¹⁄700

Yamashita Hobby of Japan has announced the release of kit YMS02032 which can be built as either the IJN destroyer Inazuma (“Lightning”) or the Hibiki (“Thunder”) in 1/700 scale.

Best known for their 1/700 scale injection molded upgrade parts sets, Yamashita Hobby has been slowly expanding their line to include full kits beginning with the Imperial Japanese Navy Fubuki-class Tokugata (“Special Type”) destroyers. This kit is an updated rendition 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 the “Tokugata Type 2” semi-sisters. This kit can be built as either the Inazuma as she appeared in 1944 or as the Hibiki as configured in 1945.

The destroyer can be ordered from Hobbylink Japan at https://hlj.com/product/YMS02032/Nav for ¥1,275 (about US$13.00).