Calling All IJN Kongo-Class Fans

[Bill Clarke]

To HMAS, Kym Knight and willaiam J, Gentlemen, it is illegal to sell organs in Australia.

[Kym Knight]

Gentlemen, it is illegal to sell organs in Australia

Well I'm not bloody giving them away! I wonder what laws Hut River Province has?

[chuck]

Notice: the sakura blooms in Tokyo are expected around 27 March, with full bloom predicted around 3 April. I hope there will still be some left at the time of my wedding, to be held, as is fitting, at the Togo shrine in Harajuku on the 9th

Congratulations. Do post pictures.

[Avery Boyer]

9999 yen? An IJN BB I can afford!

[chuck]

9999 yen? An IJN BB I can afford!

Not after you include the expense of getting it to this country.

[Tracy White]

Not after you include the expense of getting it to this country.

Think selling a kidney would cover it?
If we start getting tons of "stolen kidney" hoax e-mails I'm gonna point the finger at you guys!

Dear Friends:
I wish to warn you about a new crime ring that is targeting business travelers. This ring is well organized, well funded, has very skilled personnel, and is currently in most major cities and recently very active in New Orleans. The crime begins when a business traveler goes to a lounge for a drink at the end of the work day. A person in the bar walks up as they sit alone and offers to buy them a drink. The last thing the traveler remembers until they wake up in a hotel room bath tub, their body submerged to their neck in ice, is sipping that drink. There is a note taped to the wall instructing them not to move and to call 911. A phone is on a small table next to the bathtub for them to call. The business traveler calls 911 who have become quite familiar with this crime. The business traveler is instructed by the 911 operator to very slowly and carefully reach behind them and feel if there is a tube protruding from their lower back. The business traveler finds the tube and answers, "Yes." The 911 operator tells them to remain still, having already sent paramedics to help. The operator knows that both of the business traveler's kidneys have been harvested. This is not a scam or out of a science fiction novel, it is real. It is documented and confirmable. If you travel or someone close to you travels, please be careful.

Regards
Jerry Mayfield
Austin Ops Engineering Manager
Telephone: 512-433-6855
Pager: 512-613-3710

From: Patty Radford@Desktop@PCPD Hou, on 12/16/96 10:33 AM:

Yes, this does happen. My sister-in-law works with a lady that this happened to her son's neighbor who lives in Houston. The only "good" thing to his whole story is the fact that the people doing this horrible crime are very in tune to what complications can happen afterwards because of the details precautions they take the time to set up before leaving the room. The word from my sister-in-law is that the hospital in Las Vegas (yes, Vegas) prior to transferring him back to Houston stated that these people know exactly what they are doing. The incision, etc. was exact and clean. They use sterile equipment etc. and the hospital stated that other than the fact that the victim looses a kidney there has not been any reports of other complications due to non-sterile, etc. tactics that were used.

Please be careful.

From: Kathy White@OS Dev@Sys Hou, on 12/13/96 3:25 PM:

Sadly, this is very true. My husband is a Houston Firefighter/EMT and they have received alerts regarding this crime ring. It is to be taken very seriously. The daughter of a friend of a fellow firefighter had this happen to her. Skilled doctor's are performing these crimes! (which, by the way have been highly noted in the Las Vegas area). Additionally, the military has received alerts regarding this.

[Dan K]

Fujimi kit goes on sale April 15. Price in Japna, including tax is 17,325 yen. Link to an official completed and painted model - impressive, though the hull seam lines like a little heavy to me. Still far better hull result than Nagato, though.

http://www.fujimimokei.com/prod_syosai/kongou.html

[J. Soca]

Can�t believe they forgot to add the chrysanthemum she looks rather striking though.

[chuck]

Come on! It will be painted out during wartime.

[J. Soca]

Come on! It will be painted out during wartime.

of course me and this memory of mine

[David J Ross]

Has anyone else got their Fujimi Kongo yet? Mine arrived on Friday and I must say; the kit is amazing. The hull sections are nice and thick (where it counts). The thirteen crossmembers make sure it goes together nicely. I would recommend putting these in first and then using clamps to hold the hull parts together whilst the glue dries. If done carefully you will, probably, not need any filler the fit is so good.

As I was at work for the first attempt to deliver the kit I had to rearrange delivery. One of the options was to a post office for collection. One office suggested was in Mikasa Street. Quite ironic I thought. A model of a Barrow-built battleship being delivered to an address in a street named after another Barrow-built battlship.

[Mike_in_Vancouver]

The Imperial Crysathamum is in the kit. its part D21

[Mike_in_Vancouver]

Just how accurate are the brass 14 inch Guns supplied with the kit? We need some IJN experts here!

Using the below website, and Steve Wiper's Warship Pictorial #13. IJN Kongo Class Battleships. As source material
http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNJAP_14-45_t41.htm

There appears to be about 100 guns produced for all three IJN Battleship classes that used the 14 inch gun. And these fall into the 4 builds below

Vickers built guns - Vickers designation: 14"/45 (35.6 cm) Vickers Mark "A"
Vickers built guns - Japanese designation: 14"/45 (35.6 cm) 43rd Year Type (Model 1910)
Japanese built guns: 14"/45 (35.6 cm) 41st Year Type (Model 1908)
Japanese built guns: 36 cm/45 (14") 41st Year Type (Model 1908)

But the problem is none of the pictures I have seen have the pronounced muzzle flair of the Fujimi barrels. And very few of the photographs have a shoulder half way down the barrel. The fujimi barrels have two shoulders one about 3 or 4 mm from the breach end, and the other is halfway down the barrel. Most pictures show a smooth barrel from the first shoulder ahead of the gun bag attachment points to the muzzle, there may be a very fine flair to the muzzle. Some show a ring about a foot back from the muzzle(see page 29, of wiper) Which I believe in peace time is where the polished brass on the barrel would have ended like the RN guns. But none seem to be like the brass fujimi ones. Does anyone know of drawings on the net that we can check?

Also after 1942 Wiper was unable to find any detailed Japanese pictures so unless we could get documentation that shows which of the 4 barrel types Kongo was equiped with at her last refit, what she carried at the end is an unanswerable question, unless the wreck is dived on. It is possible that she carried more than one type.

The only pictures of any use taken after 1942, he was able to locate is the US militaries pictures of Haruna, sunk in harbor. These guns show a shoulder near the turret and smooth barrels with a very fine flair.

Has anyone seen detailed drawings of the Japanese 14 inch guns?

[sharps4574]

i just received my Fujimi 1/350 Kongo. i was very pleased with the ship. i do not know about the accuracy or dimensions, but the mouldings are terrific! it comes with the Fujimi crew figures in 3 dimension and a nice set of brass barrels for the main guns. both are top drawer! the plans are in Japanese with some english and other languages in the beginning. the plans are easy to follow though. there is a huge 4 view diagram of the ship in color folded in 4 segments. look at me, i am doing a critique! sorry. the kit is great! worth the money in my opinion. if Fujimi has any other 1/350 stuff, i will buy them and buy without hesitation any future releases by them. i look forward to building this kit in the near future. i hope that others on the board will comment on the kit soon.

[Serhan Oflas]

Just received my Kongo with its original etches. Kit is looking good only need much more rigging reference in instruction pages. Dissappointed with etch frets. Railings are ok but much more detail parts are needed. Waiting for Lion Roar or others now. BTW kit is superb and waiting for others

[David Gatt]

I just received my Deluxe etching set from HLJ for the Kongo. It's very nice, There is already a review of this set on the site. But I must say that it looks very well done and I think very well priced considering that it consists of three separate sheets and contains all of the needed railing. That being said though, the proof will be in the pudding, ie when I use it on the kit. I'm presently working on the Takao using the Lion Roar set and I must say that I am quite disappointed with the LR set.

[Kym Knight]

David, my deluxe P/E set should be here by mid next week. I've already waterlined and painted the hull and decks and assembled most of the superstructure components. Now it's just a matter of seeing what P/E goes where before I can go any further.

[David Gatt]

Kym, if you like I can scan the instructions for you.

[Kym Knight]

Thanks David, but Frank Portela from over on ModelShipwrights has done a review and posted all the instructions. by the looks of it, I won't be able to do much more until the P/E gets here.
The set looks quite good, but the omission of the ships boats and aircraft details is a bit stupid.

[MartinJQuinn]

Saw this link over on SN. Aoshima has posted pictures of their Kongo: http://www.aoshima-bk.co.jp/kokuchi/kongo/

Note Image 15 of 16: Odd choice for aircraft, isn't it? None of them seem to be floatplanes. Is there a carrier in the works from Aoshima? Soryu (in 1/350) was rumored at one time, but I don't know that she carried any of the types shown.