¹⁄35

IJN Shoho and IJN Yubari Task Force

IJN Shoho and IJN Yubari Task Force

This was my first attempt to do a 700 scale waterline diorama. I decided to do the IJN light carrier Shoho by Hasegawa and the light cruiser Yubari by Tamiya. Depicted as they would of looked on the eve of battle on May 6th/7th 1942 at the battle of the Coral Sea.

Both of the ships sailed separately from Takagi's Carrier Strike force which contained both the Zuikaku and the Shokaku, which sailed north of the Solomon Islands. The Shoho was spotted by the Lexington's planes at 0950, May 7th, and with minimal aircover had no problems with the AA fire from the Close support Force. Thirteen bombs and seven torpedoes found their mark. The Shoho sunk at 1035 with the loss of about 550 crew members, out of 800. She was the first Japanese carrier to be sunk in the war.

This model was completed about four years ago, I placed them on a wooden base and used a mix of sand and white glue for the water. This was painted with a mix of oil paints and then given a coat of humbrol gloss. I added some aftermarket metal Claudes to augment the airwing, and aftermarket PE details and railings where added. In hindsight there are plenty of details that I would now change. The life boats are painted in a western red and white style, which is incorrect for the IJN and the directors do not align with the AA turrets. The sand I used was too coarse for the intended effect, and have subsequently used a finer grained sand in subsequent waterline bases.

Overall I'm happy with the diorama, it was a learning experience and in time, I hope to continue the line of IJN Carriers and support vessels in 700th scale.