by Edward Pinniger
1/350 IJN Kaiwo Maru (Imai)
The Japanese sail training ship Kaiwo Maru, along with its sister ship Nippon Maru, were used as auxiliary cargo ships during WW2. It struck me that this would make an interesting conversion for the inexpensive 1/350 Imai kits of these vessels, but I couldn't find any photographic reference, and very little information other than the fact that the ships had their sails + yards removed and ran on auxiliary diesel power. However, all the same I decided to try converting the kit. I removed the radar and other modern fittings, replaced a few of the lifeboats with IJN types, and added some 25mm AA guns (4 single, 1 twin) and ammo lockers in likely positions. The result is a model which may not be a truly accurate representation of its subject, but is certainly a very interesting addition to a collection of 1/350 WW2 warships!
