Warship Models Underway / Museum Model Gallery / IJN Abukima Model restored by Duane Curtis
IJN Abukuma in 1/24 scale from the movie "Tora Tora Tora"
Restored by Duane Curtis
The model is in 25 feet 6 inches long. It is one of six that the owner has for a museum that is in the process of getting set up to be opened to the public.
400 The start of the rebuild in December
401 Another shoot showing part of the forward structure and some of the mid ships.
402 Back side of the forward structure. Very little work had to be done to the forward structure which helped in getting the model done much quicker for me. Lights would latter be added to the model to give it an effect that the model was alive and running.
403 Midships showing all three stacks that are on the model. All of the stacks were made in galvanized steel which was is good shape compared to trhat of most of the wooden structure. The stacks still had to be removed and striped down and repainted.
404 Mid ships section showing the location of the catapualt and torpedeo tubes, all but the actual catapualt had to be rebuilt.
405 Aft structure and a portion of the aft main battery gun, both had to be rebuilt. As I removed the aft structure it continued to fall apart while it was being removed.
406 Stbd side of the aft structure shwoing just how bad the structure was over all of the years of not being kept up while setting around the many warehouse that the model had been in.
407 Mid ship structure showing gun tubs and their state of dismay, as you can see when the model was built in the late 40's the builders actually used brass in making of the gun tubs and of the sections inbetween the tubs.
408 Forward portion of the mid structure showing how the plywood that was used in the original construction was starting to separate from it's self.
409 Aft structure after the start of pulling the model apart to begin the rebuild of many parts of the model. You can see the full height of the aft mast that is located on this section of the model. The entire mast is all made of brass materiails as well.
410 Parts of the old model, here are two portions of the main deck along with structual conponents.
411 A close up of tha aft structure showing a good view of how much damage that was done to the model over the years of not being main tain at all.
412 One of six motor boats that are on the model along with the davits that are used with the motor boats. Here you can also see how the paint looked over the years.
413 Bridge area of the model, this portion of the structure came apart in three pieces whiched help me a whole lot when it came to removing this section of the model for clean up and repainting.
414 Aft main battery gun showng how some of the last paint layers were flaking away from the model.
415 Two of the new parts made for the model using aircraft plywood and then covered with fiberglass resin to seal it from the elements both inside and outside.
416 The 25 feet and 6 inches of hull is completely sanded here, this ended up taking about two and a half days to do.
417 Another shoot of the hull showing the aft end, which neede some bondo work, notice the large rudder that was needed to turn this model for the movie. A little bit oversize, the true ship had two rudders and four propellors.
418 Here are the two torpedeo tube luancher and there bases in the background after being redone for the model.
419 The owner wanted the deck to be done in wood, so the fun began here using Birch 2x4's which were cut down to thicknes and the sanded and then cut to the desired width with all planks cut to length and then beveled to give that nice look.
420 A closer look at the wood
deck being put down on the model.
421 Side view of the model showing the deck completed, and hull painted as well. There are many port holes in the model, all had to be remmoved prior to the sanding and painting.
422 A portion of the upper forward structure, the 01 and 02 levels.
423 A few of the new parts that have been primed and ready for their Grey paint.
424 Here you can see that the parts that have been redone along with a couple of the older parts are starting to go back on to the hull. This is about three monyhs in to the rebuild.
425 Stacks now have been redone after striping and repainting, had troubles with the repainting that required to be done twice.
426 Upper levels the Forwqard structure showuing from the bridge and upwards. Lights were added in this section so that the model could show some life in the model.
427 Forward turrets reinstalled and new railing have now been placed on to the model. The old railing was to far damage to be reworked and put back onto the model.
429 A close up of just one of the three stacks that are on the ship after some cleaning up and repainting.
430 Forward structure with some of the parts going back on after being cleaned and repainted, the co2 bottles were casted from lead along with most of the gun parts.
431 Aft portion of the Mid structure getting completed, the bulwarks near and around the guns were made from sheet brass, along with the inclined ladder. The supports andvarious bulkhead items were made from lead as well. I guess that back in the late 40's that was the thing to use, forget about the lead posioning.
432 Stern section of the model showing a close up of the model, the wood colors appear a lot darker here than they actually are on the model. Bitt, chocks and the Open chocks are also casted in lead.
433 Stern view of the completed model showing her with the flags all flying, the model before the rebuild also had flags in this set as well.
434 Mid ships looks good in this shoot showing some of the flags at holiday colors.
435 Stern view showing the Japanese Naval flag.
436 A close up of some of the flags, it took a little bit to get a good hand of how to work the flags onto the model. After about four or five flags it was much easier to let the fabric spray to get set up before appling the flags onto the fishing line that was used for the flags. As one would say read all directions before use.
