Hello all: Although I've been away for quite some time, I recently had the urge to work on a model warship. These days, it seems like I don't have a whole lot of time and even less money, but I do have a basement full of various materials and parts. I'd like to complete this ship using the supplies already on hand and only augmenting with new purchases when necessary. I'm also going back to my roots in the hobby and attempting a wood hull. If things go according to plan, I'd like to have this vessel in the water next spring (2014). On a side note, is anybody from Illinois still around? Ethan? Aaron? Concerning the build, I'm using the Miyukikai 1/200 Suzuya plans. I've scanned them and used Photoshop to convert to 1/144 scale. On 6/22/2013, I cut the decks from a sheet of 1/8" plywood and the center step area (not sure of the nautical term) from 3/8" plywood. If I remember correctly, both are aircraft grade birch, but it's been quite some time (on the order of years) since I ordered it. That's all for now. Take care. -John
Excellent. Another wood build. I love these things. I am going to start on one soon, so I am glad to see that others are going to be having the same issues fun that I will.
Hello Tugboat: The pieces currently cut and shown above are the decks. I cut those first because I had the least 1/8" plywood (only a single 12" x 48" sheet). Hopefully I'll get a chance to cut the subdecks this weekend out of 1/4" plywood. I'll probably notch the subdeck but, in the past, I did experiment with my router to create a groove style joint. Perhaps I'll try some combination of the two. Take care, John
I like to use a router table with a 1/4" cutting bit in the router, and it makes short work of even large hulls needing notches. Alternatively, in the absence of a router table, Brian K and I clamped a router upside-down on a worktable to use it that way. It's easier to gauge your progress with the work on top, I think.
Cool, I'm in the same 'boat' as you! (pun intended) I live in Addison, just west of Chicago. Perhaps we can find some of the other IL builders, if they still exist, and have a gathering later in the year. Take care, John
Hello all: I got an early start this morning and did a bit more work on the Suzuya, including cutting the subdeck, keels and a few ribs (outer cuts only on the subdeck and ribs). With the following picture, I'll try to show how I envision the ship coming together. From top to bottom: - 1/8" deck for the step section - 1/4" subdeck for the step section - 1/8" rear deck, 3/8" step section, 1/8" fore deck - 1/4" subdeck cut in two sections... overlap kept because I'm planning to route away the top 1/8" of the aft section and the bottom 1/8" of the fore section to create a somewhat stable joint between the two. - Ribs 1-3 and 15 - Aft and fore keels, with a lot of overlap kept between them; I'll sort that out later. That's all for now. Take care, John
If you were to build the Mogami. How would you approach the aircraft catapult support,that hangs over the side, like a ice - cream cone that nearly touch the waterline. If it is not behind a rib would you cut out behind the cone. Then make the cone out of 1/32 balsa? Best of luck with the build Skip
