I need to figure out how to take real close-ups.  Maybe my camera just can’t do it….

I’ve added a lot since the last update.  I started adding delicate PE before I realized I needed a degaussing cable.  The ship had one all the way around the hull.  Dan K on the shipmodel forum provided some close-ups and I used those to put one on my model.  I used plastruct .010″ rod to make the cable.  I mostly tried to follow what was in the photo, but realize it’s not exact.  It’s fairly easy to do using styrene.  I’d prefer a kit to have it already molded on but in cases where it isn’t I feel I can do it myself now.

You can see some fine photo-etched detail already.  I put the pillars on to support the flight deck before starting on the railings everywhere because I thought there might be some fidgeting to make sure everything was correctly placed – and there was.  But it all goes together quite smoothly with excellent fit.

I replaced the shields on the AA mounts with the photoetch in the hyperdetail set.  I’ve put the searchlights on their photoetched searchlight platforms – very delicate.  I used the 25mm mounts that came with the kit.  They seem nice.  I will examine the ships’ boats that go on the rear deck and compare those to some after market versions I have.

The only closeup that turned out makes me realize I need to clean up the corners of the pieces forming the angles in the degaussing cable.  And that one PE door may need to be straightened.  I’m not sure – it might just be the camera angle as I looked over all the doors to make sure they looked straight.  There are plenty of doors in the kit so if I have to remove this one and put a new one on, there won’t be any heartbreak.

Next up I think will be the railings on the front part of the ship so I can think about getting the front half of the flight deck on.

I was discouraged by the deck that came with the Shoho and it put me off working on this for awhile, but now I’m back at it.  I should be able to post a couple of pictures of the deck in progress soon.  I’ve sanded the raised parts off the rear of the deck so it will take a decal, and I shaved off the excess wood deck planking at the rear.  I’ve decided to paint the word part and mask that off before I continue working on the deck.  Some progress photos on that soon.

But here is a photo of the hull so far:

I spent a lot of time getting the seam off between the bottom plate and the hull.  The forward superstructue then gets glued in.  I add a lot of the PE to it before I attached it – the brass deck you see, the brass front to the superstructure showing the windows, and the brass decking on either side of that.  In addition I put the prominent vent (I think that’s what it is) in the center of that brass deck and a bunch of cable reels.  When I attached it to the hull, the fit was tricky in a couple of places.  I had a slight gap along the metal deck.  I managed to fill that with a little dissolved putty.  It worked pretty well to fill that gap.  I was stressed about how I would do any sanding since the metal deck has a nice treaded relief.  I shaved the excess putty with my X-acto blade and it seems to be nice.  Therewere larger gaps on the decking around the side of the hull.  I filled and sanded those and they are invisible now.  I took close-ups but they just came out as a blur.

There are additional compartments on either side of the hull structure.  Should I call it the superstructure?  The flight deck will go on top….  Anyway there is nothing in the plastic set that these correspond to.  I take it they are taking the opportunity to fix some things with PE.  That large sheet of brass making up the front linoleum deck is a little wider than the original and the shape of the rear linoleum deck (another pic that just came out as a blur) is different and wider than the original plastic deck.

You can also see a couple of the PE doors I’ve attached to the hull.