¹⁄700

IJN KIRISHIMA

"MSW crew-mate Kostas Katseas (angeleyes) sends us a fine gallery of images of his IJN Kirishima, in this "On Display" feature!"

the vessel...

Name: Kirishima
Ordered: 1911
Builder: Mitsubishi
Laid down: March 17, 1912
Launched: December 1, 1913
Commissioned: April 19, 1915
Fate: Scuttled following the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on November 15, 1942

General characteristics
Class and type: Kongō-class battlecruiser
Displacement: 36,600 long tons (37,187 t)
Length: 222 m (728 ft 4 in)
Beam: 31 m (101 ft 8 in)
Draught: 9.7 m (31 ft 10 in)
Propulsion: Steam turbines, 4 shafts
Speed: 30 knots (35 mph; 56 km/h)
Range: 10,000 nmi (19,000 km) at 14 kn (26 km/h)
Complement: 1360
Armament: • 8 × 356 mm (14 in) guns (4×2)
• 16 × 155 mm (6.1 in) guns (8×2)
• 8 × 127 mm (5 in) DP (8×1)
• up to 118 × 25 mm (0.98 in) AA

the model...

This is the Hasegawa kit, "IJN KIRISHIMA " 1/700 scale. This is a kit I built back in 2000, then updated again in 2003, and finally I got to re-update again this Autumn.

The sub is the I-58 if I remember well. The awnings are painted glossy paper. I used the Eduard photo-etch set for Kirishima, and the figures are from Eduard as well.

The water is white glue left to set and dry, and then painted with Tamiya acrylic in a bright green/blue to indicate a small shallow bay/hideway somewere around central Pacific.(talk about wild imagination). The gloss of the sea is ''Klear'' which is an add on (small dose when you mop into the bucket ) to give shine to floor surfaces!! (Edit note-"Future" brand floor wax in the U.S.)

Of course here on the base, you apply it straight from the bottle with a brush. It dries in about 5 minutes,rock hard like a varnish, and if you need you can apply as many layers required to get the shiny and indepth feeling of the real sea surface.

I made the base myself ,and added a brass nameplate as well a self-made acrylic case.