The IJN Ibuki CVL project became a reality yesterday when I bought the last of Ralph Coles' Mogami hulls in Nova Scotia. (Ralph's mold was sold and shipped to Ontario a few weeks ago.) Eric Broderick borrowed Ralph's mold and made the hull a few years ago but decided not to build the heavy cruiser. It will be converted to the light carrier by making a fiberglass superstructure made and glassed to the hull. Rob Clarke sent me plans for the hangar decks including multiple sections along it's entire length - it'll be easy to build from a one-use balsa mold. The flight deck will be made from a large sheet of 1/8" thick styrene. I'm undecided about trying to add the strange supplemental bulge amidships that was mostly above the waterline. Ibuki will be a Treaty carrier with the same combat stats as the Mogami, except for a speed of 31 sec/100' vs 25 sec/100'. It'll be the first Axis ship I've built since I got into the hobby in 1984! Bob
The Mold is alive and well and living in Ontario http://ontarioattackforce.multiply.com/photos/album/18/Items_For_Sale_By_Bryan#5 http://ontarioattackforce.multiply.com/photos/album/18/Items_For_Sale_By_Bryan#3
I'm having second thoughts about this project. The word is that the Mogami is one of the best RCNC cruisers, especially in Treaty where it has one of the highest speeds (25 sec/100'). That speed is only a second slower than Mogami's IRCWCC speed so the model could be used for either style of battle with no mods except to pump output. If I go for the Treaty carrier version all I lose is 6 sec. of speed vs the cruiser but the model will not be compatibile or useful in other styles of combat. On the plus side the carrier is easier to model than the heavy cruiser with its complex Japanese superstructure. What to do?? Bob
I think a modeler such as yourself should not be daunted by any superstructure, you will do a great job whatever you chose, yes one is a little easier but the slightly harder one gives you many more choices, so it is really like having 2 boats in one if you stay with the Cruiser. Just my 2 cents
Maybe the best approach is to build the Ibuki and then the Mogami when the hulls are back in production. Bob
Bryan, I may order a Mogami hull fom you in 2009. It'll take me all winter and part of the spring to build the Ibuki and Sri Ayuthia, plus molds for the Abdiel and Argus. Bob
Today I had the plans and cross-sections for the Ibuki enlarged to 1/144 scale. I'll use the cross-sections to build a one-use mold for the superstructure between the cruiser's original deck and the flight deck. It scales up to 1 7/8" tall and will be made from a thin layer of fiberglass. The flight deck will be made from 1/8" Cintra (polystyrene molded with micro air bubbles for lighter weight than sheet styrene). Most of the Cintra will be cut way leaving a supporting lattice framework for a 0.040" styrene deck. Bob
I'd love to get a copy of those plans in 144 Bob, e-mail me with price etc and also photos when you start working on deck etc. Sounds like a awesome project. []
Bryan, The side and top view drawing of Ibuki is posted on Haze Grey in the section on Japanese carriers. It downloads OK but if you have it enlarged to 1/144 be prepared to ink in fading lines on the intermediate copies. I had to enlarge it in 3 stages: 200% + 200% + 157%. The cross-sections came from 'Japanese Cruisers of WWII', which was the source for the plans Ralph used for the Mogami mold. Had another look at the 1/144 plan and realized the flight deck has to be as light as possible. It's 5-6" wide and about 5 1/2' long. Even with Cintra and thin styrene the upperworks will out-weigh the hull, which is quite narrow (10:1 length to beam ratio) and will likely roll badly without a lot of lead ballast. Bob
Just don't use lead-weight, use batteries for ballast, I always hate to see a model with useless weight, but if you can make the weight work for you its ok.
Bryan, I always have max. possible battery weight in my models but I think this one will need sheet lead too, to get the COG as low as possible. Bob
I had the same dilemma as you did Bob when I chose my Belleau Wood. One of the reasons I went carrier over cruiser (even though I lost 2 seconds) was I wanted something I can use in scenario battles such as a carrier raid, or campaign and the cruiser, although slightly faster, is just another warship. By building the carrier, I have more flexibility as to what I can do with it as I can battle it with cruiser tactics in a fleet battle or run it as a specialty ship in a scenario. Building as a carrier also gave me more flexibility as to where I mounted my cannons.
The temporary wooden mold for the Ibuki's hangar decks will be assembled and waxed this weekend: 1) 34 copies of the 17 hangar cross-sections were made 2) these will cut out to give 17 port and 17 starboard outlines of the slope of the hangar sides and rubber cemented to 1/4" basswood 3) 34 basswood supports will be cut to shape 4) the outline of the hangar decks' upper edge will be drawn on a piece of melamine shelving and the 34 pieces of basswood glued 1/16" outboard of the outline 5) 1/16" balsa sheet will be glued along the 17 supports to port and 17 to starboard, producing a female mold of the hangar decks; this will be easy because 12 of the hangar sides are flat and either vertical or inclined slightly outboard, and only 5 have an angled section 6) any gaps willbe filled and then the balsa will be waxed before molding. 7) Kim will be away for several days next week so I can fiberglass in the basement, making the hangar deck and glassing it to the Mogami hull. Bob
With HMCS Uganda finally off my workbench I started the Ibuki project last night. A 1' x 5' melamine shelf was marked for the hangar deck lay-up, using the hangar sections from 'Japanese Cruisers of WWII'. The LOA of the hull was drawn on the centerline and the widths of the hangar sections were marked along it. There was some confusion because the hangar according to the cross-sections and framing plan was 2" longer than the hangar in the best drawing found on the internet (at Haze Gray), and the quarterdeck length in a side view from JCWWII was longer (and the hangar 3/4" shorter) than the length worked out from the same book's cross-sections and hull frame numbers. After a lot of measuring and looking at the few available photos of the Ibuki I concluded: a) the side view in JCWWII was inaccurate with the quarterdeck too long between the aft perpendicular and the rear end of the hangar, and b) the length of the hangar in the Haze Gray drawing was too short and the quarterdecks and forecastle decks were too long. I decided the hangar cross-sections and their frame numbers were correct, but then there was another problem. The frame drawings I had were only for the first 5 back from the bow and the last 4 at the stern, with frames 6-16 missing. Wwhen I plotted where they should be based on the spacing between them and worked inward from bow and stern there was a final gap equal to the length of two frames instead of one. My measurements were correct so there must have been a change of frame spacing amidships. It didn't affect hangar shape because the sides were parallel at flight deck level for about half of the hangar's length. The hangar mold will be built upside down this weekend. That's so I can lay up a 3/8" flange that will support the edges of the flight deck, plus 3 x 1" wide cross beams to give the hull some side-to side stability. (The fiberglass hangar will be glassed to the Mogami hull.) Looking at the plans I saw that the later Mogami's had a 0.35 meter shallower hull. That amounts to under 1/10" in 1/144 scale so I won't bother to trim the hull edge down. Moving the waterline up 1/10" will slightly help with stability. Photos of the balsa mold production will be posted this weekend. I have to finish it by Tuesday so I can lay-up the hangar and glass it to the hull while Kim's away for 3 days. (She doesn't permit fiberglassing in the basement when she's home!) Bob
Can't wait to see the photos, will this be a one off mold or a more permanent mold, I am willing to contribute if you want to make a more robust mold. Have fun and get it done so the fumes are gone before other half gets back![]
Bryan, This is a one-off mold. It has to be made quickly and without stinking up the house, so will be made of balsa. It's too cold now to fiberglass outside so my only opportunity is a few days next week when Kim's away visiting her family. Bob
The balsa mold for the hangar deck will be finished in a couple of days. Kim decided not to visit her parents this week so will have to put up with the smell of gelcoat and fiberglass for a few days! Over the weekend the outline of the top of the hangar was drawn on a 5' length of melamine shelf. Within that I drew the outline of the 1/2" wide flange that will support the flight deck, plus three 1" wide subdeck 'beams'. Another line was drawn 1/16" outside the hangar outline to allow for the 1/16" thick balsa sides of the mold. Then I cut out the 1/144 sections for the bow and stern ends of the hangar and glued them to 1/4" balsa with rubber cement. The balsa bulkheads were cut to shape and glued at the ends of the mold, top edge down. Next I glued 1/8" x 5/32" strips of balsa within the outlines of the flanges and subdeck beams. These will form the 4 access hatch openings. (Gelcoat and fiberglass will be laid in the 1/2" space between the balsa strips and the 'walls' and end bulkheads of the hangar mold, forming the 1/2" flange all around the top of the hangar. The three 1" subdeck beams will be laid up at the same time.) Yesterday evening I cut out 30 side supports for the balsa side walls of the mold, 2 per hangar cross-section, and glued them outside the 1/16" wide outline at the matching frame locations. Unlike the end bulkheads these form the outline of each frame. The outlines wwere cut from the cross-section plan and rubber cemented to 1/4" balsa. Tonight 1/16" balsa sheets will be cut and test fitted along these supports and overlapping the end bulkheads. These will form the sides of the hangar mold and slope inward as they rise, about half of them including a steeper angle near the top (which is actually the bottom of the hangar deck). On Tuesday the melamine board and one side of the balsa side walls will be given several coats of mold release wax. On Wednesday the side walls will be glued in place and the mold will be gelcoated. To keep the fumes down I'll glass only one side of the mold at a time so the hangar should be finished this weekend. The next step will be to make sure the Mogami hull's deck line is level and horizontal and glass the hangar to it. Photos will be posted soon. Bob
