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Hey folks, this is my first time doing a proper scale model that isn't a train, so I wanted to get some thoughts before progressing. Don't see too many ship models either, so hopefully adding some variety too!

Kongo was one of four battlecruiser-turned-fast-battleships that served in the Imperial Japanese Navy in World War I and II. The lead ship of the class, Kongo was built in Britain between 1911 and 1913, upgraded many times throughout her life, and ultimately sunk by torpedo in late 1944. The prototype I am referencing is presumably of the ship as she looked around the time of her sinking:

Spoiler

r42.jpg

r34.jpg

 

I'd been reluctant to try my hand at a ship because the complex curves of a hull appear to be very difficult to model well, but I've also been playing World of Warships for the past few years, and it's inspired me to try my hand at this. The Kongo is of course The Best Ship in The Game.

Worrying about the shape of the hull seems to be unfounded so far... once I decided to build it studs-out, I just traced my drawing in plates and the curvature seems pretty smooth (warning this is a big picture).

Spoiler

171014a.jpg

 

I've made a first pass at everything above the waterline at this point sans some internal structure. I'm building the upper and lower hull separately such that the ship can hopefully be displayed as a waterline model or as a complete model depending on the setting:

Spoiler

171023e.png

 

171023f.png

 

171023c.png

 

171023d.png

 

171023b.png

 

Overall, most of the features of the ship are probably slightly too tall, but I'm generally pretty happy with the result so far. Any thoughts are appreciated!

Edited by Commander Wolf

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Hi fellow shipbuilder @Commander Wolf,

Personal i don't like warships in LEGO and only build commercional ships, but you capture the line in this scale quit good. :thumbup:

I am curious about the underwater ship.

Here is the only ship at the scale 1 to 100 i build for Damen Shipyard that's looks like a military ship, but is a coast guard vessel and so it's a non military and your ship belongs to the Special LEGO Theme Forum.

27030986123_299ec65a6d_c.jpg

 

 

Edited by Edwin Korstanje

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Thanks all, I put this here because I felt it met the guidelines, but if it doesn't please feel free to move it!

22 hours ago, Edwin Korstanje said:

Hi fellow shipbuilder @Commander Wolf,

Personal i don't like warships in LEGO and only build commercional ships, but you capture the line in this scale quit good. :thumbup:

I am curious about the underwater ship.

Here is the only ship at the scale 1 to 100 i build for Damen Shipyard that's looks like a military ship, but is a coast guard vessel and so it's a non military and your ship belongs to the Special LEGO Theme Forum.

27030986123_299ec65a6d_c.jpg

 

 

 

Thanks for sharing @Edwin Korstanje... definitely been dragging my feet on the lower hull because I think it will be a pain, especially the rear end!

How do you go about building your hulls... just a matter of guess and check or do you have a process?

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Hey @Commander Wolf. Kongõ is one of my favourite battleships, both in real life (the history, the looks) and in World of Warships (not sure if the best overall, but certainly the best midtier :P ). Your Kongõ is recognizable as such, and that's an impressive feat at this scale. Well done! :thumbup:

 

Edited by Rijkjavik

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On ‎7‎-‎11‎-‎2017 at 8:28 PM, Commander Wolf said:

Thanks for sharing @Edwin Korstanje... definitely been dragging my feet on the lower hull because I think it will be a pain, especially the rear end!

How do you go about building your hulls... just a matter of guess and check or do you have a process?

Hi @Commander Wolf,

Just like every shipbuilder in LEGO knows, that the underwater hull is just one of the most diffecult part in model building.

From the start the complete hull is part of the design and will do the trick for me, but you have build your Kongo first at a waterline model and than wanted make a underwater hull is a lot more painfull.:wink:

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An update! Finally finished a first pass on the lower hull after much struggle:

 

Spoiler

kongo_171210a.jpg

096.jpg

kongo_171210b.jpg

 

 

 

From the top and sides I think the lines generated by this form are pretty close to what they should be:

 

Spoiler

171210a.jpg

 

From the bottom I think the front curve (blue) needs to have slightly more of an S shape and then back curve (green) needs to have slightly less of an S shape... but despite all the model kits out there I haven't been able to find a good hull underside picture for what this part is supposed to look like:

 

Spoiler

kongo_171210c.jpg

 

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Just wanted to share some pictures of the finished model. Was generally quite happy how it turned out:

092.jpg

 

img_5328.jpg

 

img_5326.jpg

 

img_5327.jpg

 

All the turrets and such can rotate:

img_5349.jpg

 

And as shown previously it can be displayed as a waterline model:

img_5346.jpg

 

Couple more pics in the Brickshelf folder once moderated. Cheers!

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