[Digital Navy] HIJMS Takao (1-250), MODELE, jchudzinski
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Heavy cruiser Takao
1:250 scale card model
The subject of this model, the Japanese Imperial Navy heavy cruiser Takao, was built in 1932 as a first
ship in a four ship class, her sisters being Maya, Atago and Chokai. They were the culmination of Japanese
heavy cruiser design and incorporated many novel technologies and innovative design principles. Heavily
armed and protected, they exceeded the Washington Treaty limitation for heavy cruiser displacement of
10000 tons by 4000 tons. Stylish hull lines and a large, complex command tower gave them a unique appear-
ance, and they were beautiful ships indeed.
The model was drawn in 1:250 scale and can be built as a full hull or waterline model.This instruction
provides general guidelines on the assembly, which means that not all the parts are mentioned here, and it is
assumed that the reader possesses some card model building experience.
Sheets 1, 2 and 3 should be doubled to the thickness of 1mm. This thickness was taken under consider-
ation during the design process and it may impair the fit of the parts if the thickness is different.
Annotation L and R in the numbering of parts indicates the left and right side of the ship, looking
from the rear part of the ship towards the front.
Assembly sequence
1. Fig 1 shows the upper part of the ship hull. Because the hull is long and narrow, extra care should be
applied when assembling the bulkheads to avoid any warping of the hull. It is recommended that you attach
parts 18a,b,c,d to a long, flat building board ( useing a small amount of glue or sticky tape) and remove it
from the board only after completing asembly of the hull framework and attaching decks. In case of the full
hull model, the lower
part of the hull frame-
work has to be assembled
in the same way as the
upper part. With the
skeleton of the hull
ready, it is time to cover
the underwater part with
parts 17-0 to 1-2. Use
narrow pieces of thin
paper (~10mm) to create assembly tabs around bulkheads. This should be glued strongly to the bulkheads, as
the rest of the hull will be attached to those tabs. Leave parts 1-bL and 1-bR for now - glue them to the hull
after the side of the ship will be covered. Fig. 2 shows the assembly of the propellers, propeller shafts and the
rudder.
2. Before covering the upper part of the hull with
plating parts 37 to 42, all parts which will be enclosed
between the main deck and upper deck 27 have to be
assembled and installed. Fig. 3 shows those parts -
torpedo tubes, deckhouses, hangar walls etc. After
glueing all the parts listed above to the main deck glue
upper deck 27 ( doubled to 1mm) to those parts, paying
attention to the position of deck 27 - use marks on the
main deck as a guide.
3. Hull plating - start from parts 37L and 37R by forming them to conform to the shape of the bulk-
heads. Before glueing them to the hull it is recommended that you install framing to the torpedo tube
opennings - parts 47R, L and 48R, L. Small arrows close to the parts indicate the forward direction, see Fig. 4
for details. After glueing hull sides 37L and 37R you can proceed either in the bow direction - parts 38R ,
38L, 39R, 39L or in the stern direction - parts 40R, 40L, 41R, 41L, 42. Special care has to be given to form-
ing the bow parts - take your time and dry-fit the parts before glueing.
4.With the hull ready, it is time to start the most difficult part of the project - the command tower-
bridge. It is essential to follow the assembly sequence at this point as some of the parts are “ order of assem-
bly “ sensitive. The first part of the tower to be formed is part 54. This part also closes the front gap between
the main deck and upper deck. Use Fig. 4 as a guide. Double parts 55 and 56 to 1mm and glue them to the
top of part 54. Fig 4. also shows part 43L which has to
be attached to the hull sides.
Take special care to maintain the horizontal
position of parts 55 and 54 as this will affect the rest
of the tower assembly.
The next parts to be mounted are 57R and 57L.
Form them according to Fig. 5 and glue to the top of
parts 55 and 56. At this point, it is useful to cut out
part 68 - the rear wall of the tower bridge, and use it
to check overall fit of the parts already assembled.
But don’t install it yet. Now, you have to install decks
58, 60 and 62. They have to be installed in this order
and kept horizontal. To determine the position of
deck 58 use part 68 as a guide. Part 58 position is
equal to the lower edge of 8 elongated, black port-
holes in part 68. Then comes deck 60 - this one goes
at the top of the “wings” of part 57. Finally- deck 62
as a closer of the space between parts 57R and 57l -
position it so the front edge of parts 57 meets the end
of the parallel portion of part 62. Fig. 6 shows posi-
tions of the decks relative to one another.With all the
decks of the tower bridge installed, you can close the
rear wall of the tower with part 68. I recommend that
you cut out the opening for the funnel at this point.
Fig. 7 shows the position of some small decks - 61, 71, 74 and 75. Install support 73 as shown in Fig. 7.
As you proceed with the construction, frequently check if all the decks are horizontal and centered in
respect to the ship axis. Just take the model in your hand and take a look from dead ahead - you will be able
to see any mistakes in positioning of the tower decks.
Fig. 8 and 9 show the assembly of small “add-ons “ to the tower, which are support platforms for the
armored look-out positions. As shown in the diagrams, I recommend assembling the above parts and glueing
them to deck 81
before
glueing deck 81 to the tower. Also, supports 65 and 64 should be assembled now -
check frequently if deck 81, with all the details attached to it, fits easily on top of part 62. When everything
seems to be ok, glue deck 63 to the rest of the tower. Congratulations - you have passed through the most
difficult part of the project.
5. It is time to move on to the upper parts of the tower - this one being less geometrically complex. First
- create the upper “core” of the tower from parts 78 and 79 and glue it to platform 63 and 62. Then, double
platform 81 to 1mm and glue it atop parts 78 and 79. Pay attention to center part 81 above part 63 - the front
ends of those parts should be directly above each other. The next
step is to form and install the “greenhouse” area of the tower -
part 80. The windows there are printed blue but it enhaces the
look of the tower if you cut them out. The white circle on the
grating on part 63 indicates the position of the compass - make it
from the tip of a toothpick and paint gray. Form part 80 according
to Fig. 11 and slide it on the tower bridge. You can install parts
82R and 82L at this point along with the supports of platform 81
made from 1mm wire. See Fig.11 for the details.
Now you have to assemble parts 83 as an extension of the tower “core”. Form and glue part 83b as a
transition between the lower and upper part of the “core”. Form and assemble part 86 and 88 and glue them
“simultaneously” to parts 80 and 81 - part 88 should conform to both parts 80 and 86. Form and glue blast
shields 85 around platform 84. Then, form and glue top part of the “greenhouse” - part 89 - to the bridge
according to Fig. 11. Now, following Fig. 12, you can add small details to the bridge - armored look-out
pisitions (168), rangefinders (169, 173 and 170) and control centers (171, 175 and 174). Note that the bridge
is not 100 % symmetrical - small platform 76
is on the right side of the ship only. Fig. 13
shows this side of the tower. This completes
the assembly of the tower bridge. You can
make antenna insulators from 0.6mm thick,
5mm long wire- bend it in half at a 90 degree
angle and insert it on the front wall. White
spots on the front wall of the tower indicate the
location of the antennas.
6. The funnels. Because of its complex shape, the front funnel was divided into five parts which are
stacked onto one another. Form each part into a shape more or less resembling the shape of the correspond-
ing formers. Double formers 92a,b, 91a, 93a,b to the thickness of 1mm and insert them into the correspond-
ing segments of the funnel. This will ensure that the segments have the correct shape, and provide a surface
to glue the segments together. Fig. 14 shows the construction of the funnels and the details related to them.
Part 105 - front mast support - is positioned between the two “legs” of the front funnels. It is recom-
mended that you glue the front portion of the front funnel - part 90 - to the deck first, and than proceed with
parts 91, 92, 93.
One of the characteristic features of the Takao was the layout of
the steam pipes on both sides of the front funnel. In fact, this was one
of the few details setting apart ships of the class when they were
completed. The pipes should be made from 1.5mm wire and painted
according to the colors on the funnel ( including white band ). Fig. 15
shows the configuration of the pipes for both sides of the funnel.
7. Details of the upper deck. Fig. 16 shows part arrangment for the upper deck - everything which goes
between the tower bridge and the hangar superstructure. Some parts, like 130 and 130a, are shown only on
one side of the ship but they go on both sides - this was done to keep the drawing clear. Not shown on Fig.
16 are parts 28 - external walls of the hangar - although at this stage of the construction it is already installed.
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