1/700 IJN Satsuki (from Pitroad Mutsuki kit)

[Fuda]

Yes indeed

as my first maritime build, I have chosen IJN Satsuki!

I intend to build her in her late 1941/early 1942 configuration.

and diving into literally piles of PE on my very first build.... RIPskins

thats pretty much it for intro

Ill let you guys google her history yourself(not that there's much to see anyways)

Welp, first off, took the hull off the sprues!!!!!

then because the smallest drill i have are still slightly too big, I just used my xacto knife to make the portholes(though i messed up on some of them and made them too big orz)



Full hull really looks so much better than waterline


Next, started work on the bridge, cut out the hideous kit windows and replaced them with photo etch(1/350 IJN ladders)





1st use of photo etch, 大成功！！！(huge success!!)

thats pretty much it for now.

The bulk of my supplies are going to arrive tomorrow so theres not much else I can do for now

ではでは～！( ･ω･)ﾉ
until next time~!

[oriscus]

How much modification needs to be done to get the Mutsuki to be Satsuki?


And I'm not the biggest fan of full hull models. For some reason I just don't find underwater portion of more modern warships to be particularly pleasant. Well, usually at least.

[Fuda]

@oriscus

Im making a sh!tload of assumptions based on info of other ships of her class/DDiv, mostly Minazuki
This is something that makes me really mad as I wouldnt have to do this if i could just get my hands on one of the Gakken Pacific War Series no.64 on the Mutsuki class

one of the most defining differences between Minazuk and Satsuki:

Satsuki has slits on those aft (weather covering?) thingies, so no change from Mutsuki class

this is the photo which im working off of, prewar. For wartime, the Satsuki markings on the hull were removed pretty fast, like all other warships, but the squadron number on the bow and the funnel ID bars didnt go away so fast. I know for a fact the 22 will still be there early 1942, but im not sure about the funnel bar, will need more research.

I think Satsuki also had weather shields installed for her torpedo mounts as well before the war started, not exactly sure though, will need more research

AA guns are also not too clear either, but she for sure has some of those 7.7mm AA guns(im just going to use single 25mms for these, not much difference visually anyways at this scale)
I think she also has a couple twin 25mms as well
no info about triple 25mms but im pretty sure she didnt have those at the start of the war、and she definitely didnt have the AA platform under the bridge/behind the 1st torpedo launcher in 1941/42

This is pretty much all i could find though, very few facts and mostly just assumption based on what her sister ships were carrying at the start of the war.

- - - Updated - - -

A small update here

bridge is almost completely done, just need to add the railings and ladders(arriving tomorrow)

the kit bridge was really absurd

cut out so many details

so i scratch built the entire wireless radio room myself, and i had to fix the main bridge deck since it was at the wrong elevation

bridge was finished with scratch built 12cm binoculars and 30cm signal lights

these things are so small ><




and glued the funnels too. not sure if i will use the PE handrails on these since the mold itself isnt that bad


ではでは～！( ･ω･)ﾉ
until next time~!

[Fuda]

been working here and there for the past few days


school has started up now so I wont have as much time to work on this


But no rush, taking my first build slow to minimize mistakes


anyways, I'm calling the bridge done, perhaps I shouldn't have put the 25mm guns in place yet before i painted it, but too late now.








Also completed the front mast, music wire was so much harder to cut than I anticipated, i made the mistake of cutting them with my usual sprue cutter but that thing is getting too old anyways.


the bronze wire were alot easier to cut and form, thankfully this is the one I had to bend and not the music wire.








Also, Im not sure why, but all the builds Ive seen of Mutsuki class did not bend the angled part of the mast backwards a bit, as there are photos which clearly show them angled a bit towards the back
World of Warships actually has a pretty good model of pre-modernized mutsuki, using that as a reference as well for some parts that are left unchanged(like the masts)






Anyways, after that I continued some minor assembly on the deck and finished the degaussing cables







That's it for now


ではでは～！( ･ω･)ﾉ
until next time~!

[Fuda]

Small update:








Ko-Hyou Teki








Assembly continues...


ではでは～！( ･ω･)ﾉ
until next time~!

[Fuda]

Another update:














Those 12cm guns are honestly quite sexy


too bad theyre out of stock right now at my usual vendor, else I'd buy a whole box of those.


Pre-painting assembly is pretty much all finished, going to check over it tomorrow to make sure Ive got everything then its off to the paint shop!


ではでは～！( ･ω･)ﾉ
until next time~!