Taking the Shapeways Plunge...

[Ruckdog]

I got my first shipment of 1:1800 scale naval models from Shapeways today!



From top to bottom:

USS INDIANAPOLIS
USS MIDWAY
IJN SHINANO
IJN HIRYU (x2)

I got 2 Hiryus because that is the ship I will be painting first, and I want to have a do-over in case I screw it up too bad! 😜 All of these are ships I've been wanting to add to my W@S gaming collection for some time. Stay tuned!

[Landlubber]

I've been drooling over a few things on Shapeways myself. Will be interested to hear your impressions. What is the material from which those ships are printed?

[Ruckdog]

I like them a lot! They are finer and a bit more delicate than I was expecting. These are all in WSF; the Forumini community consensus is that it is the best balance for price, detail, and durability.

[markymark1970]

Looking forward to seeing them all done up.  Hope your Shinano lasts longer on the table that her namesake lasted on the seas.

[Ruckdog]

Okay, so I got the Hiryu done up this week, during the little modeling time I had:



I'm fairly happy with the results! A few thoughts...

1. The gritty surface texture on WSF takes a lot to overcome! I gave this one 3 coats of gloss varnish, and it still came through in a few spots.

2. I need to get some narrower tape! While I am happy with the straightness and crispness of the lines I achieved, but they are a bit wide.

3. The Hinomaru (the red circle) wasn't as bad to paint as I thought it would be. It came out a little off center, but I'm happy with its overall circularity .

All in all, I learned some good lessons painting this one that I can't wait to apply to the next Hiryu!

[Landlubber]

Since I don't know much about WW2 Japanese naval ships...did the decks actually have those lines, arrows, and insignia on them?

Ship looks great, btw. Let's see some side-angle shots!

[Ruckdog]

The patterns on Japanese flight decks did indeed have these kinds of patterns. What you see here is a late pre-war or early war scheme; after the war started, a lot of the IJN CV's had their hinomarus painted out. By the mid and late war times, a lot of Japanese carriers had elaborate deceptive patterns painted on their decks, to try and make them look like cargo ships from the air or to blend them in to their hiding places alongside piers when in port.