Calling all Shokaku (翔鶴) and Zuikaku (瑞鶴) fans

[djohannsen]

My advise is throw the old Fujimi kit in the nearest bin as fast as possible and buy a cheap Tamiya one!

Jonathan:

You were soooo right about this. With some free time around Christmas, I finally had a chance to pull this one out of the box and have a go at starting it. I can't comment on accuracy (though I would presume that there are some issues here), but the fit and detail is simply atrocious! Though it's a veritable cornucopia of sink marks, poorly placed ejector pin marks, and flash (as if the kit were designed solely to exemplify these characterisitics), it's the poor part fit where the designers really outdid themselves!

I'm having a hard time trying to find the right level of effort on this one. I don't want to just throw it in the trash. So, given that I want to complete it, how much effort to expend is the question. With many better kits of the Shokaku on the market, it's not worth the effort to scratch many parts. I also can't just build it straight from the box and leave it the way it is. So, I'm using putty and a bit of sheet plastic and just trying to get something that is minimally acceptable so that I can move on to a more satisfying project.

I'll definitely try to keep this experience in mind as a lesson learned: sometimes, no matter how inexpensive a kit is, it's still no bargain.


Dave

[Dan K]

My sympathies. Well, I suppose it wil be good practice.

[ninjrk]

Out of curiosity, has anyone heard of someone like Flyhawk or Voyager doing PE sets for the 1/350 kits? The Fujimi PE sets are basic and frankly rather a rip-off for the price.

Thanks,
Matt

[Dan K]

Nothing that I know of.

[sirpaul]

Voyager does make rail,ladder and other sets. I use them. I like the voyager rails because they are ultra fine. I also buy sets from MK1,and LR. They all make little sets of different things and if you get a bunch of them you should be able to fit out a few ships.

[Vladi]

Does anyone know the exact numbers of the 3 aircraft types that flew from Shokaku at Coral Sea on May 8? Various sources say there were altogether (Shokaku + Zuikaku) 69 planes, of which 18 Zeros, 33 Vals and 18 Kates. Mark Stille in The Coral Sea mentioned 19 Vals from Shokaku, but how many Zeroes and how many Kates?

[Dan K]

Back in 2007 on the j-ships board, Mark E. Horan, noted researcher, posted the following. Most of the other highly knowledgeable participants and researchers accepted his numbers. I don;t know if there has been a subsequent revision:

"Here is a detailed analysis of the aircraft strengths and losses during Coral Sea for both sides:

Japanese:

The Japanese had three carriers with 139 aircraft at 0000 7 May. Shokaku had 58 with 56 operational (18 VF, 19+2 VB, 19 VT), Zuikaku had 63 with 53 operational (19+1 VF, 17+5 VB, 17+4 VT), and Shoho had 18 (12 VF, 6 VT) though 4 of her VF were A5Ms.

During operations on 7 May the Japs lost 30 aircraft [VF-VB-VT]: Shokaku 5 (0-0-5), Zuikaku 7 (0-2-5) and Shoho 18 (12-6).

During operations on 8 May the Japs lost 29 aircraft [VF-VB-VT]: Shokaku 22 (5-11-6) and Zuikaku 7 (1-2-4) and an additional 12 were jettisoned from Zuikaku during recovery (3-4-5).

The loss of 71 aircraft left 68 aircraft: Shokau 10 (4-3-3) and Zuikaku 58 (25-21-12). She had recovered 21 Shokaku orphans (9-7-5) - however, ownership of the 12 jettisoned mentioned above is unclear.

American:

The USN had 139 aircraft at 0000 4 May. Lexington had 69 with 67 operational (19+2 VF, 18 VS, 18 VB, 12 VT) and Yorktown 70 with 59 operational (17+2 VF, 15+5 VS, 15+3 VB, 12+1 VT).

In operations on 4 May Yorktown lost 3 aircraft (2-0-0-1)

This left 136, of which 127 were operational, at 0000 7 May. In operations on 7 May the two carriers lost 6 aircraft: Lexington lost 3 (1-2-0-0) and Yorktown lost 3 (2-0-1-0).

This left 130, of which 117 were operational, at 0000 8 May. In operations on 8 May the two carriers lost 57 aircraft, 23 in action and 34 with Lexington when she sank. Yorktown lost 9 in action (1-5-3-0) and 1 with Lexington (1-0-0-0). Lexington lost 14 in action (6-6-1-1) and 33 with the ship (8-2-12-11).

This left Yorktown with 73 aircraft of which 47 were operational at 0000 9 May. Of these, 54, of which 30 were operational were hers (7+6 VF, 5+10 VS, 10+4 VB, 8+4 VT) and 19, of which 17 were operational were Lexington orphans (6+0 VF, 7+1 VS, 4+1 VB, 0 VT).

The sources for all of this are the USN and IJN airgroup records and action reports. As you should note, little if any of this matches the usually poorly researched information available on the internet. I hope this helps. "

[Vladi]

Dear Dan, many thanks, this is really interesting. Although, in fact, it does not give a exact answer about how many Shokaku's A6Ms and B5Ns participated in the raid on May 8, 1942, but it indicates that there were 19 D3As available on Shokaku that morning so the info by Mark Stille seems right. It is also interesting that IJN used all of their available D3As (less one from Zuikaku) but not all A6Ms (which they needed for CAP) and not all B5Ns (probably because they were slower so needed fighter cover?). Once again, thanks!

[Johan]

Hello guys, especially Dan and Vladi I think!

Since you were talking of the Shokaku at the Battle of the Coral Sea does this mean that the 1/350 Fujimi model for December 1941 can also be used for May 1942 or does it need a lot of altering?

I know the model was intended to represent the Shokaku at Pearl Harbor but since I have one in the stash for a (distant) future project I was maybe thinking of building it to represent the carrier in the Coral Sea...

If you would ever come across the right number of planes of each type launched from the Shokaku on 7 and/or 8 May '42 please don't hesitate to post it here! I've been looking into it myself but I can only find the total number of planes launched in the attacks, ie Zuikaku-planes included...

Thank you very much!!!

[Vladi]

There are at least two stops at Yokosuka in Shokaku's TROM (http://www.combinedfleet.com/shokaku.htm) incl. drydocking between Pearl Harbour and Coral Sea but there is no notice of any modifications there, so it maybe was just an ordinary maintenance. Hopefully Dan or someone else may know more details.

[Dan K]

There were no modifications to Shokaku between PH & the Coral Sea, so you can use the kit as is.

[Johan]

Thank you guys, great news!

[ninjrk]

Out of curiosity, if the two 1/350 Fujimi kits are effectively the same molds, how difficult would it be to backdate the Zuikaku to be a Midway Shokaku?

[Mike C]

Out of curiosity, if the two 1/350 Fujimi kits are effectively the same molds, how difficult would it be to backdate the Zuikaku to be a Midway Shokaku?

From what I can tell, Zuikaku has the same parts as Shokaku, but with extra parts and different planes. You can compare parts on the instruction sheets here:

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10086646
http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10205885

[Dan K]

if the two 1/350 Fujimi kits are effectively the same molds, how difficult would it be to backdate the Zuikaku to be a Midway Shokaku?

Well, Shokaku was under repair at the time of the Midway fiasco so I'm not sure what you mean. If you mean an early war version, than do not add the radar, extra 25AA & platforms at the bow & stern, nor the AA rockets/sponson. Also different flight deck hiragana markings, as well as slightly different striping.

[ninjrk]

if the two 1/350 Fujimi kits are effectively the same molds, how difficult would it be to backdate the Zuikaku to be a Midway Shokaku?

Well, Shokaku was under repair at the time of the Midway fiasco so I'm not sure what you mean. If you mean an early war version, than do not add the radar, extra 25AA & platforms at the bow & stern, nor the AA rockets/sponson. Also different flight deck hiragana markings, as well as slightly different striping.

Thanks! I meant Coral Sea, brain fart and all.

[Dan K]

That's good because the Zuikaku kit doesn't come with all the scaffolding needed for repairs. Otherwise, it's as I wrote.

[ninjrk]

That's good because the Zuikaku kit doesn't come with all the scaffolding needed for repairs. Otherwise, it's as I wrote.

Damn you, Diet Coke burns the nose!

[Johan]

Hi there Ninjrk!

I've been reading with great interest what you've posted here in this thread!

If you're thinking of backdating the 1/350 Fujimi Zuikaku-kit to a Coral Sea-version I would very much like you to do so for following reason. The parts of the Zuikaku-kit you wouldn't be needing would come very handy for my Zuikaku-build in the Santa Cruz-version. For this I'm using the Shokaku-kit but that kit misses the necessary 25 mm AA platforms at the bow and stern and also the triple 25 mm AA emplacements in front and at he back of the bridge. So exactly the parts you wouldn't need for your build. If you're interested please let me know, I'm more than willing to purchase them from you. This would grant me the luxury of not having to scratchbuild.

Dan, if there's something not correct in what I'm saying here please chip in!

Thank you very much!!!

[Dan K]

Johan, those parts would fit your bill exactly.