VeryFire 1/350 Takao 1944 (高雄)

[Dan K]

Photos can confirm that the front portions are slab sided and that the ends are open, like a ventilation intake. But, it also appears that some flotation/damage control lumber may have been stored there. The same appears to be true of the aft ends. Photos of this structure are not readily apparent, but some exist.

Some confusion about their purpose exists probably because several large scale, authoritative models in Japan show these areas as used strictly for wood storage. I tend to doubt that was the sole purpose, given that they are enclosed.

[Dan K]

The VF kit part seems reasonably correct. (As an FYI, the Aoshima kit also provides pieces to replicate this structure, but these comes integrated with other features.) Naturally, its placement under the perforated platforms just makes everything a bit more complicated. Plus, there is a 25mm AA ammunition lift built into it on both sides, plus 25mm ammo boxes are set on top of the perforated platforms.

In the end, with patience, it does work out.

[Dan K]

Rounding out the assemblies here are 25mm AA directors atop towers and the other set of lower searchlight towers platforms. These had AA crew quarters nestled against them as a result of the late 1943 refits.Plus 110cm searchlights.

[Dan K]

Well, it's been a month and my update is that there is no update. I'm still waiting on new deck treading pieces, which required some rework on sizing and placement. Everything built to date is staged and waiting.

In the meantime, I resumed work on the 1/350 Shimakaze (H), which is approaching completion. So, a silver lining of sorts.

[Devin]

Shimakaze is looking fine!

[Joelle]

Hi Dan.
Your Shimakaze looks great.
It's nice to have an alternative project when things get stalled.

[Dan K]

Thank you both. Shimakaze is now done, and I am happy with the result.

[Dan K]

And now that I’ve finished Shimakaze, I really want to build something else for to Takao. I decided to build one main turret, just to see how it went together and looked.

Construction of the styrene pieces was fairly straightforward. There’s an inner set of bulkheads, and then an outer set of heat shield lagging pieces. There’s a plate seam on top and one to each side at the rear of the lagging layer that needs some prep work to make them align correctly, unlike here in the test piece. Not that this one is so bad. Some work with a sanding stick can eliminate the unevenness seen here .

Going forward, I have another approach planned for the other turrets. Will post more soon.

[Joelle]

Thank you both. Shimakaze is now done, and I am happy with the result.

Confirmation that this can be you.

[Dan K]

Let's just pretend that I haven't been MIA for two months.

(I'm using the 6th, unused turret as my practice turret. The others will get brass barrels and 3Dprinted blast bags. I have to say, though, that the kit styrene barrels are pretty nice. )

So, to clarify the improved construction order, the turret front and the rear inner bulkhead are glued in place first, then the two side bulkheads are aligned with the corners and glued in place.

Next, the turret’s rear heat shield is glued to the rear inner bulkhead and then the turret top slid into place between them and glued. When it comes to time to install the side shields, only glue the forward portion (which has a placement peg that matches position 1 in the photo) in place. Then, carefully adjust the aft portion so that its trailing edge meets the edge of the rear shield and glue those edges together.

Invariably, there will be a miniscule space between the aft portion of the inner bulkheads and the outer lagging shield at the aft end when seen from underneath, but plate edges will line up far better. And, that’s what you want. A small amount of sanding might be required to smooth the interface. One does have to be careful because of all the rivet lines.

Circling back to the turret top, the hood for the gunnery exercise aiming device on top needs to lie flush against the turret top. So, there are some raised panel lines and rivets on top of the turret that have to be carefully scraped away to make room for this hood.

PE access ladders line the rears of all the turrets, while there is an additional access ladder mounted on the side of the superimposed turrets #2 and 4.

[Dan K]

_____________________
Turrets 2 & 4 carry full 6m rangefinders on top. There’s also an abbreviated rangefinder casing atop turret #1. The rangefinders are composed of several kit pieces, which meant that some seam lines were apparent, while others bubbled with glue, unfortunately. I ended up building five full units in order to select the two cleanest. Fortunately, there were no issues with the unit meant for turret #1.

[Dan K]

As I mentioned in the kit review, the kit rangefinder apertures to either side of the turret represent their appearance prior to the mid-1943 refits for the class, at which point they were enlarged. The enlargements remained asymmetrical. (The Aoshima kits are no better in this regard). So, I had to scratch-build these hoods out of styrene strip. Again, I built three and chose the best two.

[Dan K]

Next up was the aerial support tripod atop #2 turret. There are two options – using kit styrene parts or the turned brass and PE from the Deluxe package. Weirdly, as nice as the upgraded brass appears, it produces an asymmetrical triangular base instead of the actual equilateral base. Which means it doesn’t sit right atop the turret. So, I went for option 3 and scratch-built my own using brass rod and the kit plastic for the actual aerial crossbar. I was far more satisfied with this arrangement.

[Dan K]

And a look at the turrets with PE railings added, before a final paint coat.