Hello folks,
I have an ID problem. Recently my friend got me a kit of Shokaku aircraft carrier from Fujimi in 1/700, as a second hand buy on the modelling show in Bratislava from a store KitBazar.cz. Anyhow the problem is that I cannot put a time frame as to which Shokaku it represents. The kit is numbered 43025 and according to data I managed to dig on Google it is from 1994. It is from Sea Way model series and is No. 18 of the series. I hope it represents the carrier at the time of Pearl Harbor as I would like to take part in Pearl campaign with it. Below are the photos of all that came in the bag (except two weights). On the planes tree there is inscription 1/700 Sea Way model, and there are no more inscriptions on other trees not even letter markings of trees, just part numbers.





































Sorry for posting many pictures. Hopefully they are good enough to find an answer. Thank you in advance.
Rade

According to Scalemates the kit is a re-box from a Fujimi kit #WLA025 from 1972. This must be a popular kit as its been re-boxed just about every year with new parts or decals and retooled in 2011. Hope this helps.

Thank you for your input. You are probably right about the popularity of the kit. We'll see what the others have to say...

here is a site that might help you with the markings. http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10086646 just select the pictures and this may help.

Rade,

The answer lies in the total number of triple Type 96 AAA Guns and their location.

In 1941 the IJN Shokaku had twelve Triple Type 95 AA Guns, 6 on each side of the flight deck.

In 1942, six more Triple Type 95's were added, two each at the bow and stern and one fore of the Island and one aft of the Island.

How many Triple Type 95's are contained in the kit?

Dave

Unfortunately for the Pearl campaign, I will have to find another ship to build, since this model of Shokaku represent her as she was between July and October 1942, when she had 18 AA type 95 triple mounts. Thank you Dave for pointing this out. Admins can either leave the topic as a reference for future similar questions about this kit or delete it. Thank you all for participating in my quest for answer.

All good Rade! Glad to see you found an answer. Question though....can you simply eliminate the extra AA mounts to make the '41 version? Or is it more involved than that?

Hi Rade

As Todd suggests, eliminating the 6 extra guns she carried in 1944 may be an idea.

Here are the instruction sheets and photos for the 1:350 Fujimi 1941 version...this can help
determine what needs to be done to backdate the 1:700 (42-44) version you have.

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10086646

Hope this helps,
Cheers,
Joe

Well Todd and Joe,
As I can see (better said after a quick glance), converting to 1941 version will probably not be a problem as it is rather old and crude kit, so removal of the excess AA guns together with the bow and aft directors and bow platform should probably suffice. But I will look at it more thoroughly during next couple of days.

Rade,

I am glad that I could help, albeit I wish it had been better news.

I concur with Todd and Joe, if you can remove the offending components it would fit the requirement. From the research I read the AA guns were the only upgrade from the 1941 fit.

Good luck

Dave

Hi Rade,

I remember this kit well; I built one when it was a new release way back when. It was state of the art (almost) at the time and my first aircraft carrier - I absolutely loved it!

Still, if I were contemplating a 1/700 scale Shokaku today, both the more recent Tamiya and new tool Fujimi releases are MILES ahead of that old kit. Depending on how much time you plan to spend on the project, I'd recommend mothballing this one and pick up one of the newer versions. They are MUCH better starting points for a Shokaku build and you will get a finer resultfor the same effort.

Either way, I look forward to watching your "Soaring Crane" come together!