¹⁄350

Aoshima are releasing the 1/350th Ironclad Battleship Kirishima 1942 together with a matching IJN Battleship Kirishima 1942 Photoetch detail set .

The date of release for both products is October 2008 and prices have been announced as 14,500 yen & 2,800 yen respectively.

Watch out for a further update on these items as more information and images come to hand

Ship History
IJN Kirishima was the Imperial Japanese Navy's fourth Kongō -class battlecruiser.
She was laid down by Mitsubishi in Nagasaki on the 17th of March, 1912, launched on December the1st, 1913, and commissioned on April the 19th, 1915. From 1933 to 1934, she was reconstructed at Kure, Japan, emerging from her reconstruction as a "fast battleship", 4,000 tons heavier than her original incarnation.

Her initial captain in World War II was Yamaguchi Jihei, formerly the commander of the heavy cruiser Takao, later promoted to Rear Admiral, and still later, Vice Admiral. She was assigned to Vice Admiral Mikawa Gunichi's Battle Division 3 with her sister ships Hiei, Kongō and Haruna.

On November 26th, 1941 Kirishima sailed with the First Air Fleet Striking Force ("Kido Butai") as part of the Pearl Harbor raid. Together with most of the Striking Force, she returned to the naval base at Kure on December 24th. From there, the fleet sailed for the naval base at Truk, then into the South Pacific to support the invasions of Rabaul and Kavieng.

The Kirishima, along with Hiei, escorted the Carrier Striking Force when it conducted a major air raid against Darwin, Australia on February the19th, 1942. It also took part in the Battle of the Java Sea on March the 1st, in a series of raids against Allied warships in the Indian Ocean on April 5–9th, and in the disastrous Battle of Midway on June 4-5th.
As "Battle Division 11", Kirishima and Hiei participated in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons on August 24 and the Battle of Santa Cruz on October 26th.

On November 15th, 1942, Kirishima engaged American vessels in the Battle of Guadalcanal, and while inflicting some damage on USS South Dakota, failed to notice the USS Washington some 8,000 yards (7,000 m) off. The Washington rapidly fired seventy-five 16-inch shells at Kirishima. Nine hit their target, as did numerous 5-inch shells. Kirishima's top structure was engulfed in flame and the great ship kept turning in a circle, out of control. Her captain was forced to scuttle the ship. The crew was transferred to a destroyer, and the Kingston valves were opened, scuttling her. Kirishima sank northwest of Savo Island.

In 1992, oceanographer Dr. Robert D. Ballard discovered the wreck of Kirishima in 4,000 feet of water, resting upside down with its bow and the tip of its stern blown off.