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Gakken Pacific War series 30 - Fuso Class
Fuso , Yamashiro
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| Bookseries | Pacific War | |
| Book Title | Pacific War 30 - Fuso class | |
| Author | ||
| Publisher | Gakken, Japan | |
| ISBN Number |
ISBN 4-05-602444-8 | |
| Published | 2001 | |
| Retail Price | 1800 JPY | |
| Subjects | Imperial Japanese Navy Battleships Fuso & Yamashiro | |
| Language | Japanese text + a handful english captions | |
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Gakken Pafific War Series The Pacific War series from Gakken are devoted to land, sea and air -vehicles and equipment used during at the pacific theater during WWII. The naval-titles are highly regarded by IJN modeling-enthusiasts as a fantastic source of information of Japanese IJN ships. Altough the books are written in Japanese, they contain enough visual information to be of invaluable help for a non-japanese IJN modeler. |
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Pacific War 30 - Fuso class
181 pages:
41 pictures of superdetailed 1/200 Fuso & Yamashiro on 24 pages
26 B/W- full-page photos of Yamashiro and crew in action on 26 pages
35 B/W-photos of Fuso and Yamashiro from WWI to WWII on 24 pages
15 B/W-photos and 2 drawing of searchlights at various placements on 5 pages
7 B/W-photos of 2 old largescale models of Fuso. Probably built in the 1920-30's
54 pages of japanese text with
17 drawings + 2 B/W-photos of the Fuso-class evolution
10 B/W-photos and 6 drawings of various subjects like 356mm breech, US&IJN
seaplanes, US radars, Yamashiro under airattack
4-page foldouts:
- illustration Fuso in Oct'44
- overview of the different 365mm shells used
- linedrawings Fuso (prob. 1/450) + 1/700 drawing 30° ang. Fuso & Yamashiro
- linedrawingsYamashiro (prob. 1/450) + platforms and superstructure
- photo 1/700 scale top&side of 1/200 scalemodels Fuso & Yamashiro
- linedrawings + 4 BW-photos of IJN BB Nagato 406 mm barrels pivot point
Pacific War 30 gives a detailed visual view of the two battleships in the
Fuso-class, Fuso and Yamashiro. Both ships was ordered by the Japanese navy in
1911 and completed in 1915 and 1917, and were the first battleships in the world
armed with twelve 14" guns. When constructed they were almost identical except
from some minor differences on the superstructure. Like many battleships
constructed in this era, this class had tripod foremast and mainmast. Untill the
first modernisation both shps had two funnels. In the 1920’s several platforms
was added to the foremast. The sisters received a major modernization in 1930 in
which their hulls was lengthened and had torpedo bulges added. The new machinery
doubled the horsepower and gave an increase in two knots despite the increase in
weight. The two funnels was reduced to one and the brigde was reconstructed into
the very tall, characteristic pagoda-shape that these ships are famous for. I am
not going to give an detailed description of the many differences that was a
result of these modernizations, but limit myself to mention that
Yamashirosbrigde-base was extended further aft and had a extra supportbrace that
strengthened the brigdeconstruction compared to Fuso. As a result the 3.turret
on Yamashiro had to face aft wereasFusos 3. turret faced forward.
These differences (+ many others) are evident as one compares the excellent
photos of the 1/200 scale superdetailed models of the two sisters. The photos
are taken from the same views side by side for easy comparation. The models are
superdetailed (see the sample-picture of the funnel) and will surely inspire
modelers and other detail-freaks.. Fuso is modeled as in 1935 and Yamashiro as
in 1941. What strikes me when comparing the models themselves is that the
Fuso-model has a much more poor finish than the model ofYamashiro. You can
clearly see that Fuso was made from basswood or balsawood and it has not
received the smooth finish that Yamashiro has. Also a greater portion of Fusos
rigging is bent or twisted. But apart from this, Fuso has the same extreme
detaillevel as Yamashiro has and both are a pure joy to look at. Altough poor
surface-finish on Fuso, the modelers are to be commended for two spectacular
models.
As usual with Gakken PacWar-books several foldout-plans are featured. Among
other a illustration of Fuso in october 1944 showing the added single-25mm AA.
The linedrawings are worth a while to study for a modeler facing the task of
rigging his Fuso/Yamashiro. The page with Fuso has two 1/700 scale drawings of
both ships taken from a 30 deg. angle. The Yamashiro side has a more extensive
coverage of Yamashiro's superstructure. A foldout plan of the superdetailmodels
is provided in 1/700 scale. These will be of good reference when it comes to
painting. The quality is excellent. I have puzzeled with the idea of framing the
plans and hang them on the wall, but I think I cannot not talk myself into
removing the plan from the book. The paper is perforated so that you can rip it
off if you like.
Two photochapters are included in this book. One chapter shows the crew of
Yamashiro in daily activities like scrubbing the deck and other maintinance
activities. These pictures are of good quality and will probably reveal some
details that are not seen on any models. The next photochapter shows both Fuso
and Yamashiro during their servicelife from 1915/1917 and well into the war. The
technical chapter has some fine drawings of the brigdestructure and topview of
the platforms. Also the aft secondary command-tower gets the same attention -
the funnel however was not. But the funnel of both ships are heavily
photographed in the supermodel-chapter, so in the end I feel satisfied. The
arrangement of the AA-armament are marked on a top-down drawing of both ships.
In the end follows what seems to me a history-chapter. Some pictures of barrels,
US radars and seaplanes + a drawing of seaplane arrangements on Yamato-class (or
perhaps a planned rebuild of Fuso-class into a BBCV) Most of the japanese text
is in the technical chapter and this history-chapter.
Highly recommended!! This book is - like most Gakken books - a excellent source
of visual information on the Fuso-class battleships. The superdetailed models
have tons upon tons of details- and will leave you with accumulated hours of
close examination if you are bold enough to superdetail the two sisters. The
only extra thing I would have liked to see in this books is hullprofiles or some
more information about the hull.
This title is (if not sold out) available from Hobbylink Japan and retails for
for 1800 JPY ; about $17 USD = €14 Euros
Review by Tom Kristiansen
Gakken Pafific War Series - March2004 (Japanese text)
GAKPW-01 Pearl Harbor Attack
GAKPW-02 The Battle of Malay Sea
GAKPW-03 The Operation In Indian Ocean
GAKPW-04 The Battle of Midway ** **Discontinued**
GAKPW-05 The Battle of Solomon Sea
GAKPW-06 The Battle of Guadalcanal
GAKPW-07 Battle of Rabaul ** **Discontinued**
GAKPW-08 The Battle of Mariana Sea ** **Discontinued**
GAKPW-09 The Battle of Leyte Sea
GAKPW-10 IJN's End
GAKPW-11 IJN BB Yamato Class #1
GAKPW-12 Mitsubishi Zero Fighter
GAKPW-13 IJN CV Shokaku Class
GAKPW-14 Carrier Strike Force
GAKPW-15 IJN BB Nagato Class ** **Discontinued**
GAKPW-16 IJN CA Takao Class ** **Discontinued**
GAKPW-17 IJN Submarine I-Goh
GAKPW-18 IJN DD Toku Type
GAKPW-19 IJN DD Kagero Class ** **Discontinued**
GAKPW-20 IJN BB Yamato Class #2 ** **Discontinued**
GAKPW-21 IJN BB Kongo Class ** **Discontinued**
GAKPW-22 IJN CV Taiho & Shinano
GAKPW-23 Akizuki-class IJN Destroyers
GAKPW-24 IJN Shiden-Kai
GAKPW-25 IJA Armored Division
GAKPW-26 IJN BB Ise Class
GAKPW-27 IJN CA Myoko Class
GAKPW-28 Japanese vs USA: Analysis of Bases
GAKPW-29 IJN Interceptor Raiden
GAKPW-30 IJN BB Fuso Class
GAKPW-31 IJA & IJN Experimental Fighter
GAKPW-32 IJN CA Kuma, Nagara, Sendai Class
GAKPW-33 Mitsubishi Zero Fighter Vol. 2
GAKPW-34 Tank & Tank Gun
GAKPW-35 IJN A-Target & Kohryu
GAKPW-36 IJN Kairyu & Kaiten
GAKPW-37 IJN & IJA Naval Auxiliaries
GAKPW-38 IJN Heavy Cruiser Mogami Class ** **Discontinued**
GAKPW-39 IJA Food, Clothing & Shelter
GAKPW-40 Reppu & Reppu Kai
GAKPW-41 Battleship of the World
GAKPW-42 IJN Type 1 Bomber
GAKPW-43 IJN Matsu Class DD
GAKPW-44 IJN CA Furutaka, Aoba Class
GAKPW-45 IJN Warship True History
** Discontinued/sold out from the publisher - March2004
Hobbylink Japan says that Gakken has no current plans at this time (march2004)
to reprint the discintinued titles.
If Gakken decides to reprint the titles, HLJ will notify their customers on the
book-section of their web-pages.