| The Kirishima, was one of four Kongo
class battlecruisers based on a british design but built in Japan in 1915.
She was modernized at Kure between 1927 and 1930 and reclassified as a
battleship. Another reconstruction followed in 1935-36, where she received
new more powerful machinery and had her hull lengthened. In her final appearance
she weighed in at over 32,000 tons. She was fast, but lacked the armor
protection and firepower of other battleships.
The Kirishima played an active part in world war two, escorting
the Japanese Strike force that attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941. She went
on to serve in the early actions in the East Indies and Indian Ocean in
early 1942. She operated in the Slot making bombardment runs on Guadalcanal
and escorting Japanese carriers at Santa Cruz. In November she returned
to Guadalcanal to try to destroy the American forces then entrenched on
the island. Intercepted by an American cruiser - destroyer force early
on Friday the 13th, the Kirishima was lightly damaged while inflicting
heavy damage on the Americans. However a sistership, Hiei was so badly
damaged that she was unable to withdraw from the area and was finished
off by Air power from Henderson field the next morning. Kirishima returned
on the 15th with other Japanese ships to finish the job, but this time
was intercepted by a force consisting of the American fast battleships,
South Dakota and Washington. The former drew the attention of the Japanese
force while the Washington was able to fire several salvos striking and
disabling the Kirishima. The damage was so severe that she was later scuttled
and sunk a few miles west of Savo Island.
This large resin kit from Yankee Modelworks was originally mastered
by Steve Wiper as a Classic Warships kit. The kit has been reworked slightly
to take advantage of recent research on the Kongo class. Some of that information
is now available in the excellent Kongo
Class Battleship book. |
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| HULL |
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| The kit is cast in waterline style with a separate lower hull. There
will be some sanding needed to join the upper and lower hull, but a test
fit seems to show a very close match. The casting on this kit is very good,
and there are no defects that I can see. The deck and hull sides feature
some really nice surface detail. The anchor handing gear on the bow is
cast smartly. Thankfully the anchor chain is omitted, and some of the capstans
are separate parts. |
click images
to enlarge
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| The cast on doors and hatches will not need replacing with
photo etch as they are sharply defined. One thing I really appreciate is
the step that is cast along the hull to accommodate the railings. This
makes placement of the pe an easier task.
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| SUPERSTRUCTURE |
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| The superstructure parts are also well done, and rich in detail. This
really shows up in the funnels and ships boats. My only complaint is that
the overpour on these parts is pretty thick. |
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| MAIN ARMAMENT |
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| The main gun turrets feature separate round bases. The shapes appear
to match the turret shapes well. |
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| METAL PARTS AND DETAILS |
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| Most of the small parts are cast in white metal. These
are nicely done with a minimum of flash. The boats feature notches for
the oars, and planking detail on the floor.
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| PHOTO ETCH |
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| A comprehensive brass photo etch fret is included featuring relief
etching to bring out the details. The rails have the lines etched at half
thickness which makes the stantions stand out better. The catapults and
cranes are very well done. The various platforms with their lattice work
will really make this kit stand out. |
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| DECALS |
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| A nice decal set with flags, and aircraft markings is included |
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| INSTRUCTIONS |
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| Instructions consist of a 16 page booklet with plan and
elevation drawings and many 3D assembly views. These are pretty well done,
and should be sufficient to build this ship. If you need more info on this
ship get a copy of Warship
Pictorial #13 Kongo Class Battleships.
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| CONCLUSIONS |
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Conclusions:
This is a really nice kit of one of one of the most famous Japanese
battleships of all time. Sure everyone has heard of the Yamato and Musashi,
but this ship actually slugged it out with other battleships. It would
make an excellent companion to it's nemesis the USS
Washington, and USS
South Dakota, also available from Yankee
Modelworks. I would not recommend it for a beginner, but anyone who
has build plastic ships with photo etch should be able to build this one.
I can't guarantee that your ship will come out as nice as the one by Luciano
Rizzato built (featured at the top of the page), but it has that potential.
This is Stock Number YKM35080 with a retail price: $450.00. It is currently
listed (March 07) at Freetime
Hobbies on sale for $359.99. Well worth the price when you consider
the detail and inclusion of the photo etch set. |
