Calling all Japanese pre-war/wartime Merchant Marine fans

[berend]

The second picture is the Keijo Maru of the Peacetime C class.

Regards,

Berend.

[Ron Wolford]

Thank You Berend!

Ron Wolford

[Peter Rathgeb]

Yes, many thanks, Berend!

Does anybody happen to have drawings of Shinkyo Maru or one of her sister or half sister ships?

Cheers,
Peter

[Peter Rathgeb]

Dear all,

with the help of Ron Wolford's great photos of the Suruga Maru I have started to seriously work on the Niko Model. I want to depict it as prewar (Nippon Suisan K.K.) ship.

I have also seen now - also by comparing it to the drawing I found:

- that the spoon bow is far from being the only thing to correct on the Niko Model kit, for example there are a couple of gooseneck ventilators missing, the positions and types of many of the stairs and ladders is different, as well as many small other details which remain to add. At least the two-bar railings are correct for this ship.

One other question: what is this?

Thanks for any help, and cheers,
Peter

[Peter Rathgeb]

Three more questions for my Suruga Maru project:

1. Is this (? sorry, I do not know how it is called) available in 1/700?

2. Is this type of boat davits available in 1/700?

3. Can anybody tell me what this is?

Suruga Maru, twitter Tensyofleet detail 3.jpg (50.58 KiB) Viewed 5870 times

Again, than you so much for your help. Also, I would be grateful if anybody has more photos of the ship, mainly the main cargo deck.

Cheers,
Peter

[Dan K]

Pic1 might be a compass binnacle, possible at an auxiliary steering position.

Ditto Pic 3, though this is a navigating position.

I think Tom's Merchant Set 796 has a few upon the fret. Also, one of the Waterline Consortium Ordinance sets has davits that are a very good match for the shape and cross-section.

HTH

[Peter Rathgeb]

Thanks a lot, Dan, this helps!

What, do you mean, is on Tom's Merchant Set (which I have)?

Cheers,
Peter

[Jim Smith]

Peter,
Shinkyo Maru had many sister ships (ONI-208J page 105) . I used the Fairy Kikaku kit of the Syotan Maru for the class. It took a bit of work but I made her the Nikkai Maru of Nissan Kisen.

Here's a picture

[Dan K]

Davits, Peter.

I could swear that there's a styrene davit much like you seek, but I'm not at home to rummage thru my stuff.

[Peter Rathgeb]

Peter,
Shinkyo Maru had many sister ships (ONI-208J page 105) . I used the Fairy Kikaku kit of the Syotan Maru for the class. It took a bit of work but I made her the Nikkai Maru of Nissan Kisen.

Thanks, Jim - a very nice model! And I can imagine the amount of work it took...

Cheers,
Peter

[Peter Rathgeb]

Davits, Peter.

I could swear that there's a styrene davit much like you seek, but I'm not at home to rummage thru my stuff.

Thanks, Dan!

Peter

[Peter Rathgeb]

Pic1 might be a compass binnacle, possible at an auxiliary steering position.

Ditto Pic 3, though this is a navigating position.

I think Tom's Merchant Set 796 has a few upon the fret. Also, one of the Waterline Consortium Ordinance sets has davits that are a very good match for the shape and cross-section.

HTH

Still working (or planning) on my Suruga Maru.

In the meantime, I have exchanged a couple of e-mails with Motoyuki-san, who has been extremely helpful.

According to his opinion (and who am I to doubt it? ) all decks would have been wood planking.
He wrote me that in Pic 3 you see, indeed, a compass in the navigating position, but that the "thingy" in Pic 1 is a capstan, with a winch behind:

For the boat davits, I think I can convert a couple of Fine Molds davits by remodeling the bases.

Does anybody know where I can find a 1/700 capstan like the one in the picture?

Thanks to all for your help!
Peter

[reigels]

Hi Peter.

The capstan should be pretty easy to scratch build with a tapered rod and a blob of white glue. Just turn a straight piece of sprue in a drill or Dremel to get the shape you want.

If you want something commercially available, S-models equipment set A has bits which may help. Not sure if they are actually capstans or DF finders, but they look pretty suitable.

[Peter Rathgeb]

Scott,

thank you, that's a good idea!

Cheers,
Peter

[reigels]

Thanks -

You might even get by using the very tip of a toothpick which is pre-tappered, and easy to shape. Make 5 or 10 and use the one that turns out best.

[Peter Rathgeb]

In a book on Kawasaki Kisen 100 years history which I have found online as a .pdf, there was the following general arrangement drawing of Kamikawa Maru:

Any idea where I can find this drawing in higher resolution?

Thanks and cheers,
Peter

PS: Motoyuki-san just informed me that this drawing is of the Kamikawa Maru II built after the war (in 1951).

24.09.20

Cheers,
Peter

[Dan K]

I don't know about the drawing, but I would love to see the link to that book.

[Peter Rathgeb]

I don't know about the drawing, but I would love to see the link to that book.

Dan, the book is only on the Japanese language version of the K-Line website:
http://www.kline.co.jp/ja/corporate/pro ... /book.html

It's the first of the two books, the second one is a shortened version in English language, also worth a look...

In both books I have also found this clearer version of a well known photo of Tatekawa Maru:

From this pic, it seems that the hull planking of the Fujimi kit is not all that exagerated, what do you think?

Also this photo of Kiyokawa Maru prewar:

Is this in San Francisco?

Cheers,
Peter

[Dan K]

Great version of Tatekawa Maru. And thank you for the link.

From the English version, Kunikawa awaiting her launch.

[Peter Rathgeb]

... and also the Kamikawa Maru.