1/350 IJN heavy cruiser Tone (Tamiya)

I have had Tamiya's excellent new Tone plastic kit in my stash for over a year, awaiting a specific photoetch set to be released for it (WEM has had this as a "coming soon" item on their website for many months now), before I became impatient and decided to utilize GMM's Takao set instead -- only to be notified that Eduard was about to release its new Tamiya set.  Oh, well -- the Takao set generally works well, though I had to modify the shape and length of several of the funnel footrails to suit the Tone's smaller funnel, and for the funnel cap itself I had to use the kit's parts.  Tamiya includes aircraft decals and a small photoetch fret, which provides the aircraft crane and block-and-tackle, as well as the aircraft part storage scaffolding that is located on either side of the funnel.  The kit was further augmented by Model Masters 8-in. and 5-in. gun barrels and Veteran triple and double 25 mm AA guns.  Additional "Jake" floatplane pontoon struts and a few other miscellaneous brass parts were taken from extra parts on GMM's IJN Battleship photoetch set.  Paint was Tamiya Kure Gray and Hull Red (to which I added some brown), with WEM IJN Linoleum for the decks, across which I glued Flyhawk brass strips.  The ship's hull was finished with a separate Tamiya brass degaussing cable.

The Tone was one of the last two heavy cruisers that Japan built (it was completed in 1938) and anticipated the need for the fleet's scouting services by being able to carry five floatplanes for that purpose (especially useful after the disastrous loss of four carriers at Midway).  These cruisers were unique in the world in being designed to have their entire main armament on the forecastle deck, with the second pair of turrets somewhat restricted in firing angle.  Both the Tone and her sistership Chikuma saw active service throughout the Pacific War, until the Chikuma was sunk in the Battle off Samar in October 1944.  The Tone managed to survive until July 1945, moored in Hiroshima Bay as a training ship, before American carrier-based aircraft sank her there.  The hulk was raised and scrapped at Kure in 1947-48.
 

Gallery updated 2013

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