IJN Heavy Cruiser Kako by BenD - Hasegawa - 1:700

[BenD]

Hey guys,

I bought this ship on a whim just to try something different. The hobby shop I was at had a display case with several 1/700 ship models, and I got the itch to make my own. This kit looked simple, and it was around $20, so I grabbed it. Rushed home and started the same day. A few days after that, I made a mock-up of the water base I wanted to make. Then I started watching how-to videos on making water dioramas... I had a lot of work to do.

At this point, I wondered if it would turn out even remotely as well as the incredible builds on YouTube.



After some paint and a lot of testing of water techniques, I managed to make this.



The water still needs work, like a bow wave, and the white water around the ship. The weathering on the ship was easy. I started with a panel line wash and then made rust spots on the hull with oil paint. With just those two weathering attempts, it went from looking like a toy to realistic.

The next thing to work on is making a nice border for the water. Right now, you can see the foam core board and the tin foil. Not very attractive.

 

[Buster]

Impressive bit of 'waterwork'

 

[Bryian]

I take my hat off to you sir for building at such a tiny scale.

 

[BenD]

Almost done! The ship is complete; I need to work up some courage to finish the water. As you guys can see, there is no bow wave or white water. I just don't want to mess up this water... It took ages to get it to this nice glossy state.

I know the pictures are not so great. I'll get out my real camera for the final photos. My phone camera could hardly focus on this tiny 26cm ship.

 

[madtatt]

Ein wundervolles Modell vor einer fantastischen Meeresoberfläche.