The Ship Model Forum

They're the pulleys that connect the boats to the davits, I believe.

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De quoi s'agit-il?

correct

Ah I see thanks guys

Hi guys,
any ideas about Yukikaze's colour during operation Ten-go in 1945? The TROM at http://www.combinedfleet.com/yukika_t.htm is not particularly clear about it, although Kure is perhaps likely. Also, the decal sheet included in Fujimi 1/700 kit provides 3 funnel emblems - is any of those relevant for Ten-go?
Thanks, Vladi

And one more question especially to Dan K - earlier in this thread you mentioned that double/triple 25mm platforms on most IJN DDs should be surrounded by railings covered by canvas shielding rather than metal shields. In case of Yukikaze 1945 this apparently concerns the aft funnel platform (green on the drawing below) and probably the bow platform (blue), but would that concern the two aft platforms (red and orange), too?
What would the colour of this canvas shields have been in 1945?

Yes to all the circled areas.

There is no certainy as to the exact color of the late war canvas. I'm certain it progressed from bleached white to unbleached white to weathered as the war progressed, but there are clear indications that, by late war, the canvas was purposely painted either brown or grey. Interestingly, I had just written a very knowledgeable Japanese contact on this very point, though for another reason. His take is that is was grey by late war. He points to a similarity with some modern JDMSF canvas as an continuation of this practice. FWIW.

Vladi - dan k is right all the AA mount are rails and canvise. Also if you are building 1-700 scale and are trying to deck it out with photo-etch like I am depending on the model you are useing pit-road kits lionroar makes complet photo-etch sets but don't do the same mistake I did with trying. Use these lionroar sets on fujimi kits. There over sized to compensat the over sized parts of the pit-road kits. There is a company call ocean spirit that makes full ph sets for the new fujimi kits but they are kinda pricy... I would know

Dear Dan and redoctober27,
thanks for your input! I like to add some details, correct some mistakes, but I am not that patient (and my eyes get tired, too) to do real superdetailing. I am working with the Fujimi PE for Yukikaze and I quite like them + I will replace the 25mm mounts with Flyhawk and use brass rods for the thin parts of masts.
Am I right in assuming Kure to be the colour of Yukikaze before the Ten-go sortie?

It's not clear where/when Yukikaze receiived her last refit before the sortie. Kure is as good a choice as any.

It's time to build a 27 February 1942 Amatsukaze in 1/700 waterline.

What kit should I use?

I have a nice Skywave Pit Road Kagero W24 sitting in front of me. What do y'all think?

I did a quick synopsis of the 1/700 Kagero kits offline for Bill Liebold not too long ago, which I will reprise here. As of now, there are four sets of choices in 1/700

Original Aoshima (circa 1980) – don’t bother, it’s been surpassed by everything

PitRoad (circa 1992, new reboxings 2005) – good overall kit, decent bow form, good details, though slightly overscale (this is how PitRoad achieved its great reputation. In the early 90’s, technology allowed better tooling, though not like today. PitRoad used highly detailed masters that were just slightly overscale by a couple of percentage points that allowed for nice detail on very small parts and surfaces.), porthole indentations. The Pit-Road versions are good. Outside of scale concerns (minor), the only thing that bothers me is the shape/silhouette of the bow. The Aoshima kit does it better, and finer. The Japanese DDs have a very specific bow form and I don’t like the way Pit-Road has molded it. It can be fine tuned with some sanding.

The Pit Road Kagero kits are all popped from the same mold; some are now offered with a bottom to create a full hull, others with new decals for different ships in the class, and of course, there are early and late war versions. I believe the following kits were issued:

Kagero 1941, WL and full hull versions
Hamakaze 1945 WL, also a ltd. edition version with PE
Isokaze 1945 WL, also a ltd. edition version with PE
Maikaze 1941 WL & full hull
Yukikaze 1945 WL & full hull, also a ltd. edition version with PE

Midwar versions can easily be built from these. Do not confuse the other PitRoad Type A DD class kits Asashio/Michisio.Kasumi or Yugumo/Asahimo with the Kageros as the boxes and art look so similar.


New Aoshima (circa 2003) – beautiful hull, forecastle and bow forms, (they even managed the slight rounding of the forecastle sides as it meets the hull), accurately scaled detail. OTOH, no portholes or degaussing cable, and the issue for some modelers is that the detail is scaled so correctly that it’s almost too small to see, hence a preference for PitRoad. It’s really an aesthetics choice. I feel that the PitRoad is a little easier to build because the Aoshima version needs more added to it, portholes for instance. I actually do use some PitRoad parts, like the main (and other) rangefinders, for instance, on the Aoshima kit. Still, the Aoshima version is my personal choice every time. (note: I have a chart for the porthole locations)

The new Aoshima tooling has yielded several ships, 4 of which are sold as 1941-42 era. The later war ships can be backdated as well. Be sure not to confuse any of these with the earlier Aoshima tooling:

http://www.hlj.com/product/AOS03353 Kagero 1941
http://www.hlj.com/product/AOS03354 Hayashio 1941
http://www.hlj.com/product/AOS03408 Hamakaze 1942
http://www.hlj.com/product/AOS03407 Maikaze 1942
http://www.hlj.com/product/AOS03779 Isokaze 1945
http://www.hlj.com/product/AOS03395 Yukikaze 1945

There are also these 4 discontinued versions of which some may be in stock with different companies; the Isokaze and Kurushio come with a super detail PE fret (not bad)

http://www.hlj.com/product/AOS03396 Akigumo 1943
http://www.hlj.com/product/AOS03483 Kurushio 1942
http://www.hlj.com/product/AOS03484 Isokaze 1945
http://www.hlj.com/product/AOS03711 Yukikaze 1945

There are also late war, full hull versions for Isokaze and Yukikaze, as well as a full hull post war version for the Yukikaze as the Chinese Tan Yang. The hull breakdown is a little different, and the linoleum tiedowns are erroneously recessed instead of raised, but otherwise, it's the same tooling.


New Fujimi (2010) – just in, not built yet. Fujimi has tried to combine the scale of the Aoshima with the detail of the PitRoad with a reasonable amount of success. OTOH, the kit seems over-engineered with too many parts. It is, by far, the most complicated to build (ex. The bridge has so many pieces that there even more seams to fill than on the PitRoad version), some details wrong. I hate how they’ve engineered the prow (good chance of wrecking the lines of the bow). Late war version with degaussing cable and raised, sealed porthole covers but could be backdated with some scratch-building. It may be a good choice for the late war versions; I won’t know until I actually build one.

Thanks Dan for the great info. That saves me a ton of research time. I'll plan on using my Skywave/Pitroad Kagero kit unless I purchase one of the Aoshima kits soon.

Any idea if the Amatsukaze would have had a japanese flag painted on the top of the front turret at that time?

I've always wondered at what time period the Japanese destroyers had their names painted on the sides of the hull. Was that painted over before WWII?

Thanks

Hi all,
I am just before the main spraying and final assembly of my 1/700 Fujimi Yukikaze and I really like the kit. I agree to Dan's comment about the prow, but it looks worse than it actually is, it filts well and it takes just a touch of liquid putty to become unnoticeable. Most of the kit is just great. I used the Fujimi Yukikaze PE set and that is nice, too. I cannot compare to the PitRoad and Aoshima kits as I do not have them, but I am really happy about the Fujimi one. I would have just preferred if Fujimi included an earlier wartime fit of any of the Kageros as the second kit in the box. Building a e.g. correct Urakaze from late 1944 (which is advertised on the box as the second kit) would need changing of quite a number of small but noticeable details as the kit is representing a 1945 fit, which Urakaze did not survive long enough to ever display.

To Geno: yes, ship names have been painted over on IJN DDs before WWII on hull sides as well as funnel bands (DesRon id) in order to avoid easy identification by the enemy. I do not have any info if there was or was not a flag painted on DD turrets, but I cannot remember having it seen on DDs (just on CAs and BBs).

It's great to have some first-person input on the Fujimi kit. Thx, Vladi. IIRC, this kit has a std. waterline plate, unlike the hidden ones of most of the other, new Fujimi kits. I did have some trouble fitting mine to the hull when I put a hull together.

I recall reading about some DDs draping a flag over their turrets, but I'm not aware of any such photos.

Here is the photo that I was thinking of.

I remember reading somewhere years ago that the turrets were either painted or had a flag placed on top.

http://www.sciencephoto.com/media/363468/enlarge

You are absolutely correct, Geno. Not sure how I forgot about that. That's Yamakaze, Shiratsuyu class, sunk by Nautilus on June 25, 1942. The turret draped flags seem specific to the period of time surrounding the Midway operation. I'm not certain that their use predated Midway.

Yes, standard wl plate, fit is ok, just a bit of liquid putty for the seam.

Geno, thanks for the picture - indeed I have seen it but forgotten about it!

Hey guys,
A shot in the dark on this one.. I’m planning on getting another Fujimi kagero class kit and was looking to build an IJN Shiranui and an IJN Urakaze. Since I had built the one ship that was to be IJN Urakaze as a IJN Nowaki due to the fact Dan k generously supplied me with the AA mount placements. Since the instructions for the Fujimi kagero class kit is just a duplicate of ijn Yukikaze which is incorrect for IJN Urakaze ( hence why I built IJN Nowaki instead due to lack of info ) would anyone know of the AA lay out (manly the single mounts)for both IJN Shiranui and IJN Urakaze at the time of their sinking in late 1944 or any other odd changes to these two ships for that matter?
Thank you much

I don't have the actual Fukui volume with the late war sketches, but I will ask elsewhere if somebody has something for Urukaze and Shiranui.

Thank you Dan K.. btw what is this Fukui volume ?