1/700 IJN Kongo WIP: 'I Couldn't Leave It Like That' Edition

In my previous post I praised the quality of the model, and while I'm still kind of happy with it, a few problems arose that needed addressing - people with historical OCD can, I believe, relate to this.

The hull supplied in the set is suitable for the 1935 and 1944 builds of the Kongo. The bases for all the secondary casemates are cast together with the hull. However, examining models and period photos I had found out that in her 1944 form, the unused ports for the removed guns were welded over. This means that I had to scrape away the bases of the casemates and apply filler to be sanded later.

The rear conning tower (or similar structure, IDK) has an AA platform that is connected with a walkway to the one at the midsection of the rear tripod. While a walkway was supplied connecting the AA platform directly between the pagoda and the searchlights and further AA on the side of the first funnel, the one I'm talking about was missing. I had to fabricate it from cardstock, and added some PE railings (again, not very historical) both to this one and the one forwards.

There should be a large crane that is connected to the rear tripod, and this one was missing entirely from the kit. A Zvezda pikeman's arm came to the rescue, along with some stretched sprue.

Speaking of stretched sprue, a length of it was used to upgrade the crane servicing the seaplane catapult between turrets 3 & 4.

The kit was missing blast bags on all main guns, which was remedied with some goopy epoxy putty. When dried, it gives the appropriate effect. First I was a bit afraid of using it, but it works wonders.

The rather clumsy main radar antenna broke off during construction (this can actually be seen in the previous post), so I fabricated another using PE railings and card. There was a spare main rangefinder, from which I trimmed the periscopes off and used it as the base for the new radar appliance.

The flat bottom was attached without a hassle or any need for rubber bands, there is a metal bar glued to it to weigh the ship down, which is an excellent solution IMHO.

One thing I messed up doing the Bismarck was leaving way too many sub-assemblies separate for painting. I'm good enough with a small brush to reach everything on here while assembled, leaving only the seaplanes and the boats to be painted separately.