IJN Shikinami…

Shikinami, Spreading Waves, was the 12 of 24 ships in the Fubuki class of destroyers. She was built as a Type II (Ayanami) variant of the Fubuki class of ships. These ships were introduced in the late 1920s

Shikinami was laid down in July 1928, launched in June 1929 and commissioned in December 1929. She was sunk on September 12, 1944.

When these ships were built they were considered to be the best class of destroyer in the world. Although they were old when the war started they still were able to out class their contemporary counter parts.

Specifications…

Class and type: Fubuki-class destroyer
Displacement: 1,750 long tons (1,780 t) standard
2,050 long tons (2,080 t) re-built
Length: 111.96 m (367.3 ft) pp, 115.3 m (378 ft) waterline, 118.41 m (388.5 ft) overall
Beam: 10.4 m (34 ft 1 in)
Draft: 3.2 m (10 ft 6 in)
Propulsion: 4 × Kampon type boilers,
2 × Kampon Type Ro geared turbines,
2 × shafts at 50,000 ihp (37,000 kW)
Speed: 38 knots (44 mph; 70 km/h)
Range: 5,000 nmi (9,300 km) at 14 knots (26 km/h)
Complement: 219
Armament:
6 × Type 3 127 mm 50 caliber naval guns (3×2)
up to 22 × Type 96 25 mm AT/AA Guns
up to 10 × 13 mm AA guns,
9 × 610 mm (24 in) torpedo tubes
36 × depth charges

The Kit…

The kit comes in a standard lidded box with a picture of a Fubuki class destroyer on the box. It looks as though Fine Molds reused the box from its first release. There are stickers denoting this is the Shikinami and that this is a limited edition.

Sprue A
The lower hull of the kit is molded in red plastic. There is also a waterline plate molded in red as well. The keel is rather unique on this class of ship. It is rather broad near the forward section of the ship. The bilge keels are separate parts as are the shaft supports. There are also some underwater sensors molded into the lower hull. Near the bow there is a half moon of circles and a little further aft there is a small cylinder. This hull has something that pretty much nobody puts on their kits, sea water intakes. Nearly every other company leaves these off their hulls.

Sprue B
Sections of the mid structure of the ship are present. The structures are mad up of multiple sections that look to fit together rather nicely. Out side details include water tight doors and portholes. Non-skid present on the deck sections is finely done and nice looking.

Sprue C

The sides of the ship are molded in two halves here. This might cause some seam lines at the bow and stern, but if you are careful that should be lessened. The sides of the hull show the plating of the hull nicely. It also has portholes along its edges as well. The bow has the nice recurve shape present. You also get the internal supports of the hull and the display stand on this sprue.

Sprue D
Here is the main deck sections of the ship. The foc’sle is very nicely done. The very forward section curves upward and the rear section has rounded sides present. The non-skid is very nicely done in these areas as well. The lines in the linoleum decking are also very thin, so you won’t need to replace them with PE strips.

Other parts are for the superstructure and have nice external detailing. These have some of the nicest water tight doors found on any current kits. Some of the other parts are very very thin, so take care!!! Some flash is present, so take care removing it.

Sprue E
This section has many of the super thin parts for the masts and other thin parts. Take care these are some of the thinnest parts in plastic you will see.

Sprue G
One of the two small clear plastic sprues in the kit. The only part on G is the bridge roof and windows.

Sprue J
Only three parts here, one search light platform and two halves of search light platform.

Sprue Vx2
Here are some of the small parts for the ship. One of them is actually a plastic inclined ladder. Seriously, it is a ladder in plastic and it is has open steps. It is a far way from the old solid Aztec style steps found on older kits.

Sprue X and Y x 2
Weapons for the ship. The main guns and torpedo launchers are the weapons found here. They are made up of multiple sections and should go together smoothly. The torpedo tubes are very nicely done. Each turret can have the guns displayed in two separate positions. The barrels and blast bags are molded as one piece.

Sprue WZ1
Here are the ships boats. These too are top notch. The davits are also very nice.

WZ2
The second clear plastic sprue. These are some of the small parts that are forgotten on most models. Navigation lights and search lights are molded in clear.

Sprue WZ3 and WZ4
These are some of the smallest and best detailed parts in plastic you will ever see. Fine Molds is know for making parts just like these. No need to replace your small AA guns with PE replacements with this kit.
Misc Parts
Small plastic caps to hold the turrets and torpedo tubes in place. You will also get some anchor chains.

Instructions…

Come in a nice looking 9 page booklet. The construction follows a series of steps beginning with the hull construction and ending with the overall painting. The instructions are involved, but paying special attention and they should not confuse anyone.

One area I do not like is the black and white color and markings section. It would be nice to have a color painting section instead of multi shades of grey to denote different colors. But, you should be able to figure of that to paint what color.

Decals…

There is one sheet of decals for your ship. Included are hull numbers, draft marking, and the ships name in different sizes. Remember during the war hull numbers and the ships name were not present, so if you use those your ship will be pre-war.

Conclusion…

Fine Molds has got to make some of the nicest kits on the market today. If they ever make the jump to slide molding some of the other kit makers are in trouble. This is one nicely detailed ship and will make a great display when you are done. The price might scare away the casual builder, but is it defiantly worth the price.

If you add some railing and the outboard circuit PE this will be one top notch kit.