The Ship Model Forum

if you need any help with Taiho , I have the 2 part AJ Press Books for her -

regards
David

Yes, both volumes are very nice.

Couldn't say anything about the full hull version; don't have it.

David and Dan, thanks for the help. It looks like the full hull Taiho is a little hard to find but I will persevere as I prefer full hull. If I do get one I will probably build it OOB.

_________________
In 1757 Admiral John Byng was shot "pour encourager les autres". Voltaire

A W-I-P would be nice to see.............

Which of the two volumes would you consider more informative? I found vol. 2 on eBay at a decent price, but the lowest price I found for vol.1 was over $100.

Thanks,
Mike C

Well, they really are companion pieces. Both are Polish/English language. Both have a lot of information tables, both have a lot of b&w photos of all IJN CVs and their various historical or operational aspects.

Vol. 1 covers the history behind Japanese carrier aviation, plus much of the hull of Taiho, armor and flight deck characteristics, also some of her specific history. Some large fold outs, including all the hull plan lines of Taiho as drawn by the USN Technical Mission to Japan. Also an illustrated foldout of Taiho's plan views (sides and overhead) in b&w, 1:400 scale, and a couple of color 3D renderings. This volume depicts her with an armored deck only. 67pp.

Vol. 2 continues with the specifics of different Taiho functional areas and her history. There are many more color 3D renderings, several pages worth, along with a large foldout. This volume has depicted her with the wood planking over the armored deck. The author makes note that some sources have come to light with information about Taiho having the planking, and that the renderings reflect that information. 135pp.

You should certainly get vol. 2. Vol 1 is nice to have, and very useful if you have need of those hull line drawings.

FWIW.

Thanks, Dan. I'll have to keep an eye peeled for a vol. 1 that isn't in the nose-bleed price range.

how hard will it be to convert a normal taiho to a improved one ?

I suppose that depends on how detailed you want it to be. The Taiho-kai is 4m longer, all in front of the island, and most of the AA and other equipment on the sponsons are switched around, including the sponsons themselves.

If you can save and then open each of the attachments so that they are displayed simultaneously, and switch back and forth between them, you will see that very few sponsons remain the same. Images courtesy of Shipbucket.com. (Larger versions of these images are available there.)

Will the 4 metter difference be seen in 1/700?

I have at least one volume that I am willing to part with, at a reasonable price. Let me look on the bookshelf tonight and see what one it is.

_________________
Martin

"Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday." John Wayne

Ship Model Gallery

In 1/700, that's 5.7mm or .225 inches. Basically, a quarter-inch.

Is it significant? Again, that depends on you and how accurate/detailed you wish to be. I think it would require cutting the hull and inserting a 1/4" plug. As long as the seams aren't visible, and with the sponsons covering the some of the seams, it's certainly workable.

I think it approaches noticeable to a very knowledgeable IJN CV aficionado who builds in the smaller scales. Probably nobody else, frankly.

Here's a photo of a 1/700 version built from the Tamiya kit from a few years back. I believe it was a Japanese modeler:

nice model,thanks!

Thanks Martin, but I found both volumes shortly after I made the original post.

Does anyone have info on when a 1/350 Taiho will be released?

No, only that it remains in the Veryfire pipeline. They gave it a mention a few days ago as a possible next release.

God I hope that they do!

Here are drawings of Kai-Taiho by the same artist, also courtesy of Shipbucket.

_________________

MS State Guard, 08 March 2014 - present