Calling all IJN Myoko-class (妙高) fans

[Joe Simon]

Actually I'm not quite done. She is still missing one plane, all the aircraft spare parts, flag and a couple other small items. I'll post when she's done.

[J. Soca]

Thanks Dan.

How did you find the smaller details of the kit? Anything screaming out to be replaced??

Well you know there is always room for improvement but i found the kit pretty well done in many aspects, although i was working on the 1/350 Tone from Tamiya about a year ago and this kit is way better. I remember i found the boats pretty crude if you look at the pictures you will see the motor boats and cutters modified with P.E. I used Flyhawk's type 89 AA guns i did keep the shields but these can be worked on. Deck detail was pretty good all mushroom vents are nicely molded, i did rework the hull though. I reworked the bow's fairlead i felt i had to because the kit's was a bit puny. Turrets look alright but these are not as crispy as the ones that came with Tone. I liked the planes alot ofcourse these were reworked too, optical equipment wasn't up to the standards so replaced them with Veterans. I know i missing stuff but you can always ask me or look at my pictures.


Jose

[phlevels]

I'm guessing, partly based on photographic evidence, that a late-war Myoko would have the lower portholes plated over. Could anyone else confirm or deny this. You can see the top row unplated in the last photos of her, at anchor with the camo scheme that was her last paint job, and partially sunk, but the bottom row is obscured. Does anyone have any info on it?
Phil

[Dan K]

All lower row scuttles in IJN warships were sealed from late 1943 on to improve watertight integrity in case of damage or list. This is true for all IJN warships, not just Myoko.

[ph levels]

Thanks for that information! Actually, it looks as though a number of the upper row scuttles were plated as well, based on the pictures of her in Singapore late war.
Phil

[KevinD]

Gents,

Was just going through some old video footage of the wreck of Haguro and noticed an ever so slight difference to her upper bow when compared to the image Dan K (Hi Dan!) posted a few pages back showing drawings of all four cruisers' upper bow; that is there is a single bollard fore and aft of the fairlead on Haguro, not just to the fore.

No big deal in the grand scheme of things by any means, but I know some of you modeler folks are real sticklers for detail.

The upper image in 'schematic' below is from the previous drawing, while the lower one is modified to show how it actually looks. The pic is a grab from that early (non HD) footage showing her port bow edge, just to 'back it up'.

[Dan K]

Great image, Kevin. Hard to argue with that.

[Fivi_1241]

Hello guys,

now that Fujimi released their Myoko in full-hull version, I'm thinking about building another one of The Most Elegant CAs Ever Built, and probably using the Fujimi kit as a base, as it seems to have more delicate details and superior parts breakdown compared to Hasegawa. But is there any set of PE available specifically for the Fujimi's Myoko? Not even Fujimi's dedicated PE set is available anymore, plus it would be nice to find a PE alternative for Fujimi's failed bow deck.

Another option would be to wait for a brand-new Myoko, but judging by the fact that Full-Hull version has just been released using the old molds, a new one doesn't seem to be very probable in the nearby future.

[Atma]

Its gonna take a while since we will see a new tooled IJN Myoko for sure(not that we need one, 1/700 and 1/350 offerings are fine at the moment in my opinion) as for a dedicate set, search flyhawk site, if I remember correctly they used to produce one.

[Dan K]

Flyhawk has an upgrade set for the Hasegawa version.

[Fivi_1241]

Flyhawk has an upgrade set for the Hasegawa version.

Yup, I'd go for it but their PE deck covers every part of a deck... Except for this one bow part which actually needs to be replaced in the Fujimi kit.

Now that I think of it, maybe Takao's deck would be similar enough to fit? It's just an upgraded Myoko after all.

[Dan K]

No, the Takao deck layout is very different on spacing and details.

You don't have to use the metal deck, you know.

[Fivi_1241]

I did a quick comparison between Myoko and Takao kits bows, and as you say it seems to be useless in the case.

I know that metal deck is not the only solution, but probably the easiest to do and the best looking one... guess I'll have to try it different way then

[DavidK]

I did a quick comparison between Myoko and Takao kits bows, and as you say it seems to be useless in the case.

If you really want the Hasegawa Nachi class kit, then the recent Aoshima Arpreggio of Blue Steel kit appears to have identical sprues to the old Hasegawa version, albeit molded in rather unusual colors of plastic. Hobby Search (Japan) has photos of the kit contents and instructions for both, and a comparison of them formed the basis for my conclusion that they're basically the same (that's an old tooling pretty much). In other words, parts had the same numbers in both of the instruction sheets which looked to be a close copy as well (Hasegawa to Aoshima). Anyway, you might want to check it out before making a final decision. I built the Hasegawa kit long ago, then rebuilt it with PE and part upgrades years later, then subsequently bought the Fujimi Haguro which seemed to have a lot more stuff in the box (but I haven't built it yet). Fujimi kit seems to be a finer molding (more slender where slender is needed to be prototypical). You could probably kit bash between the two plastic kit versions just like borrowing PE made for one kit and using it on the other.

Dave

[Vlad]

Does anyone know when IJN Nachi got her bridge refit, losing the small windowed extension at the front and gaining the extended/shielded air defense position on top of the main bridge? Was it before or after the battle of Komandorski islands?

[Atma]

After the Komandorski Islands naval battle. That feature was added at Ominato Guard District 13 August 1943, same time with the Type 21 air-search radar.

[Vlad]

Thanks Atma. Is this timing similar for the whole class? The Fujimi 1/700 Myoko class kits appear to all be late war on the box art, but it looks to me from the instructions that the parts are present in the kit to make the early war fit as well, am I right?

[Atma]

Yes, inside the box Fujimi provides parts too for an early fit as well.

[Vlad]

Just a bit of further clarification required. I found the following picture saved in my files, I believe I downloaded it from this site but can't find the thread. I have it named "Nachi_June_1943_Aleutians".

So is the "June" a mistake since the picture clearly shows an air search radar? Is the location a mistake? I'm pretty sure it is Nachi because the white aft funnel is a distinctive feature that I wanted to model when I asked about this in the past (again, can't find the thread). Was this already painted like that at Komandorski? What about the main director on top of the bridge, also white?

[Dan K]

Well, it's not entirely clear, but, per LaCroix and Welles, when she was repaired at Yokosuka in April-May 1943 following the Battle of the Komandorski Islands, she received a Type 21 radar. That unit was apparently exchanged for a more sophisticated version in her next refit at Sasebo in November. At least, that's how I read it.

All the Japanese references concur that this photo is taken in June, 1943.