by Dirk Ponge
1/350 IJN Yukikaze 1945 (Hasegawa)
History:
The IJN Yukikaze was a 2033-ton type Koh destroyer (later known as the Kagero-class) launched at Sasebo ship yard on 23 Feb 1939. Yukikaze (“Snowy Wind”) is very popular in Japan, being called the unsinkable ship [1].
The battle record is long and remarkable (details in references [1] –[4]), but she survived her participance in nearly all the major battles of the Pacific war including Midway, Guadalcanal (part of the famous “Tokyo-express”), Eastern Solomons, Battle of the Bismarck Sea, Battle of the Philippine Sea, Leyte Gulf and as an escort to the Yamato on her last voyage (Operation TEN-GO). Except from hitting a mine she was never hit in all these naval battles and was seen as a lucky ship. From 82 IJN destroyers build before the war she was the only surviving ship [1].
After the Pacific war she had a “second life” in the Republic of China Navy as ROC DD12 Dang Yung (see the corresponding conversion of the Hasegawa model by Jeff Lin [5]). The old, lucky and unsinkable ship was finally damaged by hitting a reef and scrapped in 1970.
References:
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_destroyer_Yukikaze
[2] http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/japan/kagero-dd.htm
[3] http://www.lowerre.com/~jimlowerre/YUKIKAZE%20history.html
[4] IJN Yukikaze: Tabular Record of Movement, www.combinedfleet.com/yukika_t.htm
[5] http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery/dd/roc/danyung-700-jl/jl-main.html
Building the model:
The building was really fun. The Hasegawa model is very detailed and nice. With this kit it’s possible to get a very good result without further PE parts.
Nevertheless, I used the magnificent Lionroar Yukikaze detailing set for a further detailing. Sometimes it was a hard decision to remove already very good details like the degaussing cable or some of the doors of the Hasegawa model to substitute it with the PE parts. But in all cases the PE parts gave at least a little bit of further improvement. Especially I appreciated the PE step irons and handrails. I asked Lionroar on Jun 24, 2007 if they can sell these step irons (part F11) separately as a generic fitting. Their answer: “For 1:350 general using parts, we will promote new items in future, please kindly waiting.” Now I am waiting for more than 7 month in vain. But to be fair, the situation for 1/350 modelers becomes better and better.
If you have comments or questions concerning my model, please send an e-mail to me or the forum.
