¹⁄700

IJN Carrier Chitose

IJN Aircraft Carrier Chitose

Here it is, my first finished Japanese ship model, it is IJN Aircraft Carrier Chitose. This Aoshima model was one that I bought spontaneously at an exhibition in March. The Chitose was built as a seaplane carrier 1934 in Kure and launched on 11.29.1936. As a seaplane tender, the Chitose could transport 24 seaplanes. She took part in several operations, such as the Battle of Midway and the Philippines.

History

In January 1943 she and her sister ship, the Chiyoda, were rebuild into a light carrier in Sasebo. The conversion was completed in November and the Chitose was assigned in January 1944 to the 3rd carrier division. As a light carrier she could take 30 aircraft aboard. The length was 192,5m and the speed 29.9 knots. As AA armament Chitose had four pieces 12.7 dual gun, 10 pieces 25mm triple guns and later four 25mm single guns. In addition there were 6 rocket launchers.

The last operation of the Chitose was in October 1944 at the Battle of Leyte. According to the operational plan Sho-ichi go the Chitose should, together with the Chiyoda, the Zuiho and Zuikaku work as bait. If the Americans attempt to land the carriers should lure the American carrier away so as to allow the battleships and cruisers to attack the landing forces. A loss of the carrier force was accepted in this context. And this order was perfectly handled out by the carrier fleet. The Chitose was sunk on 10.25.1944 by aircrafts from the carrier USS Essex.

My Build

As mentioned, the kit is from Aoshima. The detailing is very good, though not as good as one offered from Fujimi. However, there is an included photo etch part set which also contains a wooden deck. Unlike Fujimi there are also sufficient on board aircraft included. Some of them can be build with the wings folded, which is a nice detail. The kit also contains a complete hangar deck, which comes in handy for those who want to build a cutaway model.

Additional Add-on Parts

- 25 mm triple guns, pe parts for the boats, carrier masts and ladders from Flyhawk - 25 mm single guns by AKA Model - 25 mm shielded triple guns from Finemolds NanoDread - 12.7 cm AA guns from Ocean Spirit - cable reel and aircraft pe parts from Lion Roar - Pilot figures from NorthStar Models - Sailors and binoculars from Shelf Oddity

The model was painted with the special green colors from Mr.Color. I painted the majority of the marking on the deck, however, there is a set of decals for the deck included in the kit. The water was made using the Water Effects by Vallejo, this time only the Pacific Blue. At last there came a layer of Nochs clear water.

It was a enjoyable build for me, though there were frequently setbacks. So the color peeled off when I was taping the deck for white-red stripes. But in the end I used the kit decal, which was super thin. Originally I built seven of the aircraft, but realized that I had only decals for six of them. The Zeros received a repainting of the wing and new decals borrowed from another kit. And of course, just before completion, I realized that the masts from Aoshima kit can not be built folded down. So I had to quickly order them from the Far East, just to realizing two days later they are available again in Germany.

Model Shipwrights would like to thank Christian Hoeltge for providing this feature of his 1/700 scale IJN Carrier Chitose