Calling all IJN Takao-class (高雄型) fans

[Dan K]

Thx, Mucho. I had not considered the possibility of the cable not being added at the time of the trials photos. That makes sense. However, I am not as certain as you that Maya's cable was retained. You point B seems confirmed by the US Navtech reports on degaussing, which states that the installation of such coils was discontinued in the early part of 1944: http://www.fischer-tropsch.org/primary_ ... 20S-37.pdf

That isn't to say I'm right,either. The timing for Maya's completion as an AA cruiser seems to fall right along the split so, her coil may have been retained, or not. Like you say, without a photo...............

You know , at the end of the day, I'm just trying to ascertain the true state of Maya and others. I'm OK with being wrong. Like with Taiho.

[ijnfleetadmiral]

There are some interpretations on how they did the degaussing cable of AA cruiser MAYA.
According to IJN tech officer Fukada Masao(was still alive at the time when i had heared about him at Kan-Assoc meeting)IJN fighting ships,when they were ocean-going/operative,had the cable until the War ended.

Indubitably the harbour-guard ships =Keibi-kan which could not set sail didn�t have the necessity for keeping the cables any more.


/mutsuo sasaki

I was about to shriek and do a happy dance when I saw this pic...my initial reaction was, "Sweet holy crap...is that an ACTUAL PHOTO?! That's the best pic of Maya as an AA cruiser I've ever seen!"

Then I read the next few posts and my excitement was killed. In any event, the model's absolutely gorgeous!

[Mutsuo Sasaki]

Dan, I have been an antagonist to applying degaussing cable to modelships in general,somehow i seemed to have begun closing windows. Let us keep Maya question until there�s a breakthrough one day.

infleetadmiral,
Had an opportunity once to seeing the model(Maya �44 ,1/100) inTokyo in early 90�es,it was beyond description;one of the most beautiful models i�ve seen.It took them 2 years to build it,so fast!

Mr.Kawai intdroduced the model on occasion of a quarterly club meeting,where mr. Ujiie Takuya was invited(Maya�s accounting officer til June,1944).

The gentleman looks like he is in deep solemnity recollecting days with colleagues&crews who were KIA en route to Leyte,while all the other club members are staring into the model.(a model in front of him is Gakken BB Nagato model, 1/200 by S.K.)


sources ; Rengo Kantai journal #62,1990

/mutsuo sasaki

[Atma]

IJN Chokai from Fujimi in 1/700 will be released in late May.

[Dan K]

I thought you wrote that nothing else was to be released until late in the year?

What fit will Chokai be in?

[Atma]

1942.
Still technically is noty 100% new tool, as some parts are common with IJN Maya.

[redoctober27]

Woot woot!!!! Glad to hear Atma!!!

[redoctober27]

Of course you guys know im gona build it as it was in 1944

[Felix C]

Is it possible and easy to backdate the Aoshima 1/350 Atago 1944 to before the plethora of light AA appeared?

I really like early war look without the porcupine of light AA in IJN ships.

[Vladi]

Kit contents of the new Fujimi 1/700 Chokai just appeared at http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10271750. There is even a small PE set for the degaussing cables. I can't wait to get my preorder

[Vladi]

I just received the new Fujimi 1/700 Chokai plus the related Fujimi P-E set last Friday. I have not had much time for a really detailed look into it yet, but mostly I really liked what I saw . Two things I wondered about though:
- the kit contains a small P-E fret for the degaussing cable (can be seen here http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/image/10271750n4/40/4). The cable, however, is also molded on the hull - and it does not look too bad to my eye. So I wonder why Fujimi decided to include an extra P-E part for it? Was it because the cable should be positioned differently on the Chokai than the molded-on one?
- for whatever reason the add-on PE set (not the one for the cable, but http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/image/10274794a/20/1) does not contain replacement for the (many!) windows on the bridge structure Any suggestion what would be the best P-E choice to replace them?

[maxim]

What do you think about the foremast? It looked a little heavy on the photos on HLJ, but perhaps the parts look much better?

[Vladi]

I would say it is not bad for plastic (it would perhaps be too brittle if molded thinner), definitely better than e.g. Fujimi 1/700 Tone/Chikuma. More advanced modellers will surely prefer to replace it with soldered brass. Also, there is a P-E replacement from Pit-Road http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10174286, although sold out at HobbySearch right now.

[maxim]

Thank you for the info! I consider building these foremasts of many IJN ships to be difficult. Also PE parts are not always better.

[Dan K]

Looks like it good be a nice kit. The hull molded degaussing cable pattern is incorrect, so it's good that they have appeared to supply PE for correction.

[Vladi]

I spent a bit more time inspecting the kit last night and yes, I noticed the degaussing cable parts going up and down in the instructions leaflet (see http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/image/10271750t/60/1). It is interesting that - after taking the extra effort to correct such an error (hardly noticeable for many modellers) by providing an extra PE part - Fujimi did not make it a bit more obvious how it should really look like in their instructions. Also the layout still looks a bit different from the one discussed between Dan and Mucho at page 27 of this thread (Chokai at Truk pictures and their crop below).

BTW is this the first occassion when a (warship) kit manufacturer provided a correction its own mistake within its first release of the base kit?

[Timmy C]

If you want more close-ups of the Chokai kit, you can find some photos here: http://mokehana.blog34.fc2.com/blog-entry-611.html

[pzgrenadier]

Hi, I'm building Fujimi's 1/700 full hull Takao '44 at the moment. Since it is my first ship, I'm having a lot of questions. The first one that I have is that there are a lot of scuttles on the hull, some are plated over (solid stubs) some are open (dent with half frame). I was planning on drilling all of them out and apply PE plates on the ones near the waterline. However, the location of the scuttle doesn't match any drawing in the book Anatomy of the Ship. So should I proceed the my previous plan or remove all of them and only drill out those appears in the '44 layout? Sorry about the noob question.

[Dan K]

I think that depends on the amount of pain you wish to undergo.

The Skulski book is considered well researched and authoritative. Fujimi has not stated the source(s) of its research. That said, generally speaking, all the lower scuttles would be sealed along with selected upper ones.

[pzgrenadier]

Thanks for the advice. I think I will drill out all those closest to the location depicted in Skulski's book in 42' configuration and plate off those not appearing in the 44' configuration.

One thing sucks about my sample of the fujimi kit is one side of the bulge seems "melting" with the rest of the hull without any clear profile lines. So I also need to figure out to make the bulge more prominent.

Being a noob at modeling, I guess it will take years before I can even finish preparing the hull and main deck. I will post some pictures as soon as I have some meaningful progress.

I think that depends on the amount of pain you wish to undergo.

The Skulski book is considered well researched and authoritative. Fujimi has not stated the source(s) of its research. That said, generally speaking, all the lower scuttles would be sealed along with selected upper ones.