IJN Myoko (Late 1944) Builder: Kym Knight Model: Aoshima 1:350 Photo-etch: Aoshima ship specific with many aftermarket additions. Figures: Fujimi 1:350 Paint: WEM Colourcoats Updated: 1942 to 1944 The Build: This kit is another major improvement over the earlier cruiser releases from Aoshima with parts fit and detail clearly getting the treatment. My only complaint is the manufacturers feeble attempt at a photo-etch set for her, truly dismal, but between Lion Roar, KA Models, Voyager and my spare parts box, I was able to put together what I wanted. I really hope when Aoshima release my favourite battleship in the near future, they borrow Hasegawa's P/E designer for the job. As I wanted to have a 1944 version of her, it was a simple task of scratch-buiolding the twin 25 AA gun emplacement mounted on the back of the crane superstructure, adding the 4 triple 25's gun tubs fore and aft and adding the many single 25's placed aroung her decks. A word for anybody wanting to update it to this time period, Aoshima include 4 gun tubs (though a bit smaller than they should be) on one of the kits frets. I didn't realize this until I had finished and noticed the leftovers. I depicted Myoko looking pretty dirty and worn as immediately after leaving her last refit at the end of June 44', she covered many miles transporting oil, stores and troops before (as shown here) being involved in The Battle of Leyte Gulf on the 22nd October 44'. The Ship: IJN Myoko was the name-ship of the four-member Myoko class of heavy cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy — the other ships of the class being the Nachi, Ashigara, and Haguro. The four were built for the Imperial Japanese Navy in the late 1920s. Three were lost during World War II. The ships of this class displaced 13,300 tons, were 204 metres long, and were capable of 36 knots (67 km/h). They carried two floatplanes and their main armament was ten 8-inch (203mm) guns, the heaviest armament of any cruiser in the world at the time. Myoko was laid down at the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal on October 25, 1924, launched and named on April 16, 1927, and was commissioned into the Imperial Japanese Navy on July 31, 1929. She was named after Mount Myoko in Niigata Prefecture. Tonnage: 13,000 tons standard displacement Dimensions: 68'6" by 68' by 20'8" (203.76m by 83.64m by 6.30m) Maximum speed: 33.8 knots Complement: 773 Aircraft: 2 Kure Type 2 Model 5 catapult with 3 seaplanes. Armament: 5x2 7.9"/50 Mark 2 guns 4x2 5"/40 dual-purpose guns 4x2 25mm AA guns 2x2 13mm AA guns 4x4 Long Lance torpedo tubes (24 torpedoes) Protection: 2032.5 tons 4" (102mm) NVNC belt inclined 12 degrees Torpedo bulges with 2.3" (58mm) HT holding bulkhead 1.4" (35mm) NVNC middle deck 1.4" (35mm) NVNC lower deck 3.5" (89mm) NVNC uptakes 3.5" (89mm) bulkheads 1" (25mm) NVNC turrets Machinery: 4-shaft Kanpon geared turbines (130,000 shp) 12 Kampon boilers Bunkerage 2214 tons fuel oil Range 7000 nautical miles (13,000 km) at 14 knots 5000 nautical miles (9300 km) at 18 knots Modifications: 1943: 2x2 25mm guns added. 2x2 13mm replaced with 2x2 25mm guns. Radar installed. Late 1943: 8x1 25mm added. Surface search radar added to Nachi, Ashigara. 1944: Myoko, Haguro added 4x3, 16x1 25mm guns. Nachi, Ashigara added 2x2, 20x1 25mm guns. Radar updated. One bank of torpedo tubes landed