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

[MatthewB]

The Deck sets by Flyhawk do not have the wooden decking going all the way back to the roll-down.

Not so, Matthew. I happen to have one, but see the pic below to confirm.

They do have a reasonable PE set for 1/700 1941/42 Sh?kaku (but I am not certain about the Zuikaku of the same period).

If you mean Fujimi, then I would agree, their sets for these kits are very good. They are interchangeable for fit. The Shokaku '41 PE set can be used for a '41-'42 Zuikaku, and the '44 Zuikaku set can be used for a "44 Shokaku.

Thanks, I missed this post.

Ordering the PE set now.

I wish that Flyhawk would do a complete set of PE for the Sh?kaku/Zuikaku of '41 - '42 (Although Sh?kaku got a Radar in mid-42 set before the Zuikaku did, did it not?).

But with the addition of the Deck, I will have everything I need to start building her and the Lexington for Coral Sea.

MB

[Dan K]

Although Sh?kaku got a Radar in mid-42 set before the Zuikaku did, did it not?

Yes. And Zuikaku got hers at the very end of Dec '42.

While I haven't yet built either of the Fujimi kits yet, I do have the PE, and have been following other builds. It certainly appears to be a pretty good, pretty comprehensive set. For either ship.

[ch hoeltge]

I just got Fujimis PE parts for the Shokaku. I'm now waiting for Flyhawks flight deck.
The PE parts looks great and the fit is perfect til now.
Only parts, which are missing are doors and perhaps parts for the boats and planes.
Luckily there came enough doors with the PE parts from Fujimis Hosho .



Greetings Christian

[MatthewB]

I finally opened the box for the 1941-42 (Coral Sea Version), my first impression of the Sh?kaku was:

This Ship is HUGE!

I expected it to be roughly the size of the IJN and USN BBs I have (Heie, Haruna, Kirishima, and Fus?; Washington, and South Dakota).

But it is a good 1.5" longer (at least) than these ships.

I notice that it says in the book I have (I think it is a Vanguard Press copy of IJN Aircraft Carriers) that the Sh?kaku and Zuikaku both got additional AA weapons fitted in June of '42 (6 Triple Type 96 25MM guns), and then two Type 95 Directors fore/Aft (to support the Two Type 96 AA guns - The other two Triple Type 96 AA Guns were fore/aft of the bridge superstructure).

So, this means between June and September (at the Battle of the Eastern Solomons), the Ships were basically identical, but that after the Sh?kaku's Sept. Upgrade with the radar, it would have been different from the Zuikaku at the Battle of Santa Cruz?


Edit:

I also notice a LOT of portholes. Would these not have been plated over (please tell me they weren't!!!)?

I cannot find any really decent images of the IJN carriers. This seems to be a real pity that the IJN did not provide better photographs of their ships.

MB

[Dan K]

I notice that it says in the book I have (I think it is a Vanguard Press copy of IJN Aircraft Carriers) that the Sh?kaku and Zuikaku both got additional AA weapons fitted in June of '42 (6 Triple Type 96 25MM guns), and then two Type 95 Directors fore/Aft (to support the Two Type 96 AA guns - The other two Triple Type 96 AA Guns were fore/aft of the bridge superstructure).

So, this means between June and September (at the Battle of the Eastern Solomons), the Ships were basically identical, but that after the Sh?kaku's Sept. Upgrade with the radar, it would have been different from the Zuikaku at the Battle of Santa Cruz?

Yes. Zuikaku does not received her Type 21 radar until the end of the year, along with the re-positioned Type 94 HA directors.

I also notice a LOT of portholes. Would these not have been plated over (please tell me they weren't!!!)?

Ok, they weren't. Really. Not yet.

I cannot find any really decent images of the IJN carriers. This seems to be a real pity that the IJN did not provide better photographs of their ships.

The Japanese burned almost everything at the end of the war, prior to the occupation, which is why there are so few fine photos around.

[Timmy C]

Not to mention the negatives on board the ships themselves when they were sunk!

[MatthewB]

That is probably the greatest Tragedy for History that I can think of short of the burning of the Library of Alexandria.

They had such beautiful ships; some of the MOST beautiful ships.

In any event, I should be able to get started on the Sh?kaku (And Lexington) in a month or so, after I re-build the USS San Francisco, and finish up the Nagara, Kirishima, and Aoba.

MB

[Guest]

Agreed. Some very graceful ships, attractive ships (Fuso excepted).

Dan

[ch hoeltge]

Here is my mod on the 1941 Shokaku, if someone is interested.


I alos got the Flyhwak deck. There are also replacements for the small platforms on the side included.
On my pic they are still there, so don't forget to remove them.

Greetings Christian

[MatthewB]

Here is my mod on the 1941 Shokaku, if someone is interested.


I alos got the Flyhwak deck. There are also replacements for the small platforms on the side included.
On my pic they are still there, so don't forget to remove them.

Greetings Christian

Is that the Fujimi PE set? I did notice that it looks as if all of the side platforms have PE replacements, with railings (those are going to be a pain to paint).

It looks like many of these platforms are metal grills, or were "see-through."

I would be concerned with how to put the supports (the Triangular Gussets) back under them. I suppose that I can buy some more IJN Triangular Gussets (damn those will be small) to use underneath the platforms.


Edit: And the Flyhawk Flight Deck looks like a monster to assemble. Not quite as bad as the Akagi Flight Deck.

MB

[ch hoeltge]

Yes this the Fujimi set.
And yes there are three or four platforms with a grating.
Like the right one in the pic.



But there are no supports included and I don't think there where any ones.
The other platforms remain on the kit and Fujimi only supply the railing for it.

Greetings Christian

[MatthewB]

I wonder if I should replace the degaussing cable on this model with PE?

I only have a few (scale) miles of IJN degaussing cable.

I guess that I will get the Zuikaku next, so that I can have both carriers for The Early-War South Pacific Operations.

MB

[Guest]

Personally, I think the Fujimi depiction of the degaussing cable to be fine.

[ch hoeltge]

I would also don't remove it.
Removing something is always difficult and then you have to get the surface smooth again.
And then after adding the new cable you have to beware of glue marks.
So I don't see any benifit in this compared to the modeled on cable.

Greetings Christian

[MatthewB]

I'll have to see what the cable on the model looks like (which I cannot do today because of a Cat-astrophe.

One of my cats climbed up on my desk when I was asleep, and he pushed EVERYTHING off of it (which included two Benson/Gleaves-class DDs, the USS San Francisco, and parts of the USSs Helena & St. Louis, and HIJMSs Aoba, Kinugasa, and Nagara).

He messed up the yardarm on the USS San Francisco, and I am lucky that it otherwise fell into the chair.

But it has made getting to the rest of my models impossible to get to until I clear up all of the paints he knocked over.


But if the degaussing cable looks good enough, I will likely leave it as is. I am not daunted by scraping it off, or gluing a new one on, though. Parts like that are easily removed without a trace, and if you get very-thin CA, the glue residue is minimal (The glue will remain under and along the cable via capillary action).

MB

[600th-diehard]

One of my cats climbed up on my desk when I was asleep, and he pushed EVERYTHING off of it (which included two Benson/Gleaves-class DDs, the USS San Francisco, and parts of the USSs Helena & St. Louis, and HIJMSs Aoba, Kinugasa, and Nagara).

He messed up the yardarm on the USS San Francisco, and I am lucky that it otherwise fell into the chair.

Yo should call him Nagumo, or Kido-Butai!!!
I'm with the others, the stock degaussing looks nice enough. PE ones always will be a bit overscaled IMHO...

[Mike C]

...One of my cats climbed up on my desk when I was asleep, and he pushed EVERYTHING off of it... MB

If this is a known trait in your cats, you'll either have to pack up your projects each night when you finish, cover the models, or keep the cats out of your model room when you're not there. They may be jealous that you're spending more time with these "things" instead of them.

[MatthewB]

It is definitely becoming a problem for ONE of my cats (the other one shows no interest in anything but the bed and couch).

But the other one.... You can see it in his eyes. You can see that he KNOWS he isn't supposed to get up on the desk or counters, but he does it anyway.

That does indicate that he is doing it to get my attention about something. And he is a very needy cat at that.

MB

[ch hoeltge]

I need some help please.
I started with Flyhawks pe flight deck. So far all fine, but now I realized there is a part missing.
On the bow grid there should be the part D6a twice included.
But I only found it once. Perhaps someone has the same set and can chek it.
I also sended a mail to Flyhawk, perhaps they have a revised set?

Here is a pic of the aft section. There are no problems yet.



Greetings Christian

[Dan K]

I have the deck, but I keep forgetting to check. I'll try to remeber tonite.