by Max Osborne
1/700 Noshiro Maru (Waveline)
Noshiro Maru was a 7183 ton auxiliary cruiser that was 448.6ft long and 62.4ft wide diesel powered, providing a speed of 18.5kts. The model is a Waveline resin kit #WL-54. A very nice kit to build. All the parts were well cast but the bridge decks did require a bit of straightening. The fit was very good and the detail was abundant and very crisp. clean up was minimal for a resin kit. The king posts were cast resin so they were removed and replaced with photoetch structures left over from a GMM IJN BB set. The only difficulty was adding the promenade deck bracings (located beneath the life boat that is behind the bridge) These are a prominent feature on many auxiliaries and few of the kits provide them. I used K&S photo etch grid for these and somewhat forceful added it between the bridge decks, much filler and sanding was required. The weapons and paint are a bit fanciful, I figured the IJN may have changed things around a bit during the war. WEM type 2 camouflage green was used for the hull and Humbrol #72 for the natural wood decks. It was a fun build and of an unusual topic that stands out from the line of battleships and cruisers. The water is blue velvet and the wake is baking soda.
