¹⁄700

Yamashita Hobby of Japan has announced the May 2016 release of kit YMS02029, the Imperial Japanese Navy destroyer Hibiki (“Thunder”) in 1/700 scale.

Best known for their 1/700 scale injection molded upgrade parts sets, Yamashita Hobby has recently begun expanding their line to include full kits beginning with the Fubuki-class Tokugata (“Special Type”) destroyers. This kit is an updated version to replace Tamiya’s 1970s “Water Line Series” model of the Hibiki which, although accurate, is by today’s standards a little plain in detail. Yamashita’s new releases have sharp, dense details similar to the ships in the Skywave/Pit Road series.

This Fubuki-class destroyer kit is a follow-on to Yamashita’s Fubuki “Tokugata Type 1” (YMS02028) released in July of 2015, but this kit has alternate parts to correctly depict the rather different configuration of “Tokugata Type 2” semi-sister Hibiki.

The new destroyer can be preordered from Hobbylink Japan at http://www.hlj.com/product/YMS02029/Nav for ¥1,275 (about US$12.00).