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Shelf Oddity
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| Reviewed
April 2023
by Dan Kaplan |
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| Shelf Oddity of Poland has sent us
some upgrade sets for review. These sets are:
IJN Type 6 Twin Torpedo Tube 530mm (open) 1917
SKU# SO700159
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| BACKGROUND | |||||
| During the inter-war years of the 1920s and 30s,
Japanese naval doctrine was focused on the concept of the decisive battle.
Theirs was a layered offense of sorts, all focused on whittling down a
large enemy fleet, mainly through night attacks using superior weaponry
fired from long ranges. While the traditional battleship and battleline
remained a cornerstone of this doctrine, the preliminaries were to be conducted
by massed torpedo attack, preferably at night by squadrons of heavily armed,
high-speed destroyers with torpedoes of greater range, speed and warhead
size than those of other countries. Accordingly, much attention was given
over to torpedo design.
During this time, Japanese surface launched torpedoes grew in speed, range and explosive power. Much like other navies, the Japanese developed an effective 21inch/53cm diameter torpedo early on. Still, by 1930, Japanese torpedo development had focused on an even larger torpedo measuring 24inch/61cm in diameter. These larger torpedoes grew heavier and longer as warhead size was increased, along with changes in the powerplant from kerosene/compressed air to one powered by kerosene/compressed oxygen. Consequently, the launch tubes and mounts used for firing these torpedoes also increased in size, weight, and complexity over time. |
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Click to enlarge images |
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| REVIEW SETS | |||||
| Countless versions of IJN torpedo mounts have
been offered in 1/700 scale since the advent of the Waterline Consortium
in the early 1970s. There have been varying degrees of accuracy and proper
scale, but, as a rule, both attributes have improved greatly over time.
The addition of photoetch parts has helped to finetune these same attributes.
Nonetheless, Shelf Oddity has recently introduced virtually the entire range of IJN WWII era surface fired torpedo mounts in 1/700 scale. No one has ever offered the entire range until now, and this line-up covers twelve (12) different mounts, including both unshielded mounts (referred to as open by Shelf Oddity) and shielded versions. (Historical note: Shields were added to certain model mounts beginning in the 1930s, primarily as protection from heavy weather, and to a lesser extent, splinter damage.) To be utterly clear, this review combines and covers
five different versions from Shelf Oddity. The similarity in subject matter
between torpedo types made the need for separate reviews redundant. Shelf
Oddity does not offer these sets as a mixed set. Each type must be purchased
separately
All these mounts are truly exquisite. These are all sharply printed and extremely well-defined, with high amounts of detail, and for most the part, are extremely accurate. Several sets even show individual hand wheels and raised hand railings, which I find astounding for this scale. |
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| IJN Type 6 Twin Torpedo Tube 530mm (open) – 1917 | |||||
These mountings were found on the
Tanikaze, Minekaze, Kamikaze, Momi class destroyers, the Kuma class light
cruisers and, later on, the Chidori class torpedo boats and the Katori
class light cruisers.
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| IJN Type 12 Nendo Triple Torpedo Tube 610mm (open) – 1923 | |||||
| These tubes were used to equip the new Mutsuki class destroyers, which were the first Japanese ships to mount 24”/610mm torpedoes in trainable mounts. A slightly modified version of this mount equipped the following Fubuki class destroyers. |
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| IJN Type 90 Mod 1 Triple Torpedo Tube 610mm (covered) – 1930 | |||||
| These were the shielded mounts that replaced the open mounts on the modernized Fubuki class destroyers. |
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| IJN Type 92 Mod 1 Quadruple Torpedo Tube 610mm (open) - 1938 | |||||
| These were introduced on the modernized Takao class cruisers (excluding Chokai) and were trained manually. |
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| IJN Type 92 Mod 4 Quadruple Torpedo Tube 610mm (covered) - 1940 | |||||
| These are probably the most recognizable
of the IJN’s torpedo mounts to modelers. These were placed on the Agano
class light cruisers as well as the Kagero, Yugumo, and Akizuki class destroyers.
Their shields were asymmetrically bulged slightly on their left side, to
accommodate the mount trainer’s position. (This asymmetry can also be seen
on the open Type 92 Mod 1 mounts.)
Oddly enough, my review samples of the Type 92 Mod 4 were about 1mm too long. This was quite unexpected, particularly since the Mod 4 was identical to the Model 1 dimensionally, save for the addition of the shield. And, Shelf Oddity’s Mod 1 is dimensionally correct. So, I reached out to Gregory Moczko, who operates Shelf Oddity, for an explanation. Greg agreed they were overscale. Apparently, he/they just had a brain lapse on this one. He immediately corrected the specs and began printing new, revised versions that should be available as of this posting. |
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| COMPARISONS | |||||
| For
comparison’s sake, I have included two photos of the more recent Type 92
Mod 4 mounts. Keep in mind that Shelf Oddity is currently revising its
version and the new unit will be the same length as most of these units.
Otherwise, its quality remains the same.
Key: A = Shelf Oddity
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| INSTRUCTIONS | |||||
| These are fully formed mounts, so there is no link to Shelf Oddity for assembly instructions. Shelf Oddity does provide a complete listing of these mounts with each SKU link, and each type has its date of introduction noted beside it. The only critique I would add is that it would be helpful for the average modeler to have a guide designating which mounts were used on what class ships. Even I had to cross-reference the model numbers and dates with other reference material. |
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| FINAL THOUGHTS | |||||
| Each set costs 51.9 euros, which was approximately
US$5.55 apiece at the exchange rate at the time this review was written.
The item numbers are: IJN Type 6 Twin Torpedo Tube 530mm (open) 1917
SKU# SO700159
These items can be purchased directly from the Shelf Oddity's website. Many thanks to Shelf Oddity for providing the review sets. |
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