everything had thoroughly dried, I wanted to attach the posts that support the bridge on the bridge house. They were originally made of plastic, but I immediately rejected that idea. I cut some out of brass to give them more stability.
Attaching them, however, turned out to be a real test of patience. 

Next, the outer support structure was attached. What a delicate construction phase. But it looks so good. 

After testing the bridge, I realized, no, not like that. It’s completely unstable.
So I’m starting from the back. I drilled holes for the posts so I could push them through from above later. 

This will stop once the underside has received its large brass component with the gusset plates. 

After I had completed that satisfactorily, I had to carefully tape everything off to avoid dirtying the wooden deck with the primer.

 

The base coat is applied, and then the moment of truth. Does everything fit?! 

And you see, yes… everything fits together perfectly. So I wouldn’t have had to remove the profiles at all. It would have been close, but it would have worked anyway.
Still, she’s confident. 

I’ve already soldered the little bridge house and placed it on the deck for fun.
Very nice. 

Kleines Update. 

Good morning, model builders.
Before I go on vacation, I wanted to post a quick update.
The front wheelhouse has been soldered and assembled. 

And the deck, too. I added a small styrene profile in the middle. This ensures the deck rests firmly on the armored control station and gives the whole thing stability. You can’t see any of it. 

Once you hang up, you’ll see that it would have been really tight with my profiles. 

And that’s how the Mikasa got its two upper levels. Heck… 

and towards the bow. 

That’s it in a nutshell before I set off on my journey tomorrow.

And here are a few more impressions of my model in its current construction state. 

 

 

 

Ahoy, dear forum community.
I’m back from my vacation.
I hadn’t quite unpacked my suitcases yet, but I was already magically drawn back to my ship model.
But since I didn’t feel like dealing with small stuff and wanted to make something big and simple, my eyes immediately fell on the large towers.
First, I cut out everything and collected it. 

The interior was already prepared and only needed to be glued to the hood. Then the brass ring was attached to the base. A nice, easy start after the vacation. 

Things got a bit more difficult with the large brass component that goes on the turret lid. But that wasn’t a problem with MIG’s acrylic glue. Of course, unlike with superglue, you have to hold the whole thing in place while it dries.
But that’s no problem. 

Then I primed it, checked for cracks, and closed them.
So far, so good. 

And then came the unexpected setback.
Getting the brass gun barrels into their mounts proved surprisingly difficult. The turret openings were very narrow and in some cases, the primer was peeling off the barrels. Furthermore, the barrels didn’t fit particularly well in their brass mounts and were relatively unstable. I then filled them with a lot of glue.
Thankfully, you won’t notice any of that later. 

So, the gun barrels are now rigidly mounted, glued together, and stable.
This doesn't bother me, since I always build the main turrets in the moving position anyway. 

The green arrow shows the defective primer.
After painting, you shouldn't notice any of it anymore. Now I can continue working on them next week. 

So, another little update today.
The primer was smoothed and repaired again in the damaged areas with 1000-grit sandpaper.
Then I cleaned and attached a lot of microscopic parts.
The turrets are made almost entirely from the Pontos kit. Only the armor plates of the small turrets were provided by the KA kit.
See green arrow. 

This allowed the base coat and a first wash to be applied.
Bow: 

And stern 

Mikasa’s face continues to become more complete. 

I actually wanted to finish weathering the towers today. But firstly, things don’t always turn out the way you expect, and secondly, they don’t, right?!

While placing the large
artillery pieces in their barbettes, my attention was drawn again to the bridgehouses with the structures I had modified from styrene profiles.
Wait a minute, I thought, I did that on the hull too. And that’s where the supports for the torpedo nets are attached directly to the hull.
Oh dear, open the dry dock carefully immediately. 

And indeed, the supports run along the hull at the points marked in green, and the profiles would create a large gap there. So, I marked the height with my waterline marker. 

I put the Mikasa on its side, put a new blade on the scalpel, and started carving notches. My little dry dock is invaluable again. It allows me to rest my hand properly and perform open-heart surgery with a steady cut. 

So far, so good. A scrap piece of an old etched circuit board was cut to length and applied. No gap visible anymore, perfect. 

So here’s the result. The notches run exactly under the green line, which is supposed to represent the torpedo net support. 

Then do the same on the other side. Since I’ve already opened the dock, I checked the positions for the barge and the cutters. That should be fine. 

Of course, I added the bridge decks for posing. I rarely see my model like this. 

My big towers took a little longer, but they’re finished.
So here’s another little update today.
 

This model really keeps me awake at night. But whatever, this beautiful ship deserves a little effort and attention. 

Into the barbettes. With their wedge shape, they could still win a design award today, I think.
 

And towards the rear. Its unusual shape is truly impressive. 

This completes the main armament and I can now focus on the bridge. 

The Mikasa looks so cool from the front. 

Just a quick snack at my shipyard today.
Before I start on the bridge wing and the wheelhouse, I wanted to make a few neat handrails to simplify and make things safer.
For this, I made small, custom-made handrails out of a multiplex board. 

Then cover the surface with BluTack. 

And the two components were placed on top. 

Now I can work on them properly without having to worry about tearing off the outer support struts again.

 

I don’t have too much to report today. I’m finding very little time for model building at the moment, and I’ve had to rethink and implement a few things.
First, the ingredients for the next construction phase. 

First, the door frames were installed. These were painted with a slightly lighter grey to increase the contrast. 

The partition wall and interior fittings for the wheelhouse were then made from styrene. 

Difficult to capture with the camera, but you can get a sense of the room’s interior. More staff will arrive there later. 

On to the steering rudder station. Here’s another picture of the large compass. 

Only the MK1 kit offers anything here. But I didn’t like the way it was supposed to be assembled. The sight glass was simply placed on top of the brass turned part. Unimaginative. 

At first, I considered using the part from the original kit. However, I was annoyed by the poorly designed sprue attachment points. Why not just attach it from below? But I couldn’t really warm to that part either. It was too crude. 

So I looked at the brass part again and thought, hey, I’m a locksmith and I do have files… 

Better… 

And here’s a direct comparison. Which looks better?
I think, for my part, the Ka set has won the race again. With a little help from me. 

The compass was finished except for the correction balls. I then placed it on the two wheelhouses for a test fit and thought, wow, that’s quite a big piece.
Then, together with a sailor, I placed the compass on a piece of modeling clay and wondered, were they really that big, or did Trumpeter and KA Models make a slight mistake with the dimensions? 

Now I’d like to show you a picture of what actually triggered my compass crisis. That huge thing is going to crash right through the roof! 

So, I’m starting my compass challenge now. Well, I have plenty of styrene profiles and quickly found the right thickness: 1.5 mm instead of just over 2 mm should be correct. Then I roughly cut them to size to see how they look on a person.
Next to it you can already see the attempt to create a foot from the good old scrap box. 

I think it looks a lot more authentic now, both in height and diameter. 

And here it is, primed. Now you can really see if it turned out well. 

I’ve since received several photos of various column compasses from friends or found them online. Some of them have a flap over the sight glass. I’ve recreated this feature because, in my opinion, it looks more authentic than trying to depict the glass itself. 

Finally, I attached a vertical tube, which is also found on some compasses. I don’t know its purpose, though. 

Then I often saw a round inclinometer, which I replicated with a tiny brass plate. There was usually a maintenance hatch underneath. 

And with that, the first compass is finished. Now, the obligatory size comparison with the figure. 

I really had to fight my way through my compass crisis. It was quite tough and took a while. But now four are finally finished. 

And they also received a washing. 

Both steering wheels and the engine telegraphs are finished. 

I initially wanted to put figures in here, but I decided against it. Otherwise, it would look too cramped.
I also did a little trick with the compass. I cut a piece off the bottom part with a scalpel so I could get it as close as possible to the front wall of the wheelhouse and the steering wheel would fit properly behind it. You can’t see any of it afterward. 

Let’s start with the small wheelhouse towards the stern. It’s quite cramped. The floor is still a bit shiny from the glue, so I touched it up with matte clear varnish. 

And I even tried placing it on the Mikasa to see how it works. 

I am very satisfied with that. 

Preparing the interior of the wheelhouses proved to be a real challenge. After a few setbacks and starting over, it finally worked.

And the many helpful tips from users in all the forums where I post my build logs contributed greatly to the success.

But now, on to the forward wheelhouse.

There was much more space here than at the stern, and I could really let my creativity flow.

You probably know how it is. Making and preparing repetitive parts is often a tedious and boring task. But when it comes to arranging them on the model, it’s like Christmas and Easter all rolled into one. That’s when I really enjoy it.

That’s exactly what happened in the Mikasa’s wheelhouse. I arranged the individual parts as shown in the pictures of the museum ship. Again, I positioned them a little further away from the base of the compass mast to save space. 

Officer and sailor on deck and full speed ahead.

 

In room two, a sailor I had modified sits in front of the desk. The officer is shouting instructions. 

Let’s put the lid on and see what else is visible of the whole scene. 

It’s very difficult to get a proper exposure with the camera. Because I have to get the lens very close to the wheelhouse, I’m blocking the light from the work lamp. 

However, I think you can see enough to guess what is going on in the room. 

 

 

Now that I’ve mastered the doors, I’m moving straight on to the next section, which I was dreading again.
The mere thought of the tarpaulin that attaches to the railing made me break out in a sweat. This is where my homemade handle really comes in handy and calms me down a bit. It securely holds the part in my vise, making it much easier to work on. 

I first cut tissue paper to the correct size using my paper cutter and dyed it brown. Then, using a very thin mixture of water and MIG acrylic glue, I applied the paper to the railing.
Shaped and aged, I’m already satisfied with my first attempt. 

Even at the stern, where the space between the bridge and the mast is extremely tight. Everything is satisfactory. 

Placed on the ship again for testing and it fits. 

After I succeeded with that, I continued tinkering a bit with the stand for storing the signal lines. You can see a first prototype. The height is currently flush with the railing. I think I’ll make it a bit higher, though. I’ll also make the signal flags out of tissue paper and put them on the shelf.
Let’s see how that looks. 

A long strip of colored tissue paper is placed around the remaining railing of the bridge and cut at the corners. 

Once the strip has dried, I can fold over the top edge between the cuts and glue it down. 

A small model-making spatula with a ball head helps to neatly shape the tarpaulin against the railing. 

Then age again and you’re done. 

Once that was done, I looked at my work and thought, hmm, how could I make it a little more interesting? Maybe create a little scene where the crew is attaching the tarpaulin to the railing?

Let’s see. 

So I started this test run… 

…with styrene, an old railing and a few sailors. 

So far so good. 

Only one thing bothers me.

Unfortunately, I only thought of it after I’d finished the railing on the rear bridge. And that would have been the perfect spot for this little section of groyne. It has the most space to properly detail it.
Now I have to figure out where else I could fit it. 

And I’ve finished the next test.
For this scene, I chose the roof of the wheelhouse. Space is very limited, but I think it worked nonetheless. 

Only two sailors are now pulling up the tarpaulin due to the limited space. The compass and speaking tubes also need to go there. The sailor on the right should also move a little to the right. 

I’ve placed it on the wheelhouse.
I don’t think it looks bad at all. I could expand the scene in front of the cabin. The sailor who folded the tarpaulin during the first test could go there, and an officer yelling at the guys would also look great. 

So, let’s create a scene facing the bow 

What can I say?
When you want to add these kinds of DIY extras that weren’t originally planned, you have to expect some setbacks.
I’m afraid putting the tarpaulin over the small wheelhouse was a bit too ambitious. There simply isn’t enough space to make it look good.
Today I glued the railing onto the cabin and did a test fitting with a compass and speaking tubes. 

I’m afraid if I cram the two sailors and the folded-over tarpaulin up there, it’ll look like something you’d find at Woolworth’s bargain bin during their summer sale.
And of course, I only get one shot at the actual model, and if I don’t like it… What a waste of that nice big space in front of the wheelhouse. I’ll see what else I can do with it. Maybe a little exercise with the searchlights, semaphore lights, and/or signal flags.
No, I won’t discard this scene, but I will move it to the front bridge. 

After weathering, I set up a few figures and the rapid-fire guns to see how it looked. 

I still think it would have worked better on the rear bridge. There was simply more space there. 

And laid down again on the ship. 

I think it can stay like this. 

And now, for the sake of completeness, here’s the finished version.
I did a little more work on the shadows and highlights in the drapery folds. 

This was especially necessary for the second figure from the right, as the tarpaulin shouldn’t be floating in the air. So, for the crouching sailor, I shaped it to fit over his knee. 

I’m trying to get the sailors to interact with each other on stage. I think I hear the two on the right quietly saying, “Hey, how do you tie that tarp again?” 

It was also important to me to create reasonable points of contact between the boys and the tarpaulin. 

It should look as if they are pulling on the tarp to get it into the right position. 

So that people will believe they are in the process of attaching the tarpaulin to the railing. 

And last but not least, it was played on the Mikasa. 

I've finally finished installing the tarpaulins on the bridge, completing another delicate task.
And here's how it looks now. 

After consulting with users, the supports on the railing for the sunshade were removed and will be folded up and stored on the deck later. This was likely related to the work being done on the tarpaulin. 

And subject them to the usual procedure of painting details and weathering. The first cutter is finished. 

Since the bridge is roughly finished, I wanted to continue working amidships before attaching it to the Mikasa.
So I turned my attention to the three missing lifeboats. 

Micro Master makes truly first-class 3D prints. 

Painting the rope neatly on the side of the cutter was truly a test of patience. 

But the middle deck is also slowly filling up. Starboard deck complete. 

Have you ever heard this before?!
Nothing is as constant as change.
I was thinking about the 32-foot cutter and its color scheme again this week and decided to change it. 

It didn’t seem right to me that the tidy Japanese would soil the white floorboards with their feet. I believe it’s generally accepted that the inside of the hull was painted white. 

But the floor would get dirty very quickly. So I redid it and painted the floor in wood tones. I think it looks much better now. 

And placed on the deck. Yes, better. 

A quick update from me.
The remaining 32-foot cutters have been painted and placed on their cradles.

 

Aged… 

…and positioned for testing. I definitely like it better than with the white floorboards. 

Not much has happened since the last post. But I finally managed to finish the top row of cutters and the steam launch.

 

The oars have been distributed among the cutters. 

Here are the details again. 

I’ve distributed some more ropes. 

And I packed a little bit of tarpaulin into the boats. That’s how I tried to make them a little more varied. 

The barge has also been given a small anchor. 

At first, I wasn’t quite sure how to secure the cutters. But then I found a picture showing that even the small boats were secured with a chain hoist. 

I have a small addendum regarding the cutters. It didn't seem right to me to leave the oars unsecured in the boat.
So I secured them with a rope to prevent them from slipping. 

And with that, I wish you all a wonderful and peaceful Christmas. 

I’ve slightly opened up my assembly jig again to determine the positions of the launch and cutter.
To do this, I removed the davits from their injection-molded frames and inserted them into the designated holes. Then, using a small strip of styrene profile, I positioned the boats at the same distance from the outer edge of the hull. 

So far, it’s looking pretty good. It’s definitely a tight fit, but I can get all the little boats in place. Before I secure them, though, I’ll make sure everything is perfectly aligned.

 

I simulated the rope of the pulley system with a wire, and it fit quite well on the cutters. 

However, this doesn’t work with the barge. The arrow shows where the rope hits the stop and the barge has shifted backward. Here I need to raise the davits or modify the pulley system. 

And so the ship continues to take shape. 

They’re actually members of the German Navy. But as soon as they received a nice new styrene flat cap, they started speaking Japanese. ?
So I’m further increasing the number of available figures. 

Everyone dressed up and ready to board the ship. 

I remembered the words of user dafi from a German forum, who spoke of group formation, and I hope I’ve implemented it adequately. With a group of sailors talking amongst themselves. 

What could the boys possibly be chatting about as soon as the officer turned his back on them?! 

Something needs to be repaired on the fan cover, and a sailor is bringing more equipment to the storage lockers. 

An officer steps out of the armored command post and the sailor gives a brisk salute. 

At the stern, a sailor goes into the control station, and an officer keeps an eye on the boys working in the pinnace. 

I’ve already distributed the figures on the lower deckhouse, so now the upper bridge with the cams can finally be installed. 

I would have difficulty reaching those spots afterwards, so that’s how I did it before. 

Even these figures are barely visible afterwards, but again they give the model depth and a touch of life. The good thing is that I could easily use the DKM sailors with their incorrect clothing. 

I used my day off to tackle another tricky task.You might remember that I wanted to do things differently than planned when mounting the posts that support the bridge on the bridge deck. First, I glued the bridge securely in place yesterday and let it dry thoroughly until this morning.Then I pushed the posts through the holes I had already prepared.

 

The profiles at the top were cut to size, and that was it. A little brown paint, and you can’t see them anymore.
Then I attached the support pillars at the front. That was a bit tricky, to be honest, but it worked. Thanks in part to my assembly stand, which allowed me to lay the model on its side again and made the job much easier.

 

And so the bridge and its supports are now in place. 

It wasn’t easy to align all the support pillars perfectly straight and parallel to each other. 

I really like working with the team below me. 

The posts still need to be aged, but I’ll do that this weekend. 

I've finished the bridge and its girder and am now starting to add more details.
First, I'll take care of the signal flags. So I created this prototype. 

For this, I've built a small wooden cabinet out of styrene to store the flags, which I'll probably make from tissue paper. 

I'm toying with the idea of having a figure here later, holding one of the signal lines to raise a flag, something like this. Now I have to build four of these little cabinets first, I'll keep you posted. 

The forward bridge building was still missing some colored lights—the navigation lights.

Port… 

And starboard… 

Now I could finally get to work on my shelves. First, I cut a lot of profiles to size. 

Painstakingly glued together and painted brown. I folded long strips of tissue paper using an accordion-like technique, colored the ends, and then cut them off. That’s how each letter was created. 

Here you can see A to E. 

I couldn’t get more than five in a row, so in the end there are only 20 letters on the shelf. Please forgive me. 

Then I set it up on the object of my desire to test it out and let it work. I really like it. 

And I also made the attachment points for the ropes flatter. They were still too high for me. 

Then I assembled the missing wind vents. 

Next, I tackled the crane boom and the wind vents.
I’m actually installing the crane boom very early on, for two reasons.
First, this allows me to finish the work on the amidships deck, and second, I want to put the upper part of the masts in place as late as possible. On the Mikasa, they are much taller and more delicate than on the Bismarck, making the model quite unwieldy.
And so I got started.
First, I created a mounting for the pulley on the boat deck. This consisted of two deck eyes and a base plate. The nice thing about this was that it gave me a little more leeway when aligning the crane boom. The hook could be moved up and down a bit in the bracket, which simplified things. 

And without further ado, let’s get all that stuff onto the model. 

The crane boom is placed on a support. 

And the pulley system can be conveniently parked on the deck. 

It’s a damn tight fit, but it works. 

Okay, a quick update for the weekend.
And here’s the material you’ll need. 

Curtain up: 

The crew folds up the excess tarpaulins for storage. An officer supervises the work from above. 

Finally, my compass, into which I had put so much work, could also be placed on the model. 

There’s not much to see of his brother in the wheelhouse. 

And the first 12-pound naval guns were also allowed to take their places. 

The front bridge is now complete, except for the searchlights. 

Just a few pictures of the rear bridge today. It’s now been fitted with crew and interior details. The searchlights are still missing, as I’m waiting for the 3D print from New Zealand. Also, a signal flag is supposed to be hoisted, but for that I need the complete mast. 

It still annoys me a little that I didn’t show how to attach the tarpaulin here. But crying won’t help, so this is what I’ve done. 

The crew is being trained on the 12 pound cannons. 

Under the strict supervision of the officers. 

That means I’ve now finished everything amidships. As always, following my crafting maxim, I’m working from the inside out.

 

And so I can now turn my attention to the bow and the stern. 

I have a major setback to report.
I was so engrossed in depicting a great scene on the bridge that I made a huge mistake. I installed the wrong guns. I was able to remove the 12-pounders that didn’t belong there from the bridge without causing too much damage 

The veneer on the starboard side was more severely damaged and a figure has come loose. 

Things went better at the stern. However, removing the cannons there was much more difficult because of the figures. 

But it worked. Only one figure came loose, leaving a bit of shoe sole on the deck. 

And here you see the culprits and their successors.
Thankfully, the 12-pounders are only minimally damaged. Nothing that can’t be fixed. And to cover the damaged veneer, I found suitable flanges from an old photo-etched brass sheet, which will then go under the Hotchkiss guns. 

I managed to correct my mistake. The incorrect guns were replaced, and ultimately no damage was done to the model. The smaller Hotchkiss guns have taken the place of their larger counterparts, and you can no longer see any trace of the damaged veneer.
But see for yourselves. 

The whole thing looks much more harmonious now. The 12-pounders were obviously far too big for the delicate deck. 

The team was also able to resume their training. 

The whole thing was incredibly stressful. 

On the German forum “Modellboard,” a user pointed out to me that wherever there’s a gun, there should also be space for ready ammunition. Ideally in the form of crates, I assume.

There really isn’t much space on the narrow bridge, so I went searching again. I can’t see any crates in the few pictures that exist, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. Without the canvas cover, the Mikasa is only shown in its black and white peacetime paint scheme, and the guns weren’t yet installed on the bridge then. And at the point in time when I’m depicting the ship, i.e., in war gray, the bridge already has a canvas cover in all the pictures, and you wouldn’t be able to see the crates anyway, whether they were there or not.
So I placed various unpainted crates in different locations for testing, and these would be my favorites.
This position aft of the bridge, near the Hotchkiss gun. 

On the bridge towards the bow, I can’t place them too close to the guns because the large wheelhouse takes up a lot of space. There simply isn’t enough room without it looking cramped.
That’s why I chose this spot. 

Finally, I’d like to briefly show you another fantastic 3D printed item from Micro Master, which has just arrived from New Zealand: the 24-inch searchlights for the bridge.
I’ve already experimented with silver paint and Micro Krystal Klear on the lens, and I quite like the result. 

And once again, I’ve made a little more progress. Next, I tackled the bow fairleads. These are used to guide ropes over the hull, for example, for mooring lines. Here, too, some rework was necessary, as Pontos wasn’t entirely clean with the cutouts for them in the wooden deck. Almost all of them were affected. 

Using a scalpel, I cut away the section where the wooden decking protruded and reinserted it on the other side. The wooden decking is quite forgiving in this respect, and you won’t see any trace of it in the end. 

Now the fairleads fit seamlessly into the recesses of the model. 

This closes another gap in the truest sense of the word. 

Now on to the next 3D printed items: the searchlights.
Neither Pontos nor KA-Models impressed me here. The Pontos searchlights were okay, but the KA-Models ones were a disaster. They were so small that they weren’t visible over the railing. They would only have been useful if you’d lost your keys in the dark on the bridge wing and needed to search for them..
Then there were the aforementioned ammunition boxes and lifebuoys.

 

And here Micro Master once again demonstrates its strength in printing details. The searchlights are amazing. 

The only difficult part is cutting them out of the print support without destroying the fine, delicate details. 

You even have to look very closely to avoid mistakenly detaching something that you think is a support but is actually a small lever or something similar. 

I then simply painted the lenses with Vallejo’s Metal Color paint in silver. 

The boxes I set up are somewhat overshadowed by my fascination with the spotlights. But let me tell you, they’ve ended up where they were supposed to be. 

The bridge and wing are almost finished. All that’s missing is the scene with the raising of the signal flags.
For that, however, I need a mast. 

And I’ll only attach the semaphores at the very end. They would just get in the way when I’m rigging the signal lines. It shouldn’t be a problem to secure them later with a drop of glue.
And therefore, the bridge wing is finished.. 

What can I say? There’s news from the shepherd shipyard, but unfortunately, no progress.
Now comes the time when model-building steps I’ve completed interlock with new ones. And since I’ve mixed many things together, be it the two detail sets from Pontos and Ka-Models or the printed parts from Micro Master, you can now see what fits and what doesn’t.
In this case, it’s about the guy wires for the masts. I checked them at their attachment points because I had a strange feeling about them. I attached the middle section of the masts as a test and simulated the guy wires with thin styrene rods. Unfortunately, I had to find that my feeling was right. The small steam launch is too far back and is in the way.

 

Oh dear, what to do?
First, I tried to relocate the anchor points for the ropes. But that didn’t work; there simply wasn’t enough space, and it wouldn’t have been right anyway. The old photos of the Mikasa clearly show that the backstays were attached exactly where the deck eyes are now. So, the only option left was to reposition the launch.
So, carefully, I took it down. I’m so glad I only use superglue very rarely now. The acrylic adhesive really has good strength but is much easier to remove. I carefully loosened the cradles with a scalpel and removed them without breaking anything. A little paint was lost, but it can easily be touched up. 

Then, as a test, the barge was moved forward. 

And lo and behold, now the guy lines are working again. All the other cutters can stay where they are; I have no problems with their guy lines. Phew, that was a close call. 

Next, I turned my attention to the main deck amidships one last time.I found a new manufacturer of 3D printed parts and got in touch with the owner. We had a very pleasant and productive exchange of ideas, and now he’s selling crates and cargo in my scale.These are primarily intended for a harbor diorama, but there are enough individual crates and barrels to populate my model. He also offers figures.
Modellbauray.
And so I’ve put together a small selection. 

Painted and aged, they make a very good impression. 

So, let’s get it onto the ship. We still need to stock up on provisions. 

You can still see quite a bit from the port side as well. 

It took me several attempts to get the crates and barrels photographed under the pinnace. But I think I’ve added some depth to the model. 

The bridge also received a box in which the tarpaulin is stored. 

And someone has to sweep up the mess… 

Let’s move on to another detail that I planned and prepared quite early on: the release mechanism for the anchors.
You might remember that I created three recesses in the hull to accommodate this detail. 

First, the individual parts need to be prepared again: profiles, brass tubes, and a release lever made from a railing support.

 

Everything was patiently assembled and ready for installation. 

It fits together perfectly and I’m satisfied. The release lever will only be attached once the railing is installed. 

Then, as a test, a chain was attached, which will later hold the anchor in its lying position. 

So, I ended up modifying the detailed, but not entirely accurate, Byers Stockless anchor, and I'd like to show you in this mini-update.
The anchor is too long to fit on the intended mooring surface. It also lacks the stave. Therefore, I cut up the anchor from the original kit to create a stave and shortened the printed anchor. 

I extended the shaft with a styrene profile and remade the shackle with copper wire.
That was also something I didn’t like about the kit anchor. The shackle was horizontal to the shaft. Mr. Newton wouldn’t allow that and would insist on his Newtonian laws. Therefore, the shackle should point downwards. The stock also got a hole, just like the original. 

And so I put everything together and am very pleased with the result. The shackles will only be added when attaching the anchor chain, as I have to thread it through. 

Then I checked their berths to make sure I hadn’t messed anything up. Everything seems to be in order. Ready to age. 

And here you can see the finely painted anchors, still lying loose on the ship.
So I think the effort was worthwhile. Even though they aren’t the correct anchors, they give the model a depth that I could never have achieved with the original parts.
Therefore, I hope the historically knowledgeable model builder will forgive me. 

I immediately moved on to the next small step to see how it would look when finished.
First, I prepared and attached a bunch of small eyelets. 

To attach the retaining chains, I laid the model on its side again. This greatly simplifies feeding the chains in. Gravity simply slides them under the anchors. 

Great, that’s exactly how I envisioned the release mechanism. After cutting and gluing the chains, they don’t sag. They look as if they’re holding the anchors in position under tension. Just as it should be. 

The mooring area has aged considerably, as a lot of dirt must have accumulated under the anchors.
And so, for now, I’m satisfied with the result. 

And one more small update on Sunday morning: the two starboard chains are also installed.  

Hello fellow model building enthusiasts.
I’ve put the build on hold for a bit while I consider my next steps.
I don’t want to continue working on the bow section at the moment. I plan to attach the chains and davit later, and the lifeboats at the stern won’t be installed. So I think it’s time to focus on the torpedo net supports and the casemate hatches.
To do this, I’ve taken the model out of its assembly stand, as I want to modify it a little for the next steps in the hull construction.
I took this opportunity to take a few photos of the almost finished model on its final stand. 

I also had a very nice name tag made by the company ModelMonkey, which was even attached for a test fit. 

There’s still quite a bit to do on the outside of the hull. I’m already dreading installing the gallery at the stern.

 

Man, the silhouette of that ship is really great. 

I especially like Mikasa from the front. As if she wanted to impale her opponent. 

I’m back at the workbench. The short break is over, and I’m excited to begin the final phase.
First up are the remaining details on the outer hull. To make this easier, I’ve modified and expanded my assembly stand a bit. 

I will frequently need to open it from one side in the near future to attach components to the fuselage. For this purpose, I acquired sleeve nuts and glued them into the stand in place of the regular nuts. This makes opening it much easier, as I no longer need to tighten the nuts against each other. 

Furthermore, I’ve enhanced the protection. The installation of the torpedo nets and their supports is next. These extend quite far back, especially at the stern. Therefore, I’ve mounted an additional bracket to protect them. 

First, I assembled the small anchors in their holders. To do this, I attached the photo-etched parts to a piece of adhesive tape and inserted the anchor into the holders. This makes it easier, as gravity helps. Then I attached the locking mechanisms on top and let it dry. 

The same system applies when attaching the anchor to the hull. If the model is lying on its side, the acrylic adhesive sets beautifully because gravity holds the component in place.

 

And now he’s where he’s supposed to be. 

The side covers of the upper casemate guns were still missing. Here too, it helps immensely if the model is lying on its side so that the covers can be aligned at leisure. 

This completes the port side, and I can easily and quickly close the side again using the new sleeve nuts and install the same on the starboard side. 

Opening and closing my assembly stand works very well, as expected, and thanks to the sleeve nuts it's now also very quick. 

This makes it incredibly easy to simply switch sides and lay the model on its side for easier lid installation. 

It simplifies things so much. Especially since I don’t need to use superglue, as the acrylic adhesive has time to bond due to gravity. 

More and more of the covers on the casemate guns are taking their place. 

I can only attach the lids that open downwards once the support with the torpedo net is secured, since they rest on the net. 

The lid with the radius on the upper, outer round casemate will be added later. It’s too prone to being torn off. And I need to check the space available between the net and the lid on the lower round casemate first. 

And just like a pit stop in Formula 1, I simply closed the dry dock and switched sides. Great. 

And the Mikasa was laid on its side again. 

The anchor is now in place on the starboard side as well. 

Great, that worked well. The torpedo net can be installed. 

On to the next hull detail.
The torpedo net supports need to be attached. It’s a delicate job, requiring great care not to bend the finely detailed components.
And this task, too, is made easier by my assembly stand. 

Once again, I can use Mig’s acrylic adhesive to attach the components and don’t need to use superglue. Diluted with water, it flows beautifully into every gap.  

And it leaves absolutely no residue. 

The result is mesh supports that run perfectly parallel to the structures on the hull. 

Clean and without adhesive residue. 

Now the supports can be attached. 

I’ll take care of that tomorrow. 

Let’s continue with the torpedo net mountings.
They have now received their supports. 

In addition, the eyelets for the spars have been mounted. 

Everything has aged. 

And ready for the net. 

That was another very tedious, fiddly job. 

Let’s move on to the material I am using for the nets. These are to be represented using tulle fabric. I think the mesh size should be fine for 1:200 scale. I ran a quick test and laid them loosely onto the supports. Once painted to look like steel, I’m actually quite pleased with them. 

I’ll have to roll a sausage long enough to be able to show the mesh continuously. But I’m already very pleased with the first test run.
But next up, it’s the other side’s turn for the overlay. 

I had to attach another 50 small, thin supports. Anyone who used to enjoy playing Pick-Up Sticks has an advantage here 

But first, the overlay itself. To hold it in the correct position while the adhesive sets, the blue putty from “Blu Tack” is perfectly suited. 

And so, on this side as well, the torpedo net sections gradually take their place. 

And towards the bow. 

The next piece of intricate detail work is thus complete. 

I have processed the parts for the davits located on the exterior of the hull. 

I wanted to have them installed before laying the net, since everything seems to be getting very tight again. 

So the girl was laid back on her side. 

No big deal. 

At the bow, the lowered davits. 

And, of course, portside. 

Now the net can truly be laid out. 

First off: making the net. To do this, I sourced a roll of tulle fabric online, which features a truly excellent mesh structure. After a few test cuts, I determined the optimal width to ensure the net wouldn’t end up looking too thick. 

Now it just needed to be rolled up neatly—a task that proved more difficult than anticipated. The secret to rolling a tidy “sausage” lay in using a long styrene rod; this allowed the tulle fabric to be properly shaped. 

Next, I brushed it with Vallejo Metal Color’s “Steel” paint, and the torpedo net was finished. 

Now, all that remained was to get the whole thing onto the stands. As you might have already guessed, my assembly stand and Blu Tack helped me out tremendously. 

And so I keep working my way forward.

 

The most difficult parts were the sections around the round casemates. But even there, the blue putty came to my aid. 

And so, the torpedo net now rests quite presentably upon its support 

Now, do the whole thing again on the other side… 

…then ropes and spars can be attached. 

A small update on Sunday’s construction progress:
On the starboard side, the net is now resting on its support as well. 

Now it must be secured with ropes and fitted with its spars. 

Let’s move on to securing the torpedo net, which on the Mikasa was fastened to the supports using ropes.
It is only a minor change to the model’s appearance, yet time-consuming to execute. And, of course, essential for completeness.
So, I spent two days stringing lines. First, I tacked the thread behind the net with a tiny dot of acrylic glue. 

Then I took the blue modeling clay again and stretched the yarn over the nets to hold them in place. This gave the glue time to set. 

Then the thread was cut, folded over, and glued down. The result looks like the ropes that hold the net in position in the original photos.

 

I think that comes quite close to the original. 

Next up are the spars. 

…which lie in the openings between the supports in their rest position. 

You’ll see that next time.