Fujimi 1/700 IJN Kaga is Here!

[ajkochev]

I just got the new Kaga from Fujimi today. Several of you I've noticed brag about your purchases but don't show photos, so here are a few tidbit of the new model.

[ajkochev]

I'm not exactly thrilled with the kit, it seems that the Akagi was a bit better for detail, but it is a lot better than the old Hasegawa kit and the PE set for this kit is outstanding.

[Dan K]

Interestingly, mine showed up yesterday as well. Since you've all been so good about posting photos, I won't

I only had time for a quick look. Almost all the main sprues are sharply molded, and have lots of detail. Much nicer than the Hasegawa kit. I can't say whether the details are accurate or not as I don't have a plan for her. Flight deck is lacking rain gutters, some details and suffers from the same recessed expansion joint problem as Shokaku kit and erroneous planking pattern as all the new Fujimi wood decked CV releases. No degaussing cable.

Same generic AA, boat, aircraft sprues as with previous new releases. Better than the older Tamiya-Hasegawa-Leviathan sets but not as nice as the newer PitRoad and FineMold releases.

Very nice and complete PE set.

[D-Boy]

I just got the new Kaga from Fujimi today. Several of you I've noticed brag about your purchases but don't show photos, so here are a few tidbit of the new model.

Heh. Perhaps my post yesterday was one of the irksome ones. Camera at home, but package arrived at work and was opened during lunch break, hence just verbal comments on the Kaga and 1938 Fuso.

Hoping to rectify in the next 24 hours.

D-Boy

[ajkochev]

Dan,

Were you as underwehlmed by the deck as I was? I was expecting better for some reason. even the mock support girders on the underside at the bow and stern looked really basic. I made a scratch built deck for the old Hasegawa kit, I think I may do something similar for this one.

[Dan K]

I really didn't have that long a look at it. Like the new Shokaku, it's been molded cleanly, without the usual arrestor wires and bases, safety barriers, stuff like that. I prefer this approach, as it makes painting and washing easier. Didn;t really have a chance to thouroughly examine it yet. Nor the underside.

[D-Boy]

This ain't your Daddy's Kaga.

I'm very impressed with this kit. Can't let myself start assembly anytime soon, but wanted to share first impressions (with photos!). Highly detailed, crisply molded. I never owned the first generation Hasegawa mold of this ship, but know, like the Akagi, a new release was long overdue. Others here have already made some preliminary comparisons with the new Fujimi Akagi; this kit appears to me to be its equal in terms of detailing. What this kit reveals to me is just how unique a design the Kaga was: there are parts here that are strikingly unfamiliar to me (someone who is not particularly familiar with the ship itself), deck levels I was never aware of, and lots of complex bracing and struts of the flight deck and AA walkways well represented in plastic parts alone.

Here are some photos and additional comments on the sprues:

Starboard hull, stern. Note porthole details:



Starboard hull, midships. Many of the holes and indents here are for bracing and struts... this will be a very complex hull at the completion of the build:



Starboard hull, toward the bow:



Port hull, midships:



Bow deck. There's a very, very slight casting shadow that shows up on the left side of this part... several other parts show this circles as well. In this case, it does not obstruct detailing:



Stern, lower deck. Casting shadow visibly present here can also be felt... it interrupts the subtle non-skid molding. Non-skid treatment is otherwise very impressive - you'll need a very light touch with the airbrush to retain it:



Fujimi has abandoned the generic W2 weapons and detailing sprues for new molds for ships boats. The landing craft (perhaps not the IJN term for these auxiliary vessels) are a big step up in shape and detail:







Here's the AA spru. Not at the level of FineMolds, but better than the W2 sprues:



A transparent spru of searchlights and boat covers:



"T" sprue contains the gun platforms and walkways. Impressive detailing on both top and bottom surfaces:



Linoleum and non-skid surfaces represented here, as well as ammo boxes (?):





More underside detailing. Lots of ejector pin marks as a tradeoff, although they are shallow. I'm hoping a primer coat alone may take care of them, but they are not on any topside parts that I have noticed so far:



Lots of bracing on "D" spru. That large part on the upper left is the rear of the hanger deck. There's no visual access to the hanger deck from the sides of this ship, and bracing between the hull prevents any significant scratchbuilding except at the rear elevator. Pictured here is the bottom (glue surface) of the part; the interior on the other side has no detailing:



Flight deck and elevators:



Bow from above and below:





And stern detailing under the flightdeck:



"S" spru contains bow and stern superstructure and deck parts, more walkways, ships boats, and covered AA weaponry:



Fujimi has cut new molds for the covered AA batteries:



Stern main deck. More casting shadow on this part, which feels to touch to mar the wood deck detailing on the stern:



Underside, stern main deck:



Sprue "R" with bracing and numerous details. An impressive spru from Fujimi - they attempt, and succeed, to cast in plastic a number of parts that modelers typically seek PE upgrades for:



Radio antenna, for example. Note flight deck supports on right:



And walkway supports:





So, my first impressions are very positive. Your Carpet Monster will love this build. Others will be able to report first on fit and ease of build - as impressive as this is, other ships need to be built first.

[Atma]

Thanks for the small review D-Boy

[Dan K]

While my first impressions were good (especially the hull), not all remain, particularly the flight deck. No metal plating rimmed around the forward portion of the flight deck, no treading on the plating anywhere, no rims around the elevator apertures, no rain gutters, no treading on the round down; the new Shokaku does the details much better. Fujimi hedged its bets on the fine details here. And, yes, the flight deck supports are a little disappointing in detail. WIth so much air under the flight deck, everything is more exposed, so detail could be better appreciated here.

[potchip]

Query on the 'boat crane' assembly at stern under flightdeck and similar stuff near forward hanger underneath the flight deck - Fujimi depicts these with a series of thin plastic rod-like structs.

In the old hasegawa kit/PE, it's a lattrice support that looks like cranes that can slide across the beam, the Fujimi version I'm not sure what to call it. Is this due to new research?

[Dan K]

WHich part #s

[potchip]

Step 7, and R69, R51

[Dan K]

That's weird - those part #s don't macth what's in step 7 on my sheet. Though I can see them on the parts breakdown.

They are all part of the boat cranes and, as far as I know, the plastic rod seems too think. The older PE seems more correct but, admittedly, I can't find a really clear photo of the structure, either.

[Dan K]

I take it back. There are some good photos of the cranes from Kaga's original configuration. The cranes are a carryover to the rebuilt version of Kaga. The location & setup doesn't change.

IMHO, the PE looks better.

[potchip]

Great picture, thanks. Puzzling these are not included in the PE set. Luckily I still got the set from Hasegawa hanging around.

[SeanF]

Question: what are those things that look like catapult tracks at the fore end of the flight deck? (Displayed quite prominently in one of D-Boy's photos) Are those supposed to be there?

- Sean F.

[Dan K]

Some knowledgeable Japanese sources say that these were unused space allowances for a proposed catapult system, which was definitely planned but never executed. However, looking at deck photos, they just look like deck plating intersections to me. I personally believe that the original lower flight deck over the bow was reused in the rebuild, and that additonal sections added on to widen it. See below

What ever they are, these "tracks" are way over scale in the new kit, IMHO

[WI_Chris]

One thing I noticed, after looking at the pictures of the kit's flight deck and then at Dan's photo, is that on the kit it seems like the fore part of the deck is smooth, while it clearly is planked in the photo. Is this a mistake? Or am I just blinder than usual?

~Chris

[Dan K]

Kaga's wood planking begins just to the lower left, out of sight in the phto. Everything you see is metal plating.

[sirpaul]

This kit is not a big upgrade from the old kit. The new kit also takes several hours more to build. If you spend the hours on the old kit with the proper upgrades????