I just decided to quickly put together a tiny YU-1001 sub kit from Fujimi as my foray into ship modelling which I abandoned a long, long time ago. However, right from the start my AFV modeler's AMS kicked in. First, I cannot figure out how the guys were getting in and out of the conning tower on these boats. I found some photos of YU-3 with a different conning tower showing the access ladder at the back, but non for the YU-1001. The box art does not show any access provisions either. Second, in the kit there is a basic PE fret with three vertical (?) ladders, but the instructions do not show where they should go. Can anyone help me with these issues. Thank you in advance, bob

Hi Bob,
Conning tower access was from the aft starboard side of the tower via a small door-like section at the top, at least on the YU-1 class. That's why the ladder seems to go onlu halfway up. Not sure about the later YU-1001 class, but it was probably the same as this was more or less standard on Japanese submarines.
Since you are afflicted with AMS, I have some bad news for you: TheYU-1001 kit is identical to Fujimi’s similar YU-1 model (kit No.14) with different conning tower and propeller parts for Yu-1001 and YU-1 on the same sprue. Unfortunately, Fujimi also chose to use the same hull as their YU-1 kit, which is incorrect for YU-1001. Although very similar in appearance to the the YU-1s, the YU-1001 boats were actually an improved class with hulls a full eight meters longer than the earlier YU-1s. This makes Fujimi’s 1/350 scale sub about 2 centimeters too short—quite noticeable on a model less than 12 centimeters in length! This could be corrected by slicing the hull and inserting a section of the extra clear hull included in the kit, but it would be a lot of work to fix a basic error Fujimi should not have made in the first place. The 1/700 scale YU-1001 model is also included with the kit has the same mistake, and it too is nearly 17 percent short in length. Too bad, since in all other respects these models are both quite good. Doh!
On the up side, as an AFV modeler I'm sure you can appreciate this: according to Linton Wells II (Painting Systems of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1904-1945, Warship International Vol. IX, No. 1), “During the Pacific War, at least some of the Army transport submarines (Yu Class) were painted a khaki color”... so you can at least paint it green! regards,
Tim

Hi Tim,
Thank you for the details.I guess that to fix the dimensional problem I will just assemble YU-1, not YU-1001, boat disregarding the fact what the box that I bought shows. If I am correct the box contents are the same for both versions. This will also allow me to add (being convinced) the conning tower access cutout and grab handles which are clearly visible on the aft photo of a captured YU-3 I found on the web. I also found a sketch showing the two loading derricks that are missing from the kit, so I am going to scratch build them (here we go again, I was never able to build a kit OOB). And sorry to nag you, but would you also know what is the deal with the three ladders provided on the PE fret but not included in the instructions? Cheers, bob

Bob,
I haven't a clue what the guys at Fujimi had in mind with those extra ladders, but I built my sub with the cargo access hatches open and used two of them leading down from the deck level openings down into the cargo bays. Not very visible but kinda cool if you look close!

By the way, there is a cool set of builds of these little subs at http://nabeck.web.fc2.com/maruyu.htm. The site is in Japanese, but the guy does neat work on his models.

best,
Tim