72 scale Lindberg IJN I53 with Kaiten Torpedoes

[modelnut]

Sorry, guys.

It is auto body spot and glazing putty. I've never heard of the stuff that Kazz mentioned.

I'm using stone-knives-and-bear-skins here. I have a two part putty, Magic Sculpt. But I don't have much. I'm saving that for areas that need more complicated putty work.

I've got some extra thick plastic card to fill in the dang blasted voids where Lindberg wanted the nine-foot-wide personnel hatches. The sheet I have is big enough that I can use it when it comes time to build the keel for my boat and cut continuous strips instead of laminating or plating with smaller strips.

The plan is to get to work on the rudder and aft planes. Once they are sorted I will get the keel figured out and join the hull halves together. Once that is done I will set her belly up and cut in a set of proper drain holes. In between steps I will continue to work on correcting the conning tower while letting whatever work I've done on the hull dry or set up.

Honestly. The more I look at this kit the more I wonder what recreational drugs were they on when they designed it. The Titanic

- Leelan

[Kazzer]

When blanking off holes, slots etc in injection plastic kits, I use bits of plasticard or sprue, and solvent weld them in, and leave them slightly proud of the surface. Once dry, I sand that back to the correct contour, and there you have a repair that's as strong as the rest of hull.

We seem to be on the same page here, except I'm suggesting a two part soft filler (and easy to sand) to bring it up to contour.

"I would have welded the styrene sheets to the inside with Solvent Weld, as this would be a much better bond, then filled the shallow hole with a polyester filler like Evercoat Easy Sand."

Single pack, solvent drying glaze, used as an adhesive to hold the styrene in place is doomed to failure, as it has poor adhesive strength and shrinks on cure. It should only be applied in thin layers, and allowed to thoroughly dry between coats.

[modelnut]

Filling the holes went fine. "Putty, sand and repeat" did the job. Sure. Your way might have been easier. But I have to work with what I have available. I live out in the country where, as my wife says, "There are more cows than people."

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Made enough progress to button up the hull today.

Here are the axes for the control surfaces installed. I used 1/8 inch K&S brass rods and sleeves for this. I roughed up the surfaces that will have to bind with the rudders and planes.



And I have put in the silhouette for the nose-job. I will build up the bow using more plastic sheet --- and two-part putty since Chris suggested it might need to be a bit more robust than if it was just skinned with card.



_ Leelan

[trout]

Leelan,
Great work!
You are doing a great job here!

[modelnut]

Trout,

Thanks for the encouragement! I'm stuck at the moment waiting for the mailman to deliver some supplies. Like waiting for the Pony Express out here . . .

- Leelan

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

[modelnut]

Killing time looking at references.

The aft section of this conning tower looks like the one in the kit.


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I just finished reading : There seem to be two subs called IJN I-53 in the book.

This one which the book says is a KD type with the designation I-153 though the tower is clearly painted I-53:


And then there is the sub I thought I am building, the C3 type boat, I-53:




Which is it? Are there any more references out there? There was a great thread here once that had loads of references for the IJN boats but I can't find it today.

- Leelan

[modelnut]

Cool! HWSNBN has entered the ring! Great start! I'm waiting for an order of two-part putty to arrive before I get that far with my bow.

- Leelan

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Great smile BTW!

[greenman407]

modelnut, I just caught on to this thread. Sorry, I dont get out much. According to this book called the "Submarines of the Imperial Japanese Navy,"http://www.amazon.com/Submarines-Imp...6597657&sr=1-1, the numbering system was a problem. Ill take a picture of the text giving the explanation to your I-53...I-153 problem. Cheers!

[greenman407]

Tell you what, while Im at it Ill photograph these two charts that give a complete listing of all Japanese submarine classes.

[greenman407]

Hope that helps, its a really good book.

[greenman407]

Sorry to be such a pest but I thought you might like to see the page on the I-53.

[greenman407]

Dang it! I cut off the words on the right side of the page! Try this one.

[greenman407]

Thats better. Couldnt offer you a carrot and not give it to you.

[modelnut]

Thanks, Greenman!

That confirms what I have been able to ferret out.

Construction has been delayed on my boat due to lack of time and illness. Hope to get some good hours in on her next week though.

Thank you all for your input and continued interest!

- Leelan