Very Fire
1/350 Imperial Japanese Navy Heavy Cruiser Atago

Reviewed December 2025
by Martin J Quinn

HISTORY
Atago (??) was the second vessel in the Takao-class heavy cruisers, active in World War II with the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). These were among the largest and most modern cruisers in the Japanese fleet, designed with the intention to form the backbone of a multipurpose long-range strike force. Her sister ships were Takao, Maya, and Ch?kai.

The Takao-class ships were approved under the 1927 to 1931 supplementary fiscal year budget, and Atago, like her sister ships, was named after a mountain. In this case, she was named after Mount Atago, located outside Kyoto. Even though Takao was the name ship of the class, Atago was actually finished before Takao. 

Along with her sister Takao, Atago was fairly active during the Pacific War, including taking part in the Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, where she scored hits on the American battleship South Dakota. 

On October 23, 1944, while transiting the Palawan Passage as part of the Japanese "Center Force", which was attempting to contest the American landings on the island of Leyte, in the Philippines, Atago was struck by four torpedoes fired from the American submarine USS Darter.  She was gutted like a fish, capsizing and sinking in just 18 minutes. 

For more on the Atago, check out her Wiki page here, where partz 20.\[=-0of this truncated history came from. 
The Very Fire Atago

In the wake of their earlier 1/350 Takao release, Very Fire has released sister ship Atago. This is the second injection version of Atago to be released in 1/350 scale, the first being from Aoshima.  This version depicts Atago in a late war configuration. 

The kit comes in a large, sturdy, cardboard box. Packed in side are 42 plastic sprues, 10 photo-etch frets (4 for the basic kit, 6 for the deluxe version), 15 3D print rafts, chain and decals. 

The bones of this kit are the same as the aforementioned Takao release.  In fact, the differences between the two kits boil down to one plastic sprue (H), one photo-etch fret (W) and differences in the numbers and type in some of the 3D printed parts.  Otherwise, the kits are mostly identical.  The ships were, however, nearly identical sisters. 

Currently, both the Deluxe and Standard editions of the kit are available on Very Fire's website.  At present, the deluxe "detail-up" set for Atago is not for sale separately, as is the case for the Takao upgrade set, on Very Fire's website.

As many of the parts in the Atago kit are the same as in the Takao, please refer to that review for Dan Kaplan's comments on those parts.  For this review, I'm going to concentrate on what's different between each release, and between the real ships. 

 
   
ATAGO vs TAKAO 
 Using a Model Art Special Issue on the Takao-class as a guide, Dan pointed out several difference between Atago and Takao, including the very front of the bow, where the chrysanthemum emblem sits.  The faces of the bridge are different, with different numbers of portholes and different antenna connectors.  Also, the shape of the vent cowlings coming off the sides of the bridge are different. The upper deck appears to be different as well.  It seems that Very Fire has captured these changes. 

On the other hand, the layout of the bulkheads where the main deck meets the upper deck is different on both ships, and Very Fire did not capture these differences, being that they reused most of the Takao parts for this model. Additionally, the layout of the main deck appears to be slightly different between the ships, and that doesn't seem to be reflected.  Many modelers won't know, and most probably won't care about these minor details. 

SPRUE H
This is the only Atago specific plastic sprue in the box.  On it is the new upper deck, with diamond tread plating detail, the new bridge face, with the correct porthole layout, a revised back of the bridge to accommodate air intake pipes, and new vent cowlings specific to Atago. 

BASE KIT PHOTO-ETCH
 This small photo-etch fret is specific to Atago.  I contains tie town strips for the upper deck part on Sprue H, as well as vent screens and some supports. The rest of the basic PE frets are identical to those found in Takao. 

BASE KIT INSTRUCTIONS
Similar to the Takao, there’s a reprint of the cover art with a short history of Atago in English. The instructions are 19 pages long, with parts manifest, and a combination of drawings and colorful 3D renders to help guide you through the instructions.  The last page of the instructions is the marking and painting guide. 

DELUXE EDITION PARTS  
Almost everything in the deluxe edition is the same as Takao, except that there are 15 3D print rafts (basic and deluxe) in Atago, compared to 12 in Takao.  The number of photo-etch frets and turned brass appears to be identical. 
3D Printed Parts 
Similar to Takao, this set includes single, twin and triple 25mm AA guns and mounts are included here as well. The twins and triples have shielded mounts, unlike their injection counterparts. On the assorted raft are catapult pistons, paravanes, aircraft crane gearing, mushroom and gooseneck vents, deck winches, small searchlights and more. 

There are four print rafts that are either laid out differently or are completely different that Takao, including the front of the bow, where the chrysanthemum emblem sits, a new bridge wind deflector, smoke discharges for the stern and the print raft with the paravanes and some small directors.  Print quality is some of the best I've ever seen. 

  

"Detail-Up" Instructions
A specific "Detail-up" set of instructions comes with the deluxe kit.  They span sheet eight pages on four very large pieces of paper, printed front and back. 

Page one is the parts manifest, while the rest is mostly color CAD renderings and a few drawings. 

CONCLUSIONS
Overall, this is an excellent scale model.  Moldings and detail are crisp, and everything you need to build this handsome cruiser is included in this deluxe edition.  Very Fire made the most of previous releases, reusing many sprues, PE, 3D printed and turned brass parts, but that is just smart business. Even with all the common parts, they've managed to capture most of the differences between the sister ships. For more commentary on the commonly shared parts, please refer to Dan Kaplan's review of Takao, here. 

This is another great release from Very Fire.  Highly Recommended. 

This is Very Fire Hobby's Imperial Japanese Navy Atago 1944, kit # BELBV350905DX. The kit lists for $299.00, but is available for less from Very Fire's website.  Many thanks to Very Fire for the review sample.