Calling all IJN Kuma-class (球磨), Nagara-class (長良) & Sendai-class (川内) fans

[Dan K]

In general, I find Rainbow to be an excellent source of accurate PE. I have the barrels, but not the entire turret.

Perhaps Vladi used them in his recent Tenryu build - I haven't checked.

[Vladi]

Hi all, totally agree about Rainbow. But no, I used the default Hasegawa guns (just making the sides and roof more thin from the back side) + brass barrels (from the very nice Five Stars PE set) for my Tenryu. I considered the Rainbow options for the old mold Tenryu, but then Hasegawa launched the new mold which is ways better. I would definitely go for them in case of older light cruiser kits though.

[MatthewB]

Hello guys,
I've just recently discovered wide offer of Rainbow Model accesories, and I'm very interested in their two versions of 140mm guns:
http://www.rainbowmodel.com/proshow.asp?proid=104
http://www.rainbowmodel.com/proshow.asp?proid=105

Both sets look great on their page, but has anyone used them already?

I have the Rainbow Resin Gun houses for the 140mm IJN guns on their CLs.

They are really nice. Now if I could just finish building the (Edit: ?danger?) damned bridge for my Nagara.

MB

[Fivi_1241]

After Matthews recommendation I've ordered the resin shields, and those are really fine. A nic addition to my Hasegawa Tenryu, even in deluxe version Hasegawa doesn't provide us with any add-ons for the shields.

I compared resin gun breech with Hasegawa's plastic gun, and it's interesting to see that they have completely different shape, Hasegawa being round and Rainbow being square-shaped. Are there any gun breech photos to confirm the shape?



Another thing is this weird photo-etched...frame around each shield. It is marked as an optional addition, but I haven't seen such thing in any picture of those shields in reality. What is this supposed to be?

[Angeliccypher]

I only have a side view drawing. I believe the gun is a 50 Cal Type 3 14cm. The breach was a screw breech. You could search for the gun type.

[Fivi_1241]

I've found a nice photo of salvaged 140mm on NavWeaps:



Rainbow seems to have done a much better job with this detail.

[Dan K]

Salvaged off Mutsu. Thx for the comparison.

[Mike C]

My bad, on the side of the ship, adjacent to the stacks are 6 panels that run from just aft of the tower to just under the rear torpedo tubes. They sit just above the armour belt.

I was wondering if they were hatches for coal/oiling. Does that make sense?

Looks like a riveted butt joint to me. I would guess there are more than just those four. http://d2vlcm61l7u1fs.cloudfront.net/me ... QShYba.png

Similar joints can be seen on Naka: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... r_Naka.jpg
And Jintsu: https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MrBc_HPi18Y/ ... 9.jpg1.jpg

[Mutsuo Sasaki]

Mike is right in the numbers of stiffeners. They can be 7,8, or 9 depending on ships,sizes and shapes vary from ship type to other types. IJN did this obviousloy for strengthening against hull deflection. Deflecton rate is so different from ship to ship. They say the largest deflection occurred on non-ribetted ships,the cause of nr.4th fleet accidents...

br
mucho,

[maxim]

Can someone identify this 5500 t cruiser?


http://www.mtu-net.ru/airships/Japan_1.html

Nagara class? But which ship?

[MatthewB]

Can someone identify this 5500 t cruiser?


http://www.mtu-net.ru/airships/Japan_1.html

Nagara class? But which ship?

Why do you suspect Nagara-class, and not Kuma-class?

The Bridge on this one is too obscured to get much detail on whether it is a Nagara-class or Kuma-class, from what I can tell.

Although the Kumas had a shorter bridge... That could be something.

But both classes had the single main-mast at one time or another.


If we are thinking Nagara, then it cannot be the Abukuma, or the Natori, because the main-deck ran on the Starboard side toward the Stern.

OOPS! Stern!

I can make out a 'Na' or "I" Hirigana (? or ?) on the stern, and I see two other characters, meaning three syllables. With Three syllables, that narrows us down to the Nagara, or Isuzu, because we have ruled out the Natori due to the deck configuration..

I want to say the last character is a 'Ra' (?) and not a 'Zu' (?). But given the 'Na' and 'I' characters are slightly similar, we need to look at the other two characters. The last could be either 'Ra' or 'Zu'. Which means that we can have either 'Ga' (?) or 'Su' (?)for the second character. It does not look like the Second and Third Characters are identical (nearly so, with the exclusion of the ten-ten on the 'Zu').

I am going to say this is the Nagara based upon the barely visible Hirigana on the tail (specious, at best, but that is tenuously better than nothing).

MB

[maxim]

Thank you!

Did the Nagara class cruisers always had the extension of the upper deck? I thought that this was related to the aircraft handling, i.e. only added after the catapult was added.

I.e. Natori would be still possible?

[Dan K]

I've not been able to find that photo in my collection. All the 5500 tonners had upper works aft of some sort. They changed over time.

[maxim]

I was refering to the extension of the forecastle deck (and used the wrong term), which all 5500 t cruisers got, which also got a catapult - some to port, some to starboard. The my knowledge the cruiser on the photo should not have it, because there is no catapult.

Do you have any guess which ship it could be? Nagara and Natori would be for sure candidates.

[Dan K]

The larger bridge is indicative of one of the Nagara group, but aside from that, I couldn't say.

I defer to Mathew on making out the name at the stern.

[CL40]

So I am currently building a 1/350 Hasegawa Yahagi.

What is the the best color for the decking? the kit indicates a wood brown, however I am not sure is this is correct. I was under the impression that the decks of newer ships of the IJN had linoleum as a deck covering.

So the question is - what is the appropriate color?

thanks in advance!

[Dan K]

IJN linoleum is more of red-brown. Google Tamiya XF79 acrlic flat linoleum for a good color match.

[ijnfleetadmiral]

Question on 1/700-scale kits of the Nagara-class CLs. I've seen kits for Nagara, Natori, Kinu, Isuzu, and Abukuma, but the only kit I've ever seen for Yura is the one from the anime Arpeggio of Blue Steel. Anyone know if there's a Waterline Series kit of her besides this, or why she's pretty much the only IJN CL not to have a kit produced for her? Even Noshiro and Sakawa have kits now (albeit they share with Agano and Yahagi).

[Dan K]

That's the only kit of Yura that I know of. They mixed and matched components of their other sisters to make this kit up.

[ijnfleetadmiral]

Yura could actually be a unique kit if released in 1/700 scale, as she was the only one of her sisters to sport camouflage (albeit pre-war).