by Dan Kaplan
1/700 IJN Suzanami (Tamiya)
Pictured is a moderately successful correction of the Tamiya Fubuki Type II kit (Ayanami) into Japanese Fubuki Type II destroyer Sazanami. The ship is depicted in her last fit shortly before she was torpedoed and sunk by the USS Albacore (SS-218) in January, 1944. I say moderately because, as many know, this tooling is extremely old (approx. 30+ years), as well as one that is lacking in both accuracy and details. I waited in vain for years in the hope of a new release but finally succumbed to the urge to build this one about 3 years ago. In fact, Tamiya’s kits were the only 1/700 Fubuki s on the market until just the other month as PitRoad has released a new Fubuki tooling, starting with Ayanami.
Among the most necessary corrections are the bow, the aft forecastle & sideplates, the bridge, the torpedo stowage fore and aft, the aft deckhouse, shortening the funnels, and lowering the entire freeboard of the ship. Truth be told, the aft deckhouse and/or the narrow stern cannot be accurately depicted without complete scratchbuilding it, which I just did not have the patience for. On the other hand, the searchlight platform/radio compartment aft funnel #2 has been scratch built.
There was the the usual replacement of turrets, torpedo mounts and AA weapons, along with portholes drilled out , degaussing cable added, brass rod masts, PE bridge windows added, plus brass rod barrels and stiffeners. Photoetch includes GMM railings, Tom’s DD set, and FineMold fittings and 25mm AA mounts. Rigged with Dai Riki 9X .002”.
Painted in Kure Grey, hull red & IJN linoleum
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