Calling all IJN Fuso (扶桑) and Yamashiro (山城) fans

angeleyes · Post by **angeleyes** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 2:56 pm

i just received the 2 kits along with some other stuff and i have to say the quality is impressive.Enjoy the pics.I would only say that the main guns are not so crisp as the ones in the hasegawa ise for example but the purists will replace them with metal ones anyway.Apart from that these 2 new kits is what everyone were hopping and or dreamin for so many years , lets just hope that a full hull version will follow as it would be shame not to give the chance tow these 2 models to be displayed in their full glory.

J. Soca · Post by **J. Soca** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 3:17 pm

Thanks for the pictures Angeleyes, that hull is just beautiful, quality is superb. i guess this is the end of the Fuso s resin kits. who s gonna pay over 100 hundred dollars if you can get one of this for less than $30.

Filipe Ramires · Post by **Filipe Ramires** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 3:30 pm

Most interesting indeed. I think I will have to add it to my wish list!!!

ChrisC · Post by **ChrisC** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 4:39 pm

Darnit you beat me to it, I was gonna do this when I got my kits

. You beat me to it! My two samples are probably sitting on an airplane somewhere over the Pacific! Thanks for posting these.

Jefgte · Post by **Jefgte** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 6:13 pm

Superb Yamashiro!!!

I apreciate particulary the very high quality of the moulding.

The small details are very fine

Congrat to the Designers of the moulds & the Moulders

Jef

abramsteve · Post by **abramsteve** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 3:56 am

Ive never built a Japanese ship before, but after those photos of that hull Im really gonna have to build this one!

Miguel · Post by **Miguel** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 6:09 pm

Hey

,great pics,thank You very much,the model is great,but the Fuso artwork(box) is awesome

William J · Post by **William J** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 6:09 pm

Wow, great kits. This is what I have been hoping for too. Love to see these puppies in 1/350 - hint, hint Aoshima, Hase or Trumpy

I take it these kits can be ordered from Trident or HLJ?

Chris C, where did you order yours from?

Bill

angeleyes · Post by **angeleyes** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 6:03 pm

some shots of the fuso tower as built OOTB before i add any detail or improvements.

J. Soca · Post by **J. Soca** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 9:07 pm

Looking great Angeleyes, detail is just superb. I said it once and I will say it again this is the end of the Pit-Road Fusos.

Jefgte · Post by **Jefgte** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 4:12 am

Superb

Jef

paulors · Post by **paulors** » Sun Nov 04, 2007 8:45 am

Greetings from Brazil,

I am building the old Aoshima 1/700 kit. It is not a very fine kit, but I will try to improve it with several Pitroad parts and Gold Medal Models PEs. I went through many references, including the Profile Morskie about this ship, but still have three doubts concerning its 1940 version. Hope someone could answer them, specially a lucky owner of the "Anatomy of the Ship - Battleship Fuso" book.

1/Kit has four double 25mm AA guns, two in the main front pagoda (front and back) and two around the funnel. Profile Morskie shows eight, with four in the main pagoda (two front and two back) and four around the funnel (additional two in elevated platforms on both funnel sides). Which one is the right one?

2/Kit has a deck support for two seaplanes on the port (left) side, close to the main gun turret holding the catapult. Profile Morskie does not show this thing. Was it used at that time (1940)?

3/Boat arrangement does not match. Aoshima boats do no have davits - they rest in the deck. Profile Morskie shows davits for some of them.

Best regards,

Paulo Roberto

Bill Clarke · Post by **Bill Clarke** » Sun Nov 04, 2007 7:11 pm

Hi Paulo, I have Anatomy of the ship Fuso. There is no plan drawing for 1940, but there is one for April 1941, fuso went in to catogory 3 reserve 15 Dec 1940. From 19 Dec 1940 until April 1941 she underwent the second phase of her second modernisation, so I believe that this drawing would be correct.

As to your questions:

1. 8 twins in the areas that PM shows.

2. Incorrect, that would be 1935-1938, the 41 drawing has the aircraft moved to the stern deck, with the catapault on the starboard (right) side, and a bulged sponson fitted as an aircraft crane engine room, with a retractable aircraft crane on the port side. BTW when you say "deck support" do you mean the rails for moving the planes ?

3. Only davits visible in the 41 drawing are located around the 6 inch guns in line with the rear of the second 14 inch gun. all the boats appear to be in cradles, with boat booms nearby.

Hope this helps, if you need more information, I'm just a message away.

Bill.

gs · Post by gs » Mon Nov 05, 2007 2:59 am

Paulors:

In response to your question, I dragged my dusty old Aoshima Fuso, which I built straight out of the box, and my AOTS & Gakken #30. If you don't have the AOTS, I highly recommend the Gakken #30, which has drawings and photos of the ship and of excellent models.

BTW, Bill may not have noticed that the AOTS has drawings of Fuso in 1933, 1935, & 1938 as well as 1941.

I think the kit is correct in its allotment of AA guns. There are actually 4 dual 12.7 cm mounts, which are correctly located on the model for the 1933-35 time frame. There are also 4 quardruple 13.2 mm machine gun mounts correctly located on forward & rear platforms on the pagoda and astride & slightly ahead the funnel.

The seaplanes are a bit too skinny but they are correctly placed on #3 turret & on the starboard of the same turret.

The forward two boats should be on davits. The other boats are on the deck on cradles. The 1935 drawing shows the boats landed, but the davits in place but folded down.

I hope this helps. Good luck.

paulors · Post by **paulors** » Mon Nov 05, 2007 1:52 pm

Hi Bill,

Many thanks your message and the information. Yes, you are right - "deck support" are the words I found to describe the rails for moving the planes. Your comments were very useful, specially the one related with the catapult. Since I plan to model Fuso with the catapult still on top of the third main turret, seems to me that 1935-1938 will be the correct time frame. This brings another question - were the eight 25mm AA twins already installed at that time? The photos I have here are from the beginning of the 30's and no additional platform for 25mm guns is visible on the funnel sides. Will appreciate if you could clarify the 1938 25mm arrangement and any other information that you may consider important for this period.

Best regards,

Paulo Roberto

paulors · Post by **paulors** » Mon Nov 05, 2007 2:10 pm

Hi GS,

Many thanks your message and the information. Yes, I already tried to put my hands on the AOTS Fuso and Gakken 30, but at the end managed to get just the Profile Morskie. Made notice also of the Model Art magazine, edition number 24, that deals with Fuso and Yamashiro, but still looking for it. Anyway, your message gave me some very useful pieces of information concerning the beginning of the 30s period. Putting together data I got from you and Bill, I have now a clear picture about the 33/35 and 40/44. Still need some data for the 38/40 period, as stated above for Bill. Any information about this period will be more than welcomed.

Best regards,

Paulo Roberto

Bill Clarke · Post by **Bill Clarke** » Mon Nov 05, 2007 5:38 pm

paulors wrote:Hi Bill,

Many thanks your message and the information. Yes, you are right - "deck support" are the words I found to describe the rails for moving the planes. Your comments were very useful, specially the one related with the catapult. Since I plan to model Fuso with the catapult still on top of the third main turret, seems to me that 1935-1938 will be the correct time frame. This brings another question - were the eight 25mm AA twins already installed at that time? The photos I have here are from the beginning of the 30's and no additional platform for 25mm guns is visible on the funnel sides. Will appreciate if you could clarify the 1938 25mm arrangement and any other information that you may consider important for this period.

Best regards,

Paulo Roberto

Hi Paulo, yes the 25's were installed in 38, I checked the drawings against the 35 drawings and the gun tubs are much biger around the tower in the 38 drawing indicating two mounts as opposed to 1 mount in 35.
Please let me know if during the build you have any specific questions relating to the ship, I cant think of anything at the moment, and I'm sure questions will arise while you are building it, or you could look at jeff Lin's stunning build of the Yamishiro, as far as I know the main differences between the sisters was in the pagoda shape, Fuso's was different to Yamishiro's, though the exact difference escapes me.

Regards.

Bill.

paulors · Post by **paulors** » Mon Nov 05, 2007 8:28 pm

Hi Bill,

Great!!!! Now I am done for the time being. So, will enlarge the two platforms in the main pagoda, to accept two twin 25mm instead of one, and build up two additional ones to go on both funnel sides. Profile Morskie has the drawings I need to do such modifications. Many many thanks the information and your support.

Best regards,

Paulo Roberto

Bill Clarke · Post by **Bill Clarke** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 2:44 am

Paulos, mate, why not just go out and buy the Aoshima Fuso 44 like I did ?

Bill.

paulors · Post by **paulors** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 8:45 am

Hi Bill,

I like the challenge to detail and upgrade these old kits, but there is another important reason. We have a funny country here, as far as importation is concerned. Kits are considered as "toys" and subject to a 60% (sixty!!) tax. There is more - this tax is not apllied to the kit price only, but to the kit price plus the amount paid for shipping it!! Lets take the new Fuso (US$ 33.00) plus shipping to Brazil (lets make it easier at US$ 17.00). Total US$ 50.00 plus US$ 30.00 tax, meaning a final price of US$ 80.00. On top of all this mess, customs processing adds a month to the shipping time. Now imagine this scenario in a country with few and poor stocked hobby shops.

Best regards,

Paulo Roberto

The Ship Model Forum

Calling all IJN Fuso (扶桑) and Yamashiro (山城) fans

Calling all IJN Fuso (扶桑) and Yamashiro (山城) fans

Calling all IJN Fuso & Yamashiro fans

Re: Some questions about IJN Fuso Battleship.

Aoshima Fuso