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by Christopher Martens |
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| HISTORY | |||||||||
Satsuma was the first of a class of near sisters that were first battleships ordered from Japanese shipyards, incorporating several lessons learned from the Ruso-Japanese War. The class is often described as a Japanese semi-dreadnought due to her heavy main and secondary armament. She differed from her sister by being equipped with triple expansion engines allowing her to sport just two funnels. Launched in 1906, she wasn't completed and comissioned until 1910. Satsuma saw limited action during World War I. She functioned as the flagship of the Second South Seas Squadron while Admiral Matsumura seized German possessions in the Caroline and Palau Islands in 1914. Refitted in 1916, she spent the remaining time as the flagship of the 1st Squadron. Post-war, she was disarmed in 1922 due to the Washington Naval Treaty and sunk as a target in 1922. |
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| THE HULL | |||||||||
| Satsuma
is a combination resin/3D printed kit. The ship's hull is cast in the
former in a very bright tan/yellow color. This unfortunately makes it
difficult to easily see ample detail in photographs. Aki's hull has
excellent detail in her casemates, deck bits, and even portholes.
Overall, it's a sharply molded hull. Given a lack of sources, it's hard
to say whether or not it's terribly accurate. |
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| SUPERSTRUCTURE |
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| As
above, it's hard to say how well this kit represents the actual ship,
though photos appear to match modellbauray's resin. That being said.... Pros: * Interesting subject with crisp details that make anyone who doesn't want to deal with photo etch mostly happy. * Grey resin is easy to work with. * Green resin is super stiff and good for mast material. * Easy assembly Cons: * If you're a superdetailer like me, you're going to want to remove all the railings. They're extremely overscale. The padded "railing" is especially egregious, seeming to have more in common with 70's era injection kits. * Other than use as the base of the masts, I really, really dislike the green resin. Saying it's fragile is an understatement. Even careful removal of a turret (below) chipped it. It's fixable, but annoying. This material will also make it rather difficult to clean off all the resin railing for finer PE options. Mind you, doing so is purely a personal choice. If the railing is fine to your eyes, this criticism isn't as valid. * Molded as solid parts, making painting/detailing more difficult. Personal opinion? I wish the company would stick to the grey resin for major superstructure parts. I love the stiffer material for her secondaries and fine parts, however. Additional personal opinion? I'd love to have an option to buy one of these without railing. |
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| MISCELLANEOUS
PARTS |
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| ModellbauRay
includes several wafers with bollars, secondaries, searchlights,
barrels, etc. All feature plenty of detail. I'm not normally a fan of
plastic barrels, but this stiff, sharp green resin is perfect for them.
While it's difficult to get a great handle on just how MUCH detail is
present due to the translucent material, what I can see looks excellent. |
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| MAIN GUNS |
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| Guns
are sharply molded, but unfortunately feature the lines of certain
resin printers. Removing these from their resin wafers is also a
challenge and requires patience and care to avoid chipping the turrets.
Clearly, I failed the first time since "patience" is a difficult
concept. I do with the maker would print these with the grey resin as
well. It's just easier to work with. |
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| SHIP'S
BOATS |
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| These
are beautiful. If anywhere there was a place to use this stiff resin,
it's here. The detail achieved while remaining study is impressive. |
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| INSTRUCTIONS | |||||||||
| There ain't non, Lieutentant Dan. The website does have a guide to how to use the green resin that can be found here. |
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| CONCLUSIONS | |||||||||
| I'm
mixed. On one hand, I love the subject and fact that ModelbauRay
tackled it, with so little reference material, pretty impressive. Had
the kit's superstructure and turrets exclusively used the grey resin?
I'd be quite positive, even with the molded-on railings. With those
parts being made from resin that reminds me of glass, it's harder to
want to built this ship. Still, for the roughly $74 plus shipping, it's
not a bad deal. I just hope that the kitmaker focuses on the easier
resin for the future. Kit came as a gift from a friend. |
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