by Vlad » Sun Jan 26, 2014 4:57 pm
Hi all,
As promised after my recent purchase of the IJN Tsukuba kit in 1/700, here is a short review. I'll start with an apology for the picture quality, I was struggling with the lighting on the resin parts because the resin is very pale, but I tried to salvage as much as I could with some colour adjusting (I have done quite a bit of building and paint work since taking these shots so no chance I'm afraid to get better pictures of the kit). Also, I am not an expert so I will state my opinions of the kit but your expectations may differ, hopefully the pictures will be informative. Finally, not to be misleading, the box that the parts are in is from a Combrig battlecruiser (which I am using as a parts "marshalling yard"), the actual box this kit comes is smaller and a bit inconvenient.
My overall impression with this kit is very positive. I am very happy to have such a unique and interesting ship in 1/700, and the resin and white metal casting is on the whole very good. I would recommend this kit to anyone interested in ships of this time period and I look forward to finishing this build.
HULL
You get a nicely cast resin hull. Interestingly, the hull is partly hollow from the underside. Mine had a slight warp that was quickly fixed with a hot water bath. The hull is 202mm long on the waterline, which comes out to 141m scale length (vs. 134m real ship length) so a tiny bit long. The proportions and shape seem accurate compared to the few pictures I have access to. Unfortunately I do not own any drawings but it looks pretty good. Casting imperfections are minimal, there is a little bit of over-pour but it's easily removed. There is quite a lot of detail on both decks and hull sides including casemate doors. This could have been a bit sharper but nevertheless a dry-brush will bring it out nicely. My only complaint is the molded on detail that really shouldn't be, such as anchors and torpedo net booms. Since I've already started the build, I have actually sanded this clean and scratchbuilt a new torpedo net and the booms.
OTHER RESIN PARTS
You get a few resin "sprues" with superstructure parts, main gun turrets and funnels. On first inspection these are covered in flash, but it is so thin you can see through it and comes off quickly with no issues at all. The turrets seem well shaped and there is some surface detail in the form of roof panels. Bridge levels also have surface detail on the deck and the underside! Funnels have very thin rings around them (hard to see in pictures) but overall there is more nice things to attract dry-brush attention. I personally am a fan of the surface detail even if others might consider it a bit overscale. Since I've already started building this, I can confirm that the parts clean up easily and the fit is mostly spot-on. The only slight gap is in the main deck sections covering port and starboard above the secondary gun deck.
METAL PARTS
You get a LOT of white metal parts. I'm no expert, but they look sharper than my past experiences. Having said that, most modellers would probably wish to replace some or all of these. You get two sets of masts (Tsukuba had shorter masts as built but was refitted, Ikoma has taller masts). You also get a lot of guns: 6" barrels for casemates, 6" open mounts, 6" shielded mounts and 4.7" shielded mounts. Most of these are only relevant if you are making Ikoma, some are only relevant if you are making a later fit of Tsukuba. The only ones you need for an as-built Tsukuba are the 6" barrels for the casemates and the 4.7" shielded mounts. The barrels are OK, not super sharp, but the smaller guns (I believe they are 3") and the rangefinder and quite crisply cast. Not sure why they did such a great job of the smallest parts only. I won't go into more detail here because, like I said, there are a lot of parts, some optional, so have a look at the pictures and draw your own conclusions.
Despite my initial intent to scratchbuild the masts, I decided the white metal ones are fine once straightened. At the early build stage, I have chosen to replace all gun barrels with thinner (and straighter) plastic ones from my spares parts box. I am however using the 4.7" gun shields minus the barrels. I will probably replace all the boats and searchlights also.
Having said that, although I am planning to replace most of the white metal parts, this is because I want to go the extra mile on this build and I have a huge spare parts box. I actually think it would build nicely with the metal parts provided, and the metal parts are pretty sharp compared to others I had in the past.
You also get three sections of brass rod to make masts and other details.
INSTRUCTIONS
You get two sheets, one with a drawing and some notes, the second with an exploded diagram. These are exclusively in Japanese with the exception of ship names and dates, but you can easily work out what goes where. There are diagrams showing the differences between Tsukuba and Ikoma and some changes in their careers. You might want to do a bit of research on exact secondary armament fit, but once you've worked out which metal parts you DON'T need there are very few parts left to build, so it's pretty straightforward.
PICTURES
Enjoy:
Hi all,
As promised after my recent purchase of the IJN Tsukuba kit in 1/700, here is a short review. I'll start with an apology for the picture quality, I was struggling with the lighting on the resin parts because the resin is very pale, but I tried to salvage as much as I could with some colour adjusting (I have done quite a bit of building and paint work since taking these shots so no chance I'm afraid to get better pictures of the kit). Also, I am not an expert so I will state my opinions of the kit but your expectations may differ, hopefully the pictures will be informative. Finally, not to be misleading, the box that the parts are in is from a Combrig battlecruiser (which I am using as a parts "marshalling yard"), the actual box this kit comes is smaller and a bit inconvenient.
My overall impression with this kit is very positive. I am very happy to have such a unique and interesting ship in 1/700, and the resin and white metal casting is on the whole very good. I would recommend this kit to anyone interested in ships of this time period and I look forward to finishing this build.
[b]HULL[/b]
You get a nicely cast resin hull. Interestingly, the hull is partly hollow from the underside. Mine had a slight warp that was quickly fixed with a hot water bath. The hull is 202mm long on the waterline, which comes out to 141m scale length (vs. 134m real ship length) so a tiny bit long. The proportions and shape seem accurate compared to the few pictures I have access to. Unfortunately I do not own any drawings but it looks pretty good. Casting imperfections are minimal, there is a little bit of over-pour but it's easily removed. There is quite a lot of detail on both decks and hull sides including casemate doors. This could have been a bit sharper but nevertheless a dry-brush will bring it out nicely. My only complaint is the molded on detail that really shouldn't be, such as anchors and torpedo net booms. Since I've already started the build, I have actually sanded this clean and scratchbuilt a new torpedo net and the booms.
[b]OTHER RESIN PARTS[/b]
You get a few resin "sprues" with superstructure parts, main gun turrets and funnels. On first inspection these are covered in flash, but it is so thin you can see through it and comes off quickly with no issues at all. The turrets seem well shaped and there is some surface detail in the form of roof panels. Bridge levels also have surface detail on the deck and the underside! Funnels have very thin rings around them (hard to see in pictures) but overall there is more nice things to attract dry-brush attention. I personally am a fan of the surface detail even if others might consider it a bit overscale. Since I've already started building this, I can confirm that the parts clean up easily and the fit is mostly spot-on. The only slight gap is in the main deck sections covering port and starboard above the secondary gun deck.
[b]METAL PARTS[/b]
You get a LOT of white metal parts. I'm no expert, but they look sharper than my past experiences. Having said that, most modellers would probably wish to replace some or all of these. You get two sets of masts (Tsukuba had shorter masts as built but was refitted, Ikoma has taller masts). You also get a lot of guns: 6" barrels for casemates, 6" open mounts, 6" shielded mounts and 4.7" shielded mounts. Most of these are only relevant if you are making Ikoma, some are only relevant if you are making a later fit of Tsukuba. The only ones you need for an as-built Tsukuba are the 6" barrels for the casemates and the 4.7" shielded mounts. The barrels are OK, not super sharp, but the smaller guns (I believe they are 3") and the rangefinder and quite crisply cast. Not sure why they did such a great job of the smallest parts only. I won't go into more detail here because, like I said, there are a lot of parts, some optional, so have a look at the pictures and draw your own conclusions.
Despite my initial intent to scratchbuild the masts, I decided the white metal ones are fine once straightened. At the early build stage, I have chosen to replace all gun barrels with thinner (and straighter) plastic ones from my spares parts box. I am however using the 4.7" gun shields minus the barrels. I will probably replace all the boats and searchlights also.
Having said that, although I am planning to replace most of the white metal parts, this is because I want to go the extra mile on this build and I have a huge spare parts box. I actually think it would build nicely with the metal parts provided, and the metal parts are pretty sharp compared to others I had in the past.
You also get three sections of brass rod to make masts and other details.
[b]INSTRUCTIONS[/b]
You get two sheets, one with a drawing and some notes, the second with an exploded diagram. These are exclusively in Japanese with the exception of ship names and dates, but you can easily work out what goes where. There are diagrams showing the differences between Tsukuba and Ikoma and some changes in their careers. You might want to do a bit of research on exact secondary armament fit, but once you've worked out which metal parts you DON'T need there are very few parts left to build, so it's pretty straightforward.
[b]PICTURES[/b]
Enjoy:
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