With the recent announcement from Hasegawa of new Yugumo class releases in 1/700, now seems a good time to set up a thread. The original Hasegawa kits, now 45 years old, were typical of their time in that the detail and armament are very simplistic. The hull is okay, though there’s no rear slope to the stern. The follow-up Pit-Road versions, circa mid 1990s, were a little better in that there is more detail and refinement in the kit parts, but the stern is still wrong, the bridge base is a little short fore and aft, and the bow profile is terrible.
While some modelers see these ships as merely improved Kageros (which they are in many regards), the Japanese consider them a separate class. Several improvements contributed to better sea keeping, stability and maneuverability: The forward main mount was moved 1.5m aft, the bridge was set forward at the same frame number as with the Kagero class, but streamlined to a greater degree, and extended further aft to provide more space. There, it was supported by an open trestle. Also, the stern sloped downward to a more pronounced waterline knuckle, the forward torpedo reload gantries were placed perpendicular to the axis of the ship at #1 funnel, and the main turrets were internally modified to allow barrel elevation up to 75* to improve their AA capability.
From the Wikipedia entry:
“The Yūgumo-class destroyers (夕雲型駆逐艦 Yūgumo-gata kuchikukan?) were a group of 19 destroyers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. The IJN called them Destroyer Type-A (甲型駆逐艦, Kō-gata Kuchikukan?) from their plan name. No ships of the class survived the war. (Dan’s note: Many sources, particularly older ones, refer to Akigumo as a member of this class. She was not; she belonged to the proceeding Kagero class.)
The Yūgumo class was a repeat of the preceding Kagerō class with minor improvements that increased their anti-aircraft capabilities. Their crew numbered 228 officers and enlisted men. The ships measured 119.17 meters (391 ft 0 in) overall, with a beam of 10.8 meters (35 ft 5 in) and a draft of 3.76 meters (12 ft 4 in).[1] They displaced 2,110 metric tons (2,080 long tons) at standard load and 2,560 metric tons (2,520 long tons) at deep load.[2] The ships had two Kampon geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by three Kampon water-tube boilers. The turbines were rated at a total of 52,000 shaft horsepower (39,000 kW) for a designed speed of 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph).[3]
The main armament of the Yūgumo class consisted of six Type 3 127-millimeter (5.0 in) guns in three twin-gun turrets, one superfiring pair aft and one turret forward of the superstructure.[2] The guns were able to elevate up to 75° to increase their ability against aircraft, but their slow rate of fire, slow traversing speed, and the lack of any sort of high-angle fire-control system meant that they were virtually useless as anti-aircraft guns.[4] They were built with four Type 96 25-millimeter (1.0 in) anti-aircraft guns in two twin-gun mounts, but more of these guns were added over the course of the war. The ships were also armed with eight 610-millimeter (24.0 in) torpedo tubes in a two quadruple traversing mounts; one reload was carried for each tube. Their anti-submarine weapons comprised two depth charge throwers for which 36 depth charges were carried.[2]”
Lastly, under the Modified 1942 programm, 16 repeat Yûgumo class destroyers were planned in two batches, to be named Umigiri, Yamagiri, Tanigiri, Kawagiri, Taekaze, Kiyokaze, Satokaze, Murakaze (program numbers 348-355) and Yamasame, Akisame, Natsusame, Hayasame, Takashio, Akishio, Harushio, Wakashio (program #s 5041-48, to be known as the Yamasame class.) They were postponed/cancelled in favor of Matsu class destroyers in 1943 and thus never laid down.
Available kits (updated 3/1/2023):
1/7001972 Hasegawa Issued (Waterline Consortium 1st generation)Yugumo, 1943 - Item # 49410, kit # WL410, originally issued 1972, re-issued, 1994
Hayanami, 1944 – Item # 49415, kit # WL415, issued 1972
Asashimo, 1945 – Item # 49450, kit # WL450, issued April, 2006
Pit-Road (Skywave) issued (Second Generation – circa mid 1990s)Yugumo, 1942 – Item # 10434, kit # W-26, released 1995
Asashimo, 1945 – Item # 104??, kit # W-27, released 1995
Asashimo, 1945 – Item #? , kit # PITW-27Y (movie version from 2006 film “Otokotachi no Yamato”), released December, 2005
Yugumo 1942 Item # 13084, kit # W-108, full hull option, released November, 2007
Kazagumo, 1942 – Item # 44132, kit # SPW13, full hull option, with new equipment set NE-05, photo etch parts, released February, 2012
Hayashimo, 1944 – Item # 51178, kit # SPW34, full hull option, with new equipment set NE-05, released January, 2015
Takanami, 1942 – Item # 51291, kit # SPW37, full hull option, with new equipment set NE-05, released July, 2015
Fujinami, 1943 – Item # 64147, kit # SPW59, full hull option, with new equipment set NE-05, flag pole, nameplate, released March, 2019
Kishanami, 1943 – Item # 64185, kit # SPW65, full hull option, with new equipment set NE-05, flag pole, nameplate, released June, 2019
Hamanami, 1943 – Item # 64215, kit # SPW68, full hull option, with new equipment set NE-05, flag pole, nameplate, released August, 2019
Hasegawa Issued 2017 (Waterline Consortium, 3rd generation) – Yugumo, 1942 – Item # 49461, kit # WL 461, released June, 2017
Hayanami, 1943 – Item # 49462, kit # WL462, released July, 2017
Yugumo, 1942 Hyper Detail– Item # 30059, kit # WL n/a, released June, 2017
Asashimo 1945 - Item # 494657, kit # WL 465, released May, 2018
Akishimo 1944 - Item # 49467, kit # WL467, released October, 2018
Yugumo, 1942 Hyper Detail– Item # 30059, kit # WL n/a, full PE set included, released March, 2019
Yugumo, Kazegumo, Asagumo 1943 Kiska Evacuation set - Item # Item # 30062, kit # n/a, with 2 Yugumo and 1 Asashio class destroyers, daihatsus & launching ramps, released June, 2019
Hayanami, 1943/44 Hyper Detail– Item # 431744, kit # CH124, full hull option, full PE set, wooden stand, released September, 2019
Asashimo 1945 Full Hull Special– Item # 431744, kit # CH125, full hull option, full PE set, released December, 2019
Fujimi issued 2018 (NEXT snap together kits, 2 ships per box, full hull option, with colored parts)Yugumo 1942/Kazagumo 1944 - Item # 460246, 1/700 NEXT #10, released January 22, 2018
Yugumo 1942/Kazagumo 1944 - Item # 460388, 1/700 NEXT #10 EX-2, with full PE sets, released August, 2019
Yugumo 1942/Kazagumo 1944 - Item # 460789, 1/700 NEXT #10, with new 25mm AA parts, released January, 2020
1/350 Pit-RoadYugumo, 1942 – PITWB-09, released 2009, discontinued (was a reworked Kagero class kit with Yugumo parts)
Examples in the gallery (and I’m sure I’ve missed some worthy ones) Gallery updated 6/14/2019:
1/700A very nice buildup of the original Hasegawa kit as Yugumo, 1942 by Anthony Kochevar:
http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery ... index.htmlAnother build of Yugumo, 1943 from the Hasegawa kit by Eric Navas:
http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery ... index.htmlA nicely worked version of Akishimo, 1944, from one of the Hasegawa kits, by Fan Bai:
http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery ... index.htmlA workup of the Asashimo, 1945 kit from Hasegawa by Zhang Hongmin:
http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery ... index.htmlWith a lack of Pit-Road kit builds in the gallery (that I can find), I’ve included some from other sites:
Not from this website, but included anyway as a fine example of the Pit-Road kit, is Asashimo, 1945 by aeronautic (Lars Winther):
http://aeronautic.dk/Warship%20Asashimo.htmAn exceptional build of Makigumo 1942 by Nobuyuki Nakazawa on the Suwa website:
http://suwaships.jp/gallery_cat/%e9%a7% ... %e9%9b%b2/Builds of Naganami, 1942 and Kazagumo, 1943 from kit bashing the Aoshima Kagero class and Pit-Road Yugumo class kits, by Dan Kaplan:
http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery ... ss-700-dk/Christian Hoeltge's beautiful build of the Pit-Road Asashimo, 1945:
http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery ... /index.htmHayanami 1943-44 (Hasegawa new tool) by Won-hui Lee:
http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery ... /index.htmHayanami 1943-44 (Hasegawa new tool) by Krzysztof Andrzejak:
http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery ... /index.htm1/350A nice build of the short lived Pit-Road kit as Makigumo, 1942 by Fred Branyon:
http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery ... index.html