¹⁄700

Aoshima has announced the December 2017 release of a high-speed transport version of the IJN Kitikami in 1/700 scale.

According to Wikipedia:

From August – September 1942, Kitakami and sister Ōi were converted into fast transports. Their ten quadruple torpedo launchers were reduced to six (a total of 24 tubes). They were equipped with two Daihatsu-class landing craft and were fitted with two triple mount Type 96 25-mm AA guns. Depth charge launch rails were also installed. After conversion, Kitakami and Ōi embarked the No. 4 Maizuiru Special Naval Landing Force, which they transported to Truk in the Caroline Islands and Shortland Island in the Solomon Islands by 6 October 1942.

CruDiv 9 was disbanded on 21 November 1942, and Kitakami was assigned directly to the Combined Fleet. In November, Kitakami transported troops from Manila to Rabaul, New Britain, and returned to Sasebo by the end of the year.

In January 1943, Kitakami was assigned to the reinforcement of Japanese forces in New Guinea, and escorted a convoy with the IJA 20th Infantry Division from Pusan to Wewak, New Guinea via Palau. In February, she escorted a convoy with the IJA 41st Infantry Division from Tsingtao to Wewak, again via Palau.

On 15 March 1943, Kitakami was reassigned to CruDiv 16 of the Southwest Area Fleet as a guard ship based out of Surabaya. She escorted three troop convoys from Surabaya to Kaimana, New Guinea during April and May.

On 23 June 1943, while at Makassar, Kitakami, Ōi, Kinu and Kuma were bombed by Consolidated B-24 Liberators of the 5th Air Force's 319th Bomb Squadron. None of the cruisers were hit, but some sustained slight damage from near-misses.

After refit at Seletar Naval Base, Singapore in August, Kitakami escorted a troop convoy from Singapore to the Nicobar Islands in early September. Two more convoys were escorted to Port Blair, Andaman Islands in late October.

In late January 1944, Kitakami escorted another convoy to Port Blair. On its return voyage while transiting Malacca Strait, southwest of Penang, Malaya, on 27 January 1944, the Kitakami was hit aft by two torpedoes fired by the submarine HMS Templar. Kinu took Kitakami in tow to Angsa Bay, Malaya for emergency repairs, followed by extensive repairs at the No. 101 Repair Facility at Seletar Naval Base, Singapore in February. Repairs were not completed until 21 June 1944. However, after departing Singapore to escort the tanker Kyokuto maru, Kitakami began to take on water and had to put into Cavite Navy Yard in the Philippines from 12 July 1944 to 26 July 1944. Despite the additional repairs, Kitakami still took on water on her return voyage to Sasebo.

Aoshima’s high-speed transport Kitikami is listed by Hobbylink Japan at https://hlj.com/product/AOS05474 and can be preordered for US$17.58