MSW crew mate Dariush (Dr_Who2) shares an indepth look at Monochrome Models 1/350 Scale IJN Suzutsuki, in this MSW "Inbox" review!

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If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!
~Gunny

Oh boy! Another IJN Destroyer and one of their best. With my affinity for the type, I can see one of these finding its' way into my stash.

Thanks for taking the time to review it for us.

Definitely an interesting model, I do like the class and am looking forward to getting one of the kits.

Thank you for the review, much appreciated. I do have two questions, though:
Why is the hull plating so important? I haven't seen a single picture of the ships were it was visible at all. If anything, there shouldn't be much of it and divided by 350 I can see why it isn't there at all...
Did this ship have an armor belt (external) at all? To my (very limited) knowledge, the class came without armor.

It's great to see your review of this kit in English, Dariush! My German is not as good as it should be...

As a side note, guys, the Trumpeter kit of the Suzutsuki is actually this kit. So this review can also work for the Trumpeter version as well.

Regarding an armor belt, no, the class did not have one. However, it did have very noticeable weld lines for the plates that made up its body. While perhaps not as noticeable in 1/700, I agree with Dariush that there would definitely be some visible lines on the hull in 1/350. It would not be completely smooth.

An excellent addition to the hobby, though I wish manufacturers would spread the coverage around to other classes instead of pouring their talents into the same type.

--Karl

Not what I consider "very notable" weld lines. A monitor resolution 2000x1500 on 19" gives you about 1/350 scale on the screen.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/Natsuzuki.jpg

I didn't say "very notable", I said "very noticeable". There is a difference in this as "notable" would mean something that really jumps out and takes over your view. I said "noticeable", which means you can simply see the lines-- you notice them. But at any rate, you can't really compare a monitor image in 72dpi taken in black and white with atmosphere to what works well in a "scale effect" format. Just so everyone knows what we're talking about...



I can clearly see the lines of the ship in this shot. Thus, "noticeable". In other words, the hull may be fairly smooth, but welds CAN be seen. In that case, this aspect should also be seen on the model-- also bearing in mind scale effect, which will always be a little more pronounced...

Hi all

I agree with Dade, the weld lines are noticeable, but I believe that they can be more accurately reproduced with a bit of Mr. Surfacer or Primer applied between two tape masks, than it would be possible to represent in injected plastic.

Never the less, considering that it's about 3/2 the size of the Yukikaze and its CHEAPER , I can't wait until it arrives at my door step, from HLJ.

Cheers
João

Imho, weld lines like that are better left to the paint job then to the plastic beneath. You can always tape levels and paint one by one. It can give you very much that effect. Much better than a one tenth of a millimeter (and that's tiny) plastic contour, which translates into 35mm real thing, which is more than the hull plating thickness.

Sorry for misunderstanding "noticeable".

Anyway, I'm curious: How much do the missing weld lines contribute to the missing 30% in the rating? To me, it seems to have been the major point, and I don't care. Am I to expect a 90% model then?

That's what I was trying to say with the Mr. Surfacer or Primer suggestion. And since the degaussing cable and portholes are already moulded and (IMO) don't have to be replaced by PE, one can safely work with masking tape without fear of ruining anything.

As far as the 20-30% off the rating, there were many things not reviewed (mains turrets, 25mm guns, searchlights, ranger-finders and so on), but it appears that the model is very good and can be made better with after market stuff like railings, AA guns and searchlights (if necessary) - there are many offerings out there right now (WEM, Toms, Veteran Models, Lion Roar, just to name 4...)

João

Great review ,thanks! I do agree… if I was scanning the number and read “70%”, I may move on… but the first line of the “Verdict” is:
“an outstanding kit”.
Good to know it’s the Trumpeter kit, allows for price comparison. And the price is very competitive, especially at this scale.. thanks for sharing!

Regarding the point of if injection molding is capable of accomplishing the lines, you may be surprised at just what injection molding can accomplish-- here are FineMolds' 1/700 25mm single guns held up to a ruler (I'll have a review of these soon)...



For the amount of detail that is in there in 1/700, putting some lines on a 1/350 ship would be no problem. Pit-Road's 1/350 JMSDF Kongo has lines that are almost as fine as hair.

I tried the Mr. Surface weld lines trick (remember these are welds and not plates, so very thin)-- and masking out lines to be within .1 mm of each other (at best) and then putting on Mr. Surfacer is an exercise in torture that I will never attempt again in my life. If you want to try it or have accomplished it, that's wonderful, but for me and many others, we can deal with something being over scale for the sake of scale effect.




Pretty much everything we do in building something smaller than 1/10 scale is likely going to be over scale... Even the best builders in the world are always going to produce something over scale. Even your paint job will be over scale, because, really, how many people sit down and buff out their ship models to a mirror finish to remove the over scale "orange peel"? Dull coat, by its very nature will produce an over scale finish due to the small pits in the finish that diffuse the light to make it dull. Scale up those pits by 350 and your ship is going to have a finish like cement.

And so, we have scale effect. Things become more over scale so that the viewer sees aspects of the ship that are noticeable. IJN ships always had noticeable lines. These are not fiber glass speed boats, and thus are not slippery smooth. To make a good visual representation of those lines in 1/350 they have to be over scale- it's a fine balance, but one that is achievable.

But if you are going to model the lines to scale, they're going to have to be about .07mm wide, and about .02mm thick, which is a.) beyond the skill of me in my wildest dreams, and b.) going to be invisible.

Besides that, what's wrong with molding those lines on the ship for people like many of us who don't have these almost unrealistic skill levels? If you don't like them, sand them off and try to do them better. It's always easier to remove them than it is to add them.

That's the reason I don't use dull paint. That certainly is debatable.

I probably wouldn't have bothered with the painted weld lines, I'm not much of a perfectionist. I simply don't mind the absence of weld lines on that hull. On Nagato, I would. I might give it a try if/when I get this kit now, just to see how it works.