By Mario Grima
1/400 IJN Nagato (modified R/C Otaki)
IJN Nagato
By Mario Grima
1/400 IJN Nagato (modified R/C Otaki)
With all the new micro r/c gizmos coming out lately I wanted to go R/C into smaller hulls and this I felt was a worthy subject. This subject was made using an old rare Otaki 1/400 scale Nagato kit. Otaki made this kit and a Mutsu in this scale. The box kit is lacking lots of detail but it is more superior next to the 1/500 scale Nichimo Nagato (shown in comparisen photo), mostly in the hull, turrets & upper superstructure. On this ship the original details were beefed up greatly adding more parts to the rear main pagoda tower using after war photos, More detailing to the hulls lines on the bow, and anti magnetic mine cable encircling the deck/hull and loads of Photo etch parts from Gold Medal Models & Toms Modelworks. Lots other parts were scratchbuilt using various materials.The tower windows/searchlights have been glassed. The removable island is bolted on with two small screws/pegs to keep it from falling off in ruff seas.
The R/C- The ship kit (motorized) came with a nice metal gear box,spring drive couplings So this made the r/c transformation a lot more practical. The kit supplied single rudder had to go and I made two twin rudders shaped and sized to the real Japanese BB. I also made both rudders functional on one servo. The motor & micro electronic speed control feed on a rechargeable cordless telephone nicad battery. The ship comes to life from a plunger "mushroom" switch. Enjoy the trial shots in the inland sea.
To see the ship in action download these short video's Video 1
467kVideo 2
473kVideo 3
859kVideo 4
476kVideo's require a working MPG player.
