I have found a quick and inexpensive way to mask out the Nagato CAD lines. The product is called Porc-a-fix (PAF) from KIT Industries and is a procelain touch-up glaze. It is sold at Home Depot in a 15cc bottle for $4.50, is the consistancy of motor oil, does not shrink and dries in about two hours to a smooth gloss finish.
I masked off the area of the Nagato hull above the water line and brushed on PAF in three lifts using a wide fine brush. This did not completely cover the CAD lines but did raise them from the hull so that light sanding with a wet 400 grit block removed most of the lines without damage to the rest of the hull in about 15 minutes. Three coats of paint with Future on top of each coat has covered the rest of the lines. The entire process took about three days.
I have used PAF before to fill in ejection pin marks without sanding and no shrinkage.
I also found that the kit bulkheads provided an excellent means of holding the hull while applying the PAF, sanding and applying the finish paint.
Something else you might try is correction fluid (used to be called typing correction fluid). Comes in soft plastic containers and is applied through a ball point applicator. Simply shake the container for a few seconds - apply ball tip to model, press, squeeze tube lightly and run down the line with it. Dries in a minute or two, sands easily and doesn’t react to model paints. And only costs a couple of bucks - I use Pental and get it at the local dime store.
I got some of that stuff a year back or so; it was recommended in the Tips section of FSM. Got it home, tried it and noticed that it shrinks a lot! I was rather disappointed. It also would not harden completely, and came up after taking sand paper to it. Maybe I got a bad bottle.
CAD stands for computer animated drawing. Like those you see when the old PBS Battlefield show would come on. The mistake was the lines were mistaken as hull plating and recessed pretty deeply into the hull. If you look at the pic the apparent hull plates are the issue.
Those lines that look like recessed plates are not supposed to be there. Pretty major goof on such a nice and expensive model. I just saw that Academy has a fix for the suspension goof on their Grant and Lee releases. Maybe there is still hope.
I got the first part. I’ve got a floor full of bright young kids flogging Autodesk software in an ever tightening effort to make $.
But what happened? They used the digital files and the contour lines ended up in the dies, I guess?
It’s a not uncommon thing. I served as a third party witness in a case where an architectural firm designed a big marble floor in a bank, drew half of it with the idea that the other half was a mirror image, but forgot to include that note. Went out to bid, guess what?
But why did Hasegawa get away with this? They otta be giving out replacement hulls, I’d think.
I made that same comment in an earlier thread. The CAD line problem is not a minor detail flaw found in every kit; it is a careless manufacturing defect. Many of us agree that Hasegawa should have immediately corrected this problem prior to distribution instead of passing this major problem on to its customers. That the company failed to do so shows me a tremendous lack of respect for its customer base, and I have resolved never to buy another Hasegawa product until they fix this problem (including for those of us who paid the exhorbitant price for this otherwise excellent kit). That they repeated this mistake in the MUTSU kit is just a slap in the face.
Well I can sort of understand why they didn’t catch it at the outset, I guess. Like everything, including the Toyota Prius which is built in China, never mind protestations of war crimes, Hase no doubt subcontracted/subcontracted the kit and it may very well be being cast in Indonesia.
The only real salt in the wound was when they released the Limited edition Sister Ship Mutsu, with the same faults. Then of corse Fujimi released the Kongo it is very nice but also very pricey. No Cad lines though.
All kits have errors. Some of it is compromise between what can be molded and what looks good. Some of it is just items that get overlooked. No doubt they thought the lines looked cool and most modelers did too, until they checked photos and saw that they were not there on the real ships. At this point, they approved the tooling for the hull and it is unlikely that they will change it. Way too exspensive for a part that size.
I can’t speak to this manufactures checking process, but this typically happens when the engineering team and toolmakers are not familiar with the subject. On a CAD drawing, those lines are readily visiable as they define the geometry of the hull. So it is possible that until the test shots of the hull were made, no one noticed that they were in the final part.
Again, all models contain flaws. That is not in dispute. But, there is a serious line to draw between those flaws that are attributable to limitations of the molding process and those that are willful or careless inaccuracies such as those CAD lines. It was simply not impossible from a molding standpoint to erase those lines prior to casting. Whoever had the responsibility to check failed in that responsibility; there is no justification for such a mistake. Whether they look cool or not is irrelevant, whatever the design team might believe.
However, I love the kit otherwise! The parts fit is exceptional; except for the CAD line fiasco, the overall detail is exquisite!
Bill, I’m not sure why you feel the need to direct that towards me? What I wrote is my take on what might have happened. I don’t believe I am presenting some radical viewpoint. Just a little insight into a common problem with all MFG’s. Not justifying it or excusing it. Only the MFG can answer for why it was not fixed prior to release.
Thanx for the update I can’t keep track of the acroynyms after being in the Army. I first thought of Commander Air Defense. [(-D] Feels like de ja vous doesn’t it?
