Calling all Japanese pre-war/wartime Merchant Marine fans

[Peter H]

Thanks Dan for the reply, much appreciated. I may add 1 or 2 boats to see if it looks ok, but that's some time away.
Cheers
Peter H
Sydney, AU

[Quincy]

Thank you Dan for checking. The search continues.........





Bob Pink

[Guest]

Hello Bob
I do not know of any websites but in all my years of searching (30+), I have only come across a handful l of plans of pre-war Japanese Merchant Ships. Years ago I purchased a set of three plans (Asama Maru, Tenyo Maru and Terukuni Maru) from the Floating Dry-dock. Around eight years ago Peter Cundall sent me about nine sets; he got from a publication called The Motor Ship, published in the 1930�s. By far the best plans are Motoyuki sans books. If you want to contact me off line I can send you what I got from Peter Cundall, the Floating Dry-sock plans are too large to scan.

Ron Wolford

[Quincy]

Thank you Ron. PM sent.


Bob Pink.

[Quincy]

Does anyone know what IJN ship this could be? It is one of Frogfoots releases in 1/700. Its on the Fleetnet site. It looks a little like Akibasan Maru.


Bob Pink

[Timmy C]

Yes, it's the Akibasan Maru - Google translates the product description to something that fits the ship's history, and typing in "Akibasan" returns the hanji characters matching the text in the image and on the product page.

[Quincy]

Thank you Timmy. Much appreciated.



Bob Pink.

[Quincy]

This is another one from Frogfoot. Any idea what ship this may be? Possibly Shoko Maru?




Bob Pink.

[Timmy C]

Bob, can you post the link to the page where you found it? That'll make it much easier to run the translator. But nevermind for now - reverse image search provided what I needed.

It's Hinko Maru: http://ww6.enjoy.ne.jp/~iwashige/hinkomaru.htm

[Quincy]

Thank you Timmy again! The Shoko Maru looks like a close second. Shouldn't be too hard to modify.




Bob Pink

[Haijun watcher]

Woohoo, finished my Brasil Maru at last! viewtopic.php?f=74&t=73052&p=438627#p438627

Timmy C,

Great build of yours in the gallery!

Btw, while I realize your Brasil Maru is the pre-war liner version, did you ever consider converting/kitbashing into the naval transport version?

The Fujimi 40089 kit naval transport version doesn't seem that different from the pre-war liner version you did a review on, though the large davits/cranes on the bow and stern seem different.

And NO, the Fujimi 40089 naval transport version is not on 1999.co.jp, so I cannot compare the differences between the two kits from scans of their instruction booklets.

And I'm not confusing the liner with the hell ship Brazil Maru either.

I'm asking about a conversion since I recently got a Fujimi Brasil Maru 1939 kit as a gift.

[Dan K]

Brazil Maru did not receive any changes of note until visiting the Yokosuka yard during the latter half of April, 1942. Even then, it was probably limited to only some armament.

[Timmy C]

And NO, the Fujimi 40089 naval transport version is not on 1999.co.jp, so I cannot compare the differences between the two kits from scans of their instruction booklets.

They spelled it wrong in the system - it shows up if you search for the product number: http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10086668

But I don't have anything to add - didn't look into the conversion prospects!

[Haijun watcher]

And NO, the Fujimi 40089 naval transport version is not on 1999.co.jp, so I cannot compare the differences between the two kits from scans of their instruction booklets.

They spelled it wrong in the system - it shows up if you search for the product number: http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10086668

But I don't have anything to add - didn't look into the conversion prospects!

Thanks. Comparing the instruction scans from that site listing to my 1939 kit instructions shows the two are identical, so all I need to add is extra AA armament, which is only vaguely referred to as "additional weapons" on her TROM on Combinedfleet.com.

12 April 1942:
Arrives at Saipan. Departs for Japan later. Scheduled that same day to be converted to a new role and to be fitted with additional weapons in Yokosuka Naval Yard under Navy�s secret instruction No. 684.

Also, it seems the wikipedia profile for the hell ship Brazil Maru mistakenly has the picture of the OSK Brasil Maru! Comparing the pics from the Brazil Maru hell ship TROM on Combinedfleet with the wiki picture shows that wiki is WRONG!

[MatthewB]

Brazil Maru did not receive any changes of note until visiting the Yokosuka yard during the latter half of April, 1942. Even then, it was probably limited to only some armament.

Oh! Bother....

Any idea of what kind of weapons?

I am suspecting some 13,, or 25mm AAA guns (likely twins, if either).

But might it also have added from 3" to 5.5" guns?

MB

[Dan K]

The TROM overview for the class says 2 x 12cm & 2 x 13mm: http://www.combinedfleet.com/Argentina_c.htm

Motoyuki Iwashige's model of Argentina Maru with probable placements: http://ww6.enjoy.ne.jp/~iwashige/argentinamarumod.jpg

[Haijun watcher]

The TROM overview for the class says 2 x 12cm & 2 x 13mm: http://www.combinedfleet.com/Argentina_c.htm

Motoyuki Iwashige's model of Argentina Maru with probable placements: http://ww6.enjoy.ne.jp/~iwashige/argentinamarumod.jpg

Thanks Dan. By the way, the 2 x12 cm guns could probably be gotten from one of the Skywave WW2 Japanese ship equipment sets, but I'm not sure about the 2x 13mm guns.

The Tamiya 1/700 IJN heavy vessel ordnance set doesn't seem to have them.

[Dan K]

The best option for 13mm AA in 1/700 is FineMolds Nano-Dread set WA15 (doubleclick on the sprue photo in the link: http://www.finemolds.co.jp/WA/WA15,16.html

[MatthewB]

And for the 12cm gun, if it is the 3rd Year Type, then Five Star makes a really good version:

http://freetimehobbies.com/1-700-five-s ... ield-4set/

MB

[Haijun watcher]

After downloading and printing out a copy of the instructions of the Hasegawa Heian Maru from the 1999.co.jp site, it seems that my previous post about this kit having a 1944 fit was wrong. (I had to download the instruction booklet since the kit didn't have any booklet when I bought it second-hand from someone else on this forum)

Upon reading the instructions and comparing it with the ship's TROM at Combinedfleet, the kit's armament seem to already correspond to a 1942 fit (e.g. 152mm/150mm guns), despite the box art depicting the ship with dazzle camo from Oct. 1943 to 1944.