Went into studio today to attempt to locate my missing WW1 Albatros D-IIIs & IVs. Did not get far. Instead, I revived this old project started many years ago. It is based on the Tamiya Harbour set designed for 1/700 waterline ships. Not sure if I bought the one kit or several as the basic kitset these days features only the one large crane.
Adding this project to my 2024 Makeover Project.
Remembered that I bought a Tugboat set consisting of several harbour vessels easily found in a bustling seaport.
And a box of auxiliary vessels to complete what was conceived then as my grand plan for a Japanese naval base set somewhere in the Pacific. Target for a US naval force to attack using my General Quarters III ruleset.
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Started colouring-in the windows on the storage/workshop sheds.
Used black texta fine tip pen. May repaint the building but then it looks good enough for now.
As seen I have three large cranes and three storage/workshop buildings which leads me to believe I acquired three kits. The group of four structures to the right are scratchbuilds using off-cuts of balsa. All I've done today was apply a thin wash of watered-down black acrylic primarily to give definition for the next stage of painting.
Lots more scratchbuilds. This time I create towns/villages built-up areas to both surround the port and showcase centres of population. Fuel or storage tanks are to the right. And to the right of those three tanks are four more "proxy" storage/fuel tanks - actually old plastic lids from large litre containers. Necessity is the mother of invention, they say.
Floating moorage buoys(?). Missing little orange round items (description eludes me at the moment). I know they exist but can't remember where I placed them.
Combination Tugger and Auxiliary kitsets given black wash prior to further painting.
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Got a bit carried away as I decided to bring out the 1/700 airplanes that go with this project. Did not realise I had so many.
Corsairs on the left and Mitchell bombers on the right. About two squadrons in total. Part of the intending US attack group.
Silver-coated Dauntless torpedo/dive bombers on the left. To the right are the Hellcats. Again, around two squadrons worth.
Have to excuse me as my Japanese aircraft recognition is poor to non-existent. I only know just the one aircraft - the famed Zero (left). As for the others, I've had to do some quick internet searching, and make guesses. Please correct me if I am wrong. The two groups in different colours to right of the Zeros are what I reckon are Val dive bombers. The wing tip shape is my clue to believing this so. One group is in Japanese Army colours while the other is Imperial Japanese Navy.
A number of Vals are missing their aircraft markings (did not have enough decals at the time). May simply apply red dots using a suitable paint pen.
Second group (above) are what I believe to be Kate torpedo bombers. Both Army and Navy versions. Enough for one combined squadron. On the foam strips are two groups of mostly Val planes needing completion. Ran out of 20mm round plastic bases hence why they're still on their foam strips.
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Objectives:
Two parts. Part One will be to finish off what's started. This involves painting up the harbour vessels, finishing off the dockyard facilities - workshops, storage, and administration, completing the airplanes and finishing off their basing, and finalising details on the local accommodations and associated village/town buildings.
Part Two will be to construct or create an occupation harbour along with constructed piers able to handle large military vessels. Maybe even have a large cruiser docked taking on supplies and making repairs.
Thoughts:
It's still the tail-end of December so I am definitely jumping the gun. But the early bird catches the early worm, as they say. And I kind of feel there's a quite a bit of work involved to get the momentum happening. Once that happens, then the project will generate its own momentum; it's just getting started.
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