Gold Medal Models

1/450 Photo Etch Upgrade Set
I.J.N. Akagi

Reviewed By Tim Reynaga, #26391

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1/450 IJN Carrier AKAGI PhotoEtch Brass Upgrade Set (For Hasegawa kit)
Part #450-8
US $36.00

Flagship of the Japanese Carrier Force at both the attack on Pearl Harbor and the Battle of Midway, the aircraft carrier AKAGI has long been a favorite among ship modelers. Hasegawa’s 1/450 scale rendition, released way back in the 1970’s, is the biggest and still the best plastic kit of the ship available. Nevertheless, it has always posed a challenge for detailers because of its oddball scale. PhotoEtch sets in the more common 1/400 and 1/500 scales could be adapted for some parts, but what has really been needed to make this kit shine was a dedicated set. Loren Perry of Gold Medal Models has stepped up and filled this need with style.

The set is very complete, with the photo etched brass beautifully relief-etched to enhance the three dimensional effect of the parts. Included is the basic array of railing, ladders, watertight doors, and aircraft pieces one would expect with an aircraft carrier upgrade set. There are also great extras like flight deck edge safety netting, searchlight doors, and a large number of crew figures (over 100 of them)!

In all, the set contains:

• railing in several styles including "drooped chain" and solid bar
• inclined ladders with fold-up handrails, in three sizes
• vertical ladders
• two types of watertight doors, with both open and closed options for each
• deck edge antennas and mast details (including “doublers” to provide a more 3-D appearance)
• complete fore and aft flight deck support girder assemblies
• port and starboard flight deck support girders
• flight deck safety nets custom designed to fit this kit
• two flight deck windbreaks
• boat monorail extensions
• propellers and landing gear to equip 24 aircraft
• four direction finder antennas
• island yardarms and mast braces
• conning station windows
• four flight deck searchlight doors
• over 100 relief-etched crew figures (including replicas of Admirals Nagumo and Yamamoto, what fun!)

What makes this set really special is that it also includes lots of details custom designed not only for AKAGI, but for this particular AKAGI kit. According to GMM: "All the parts have been designed to fit the plastic kit's parts precisely. Although this particular kit has a few minor inaccuracies regarding shapes, placement of support girders and such, we've decided to make the new parts fit the kit as-is to ease construction for most modelers. Experts having access to detailed drawings and wishing to make corrections will still be able to do so using the GMM parts."

Not being one of those “experts”, I just want to build a slightly better than out-of-the-box AKAGI, so I appreciate GMM’s decision to design the PhotoEtch to fit the kit parts. I also appreciate the detailed instructions which clearly indicate the precise positioning of the complex PhotoEtch assemblies. The fore and aft flight deck support girders are especially impressive, providing a magnificent level of visual intricacy to the completed model. The sheer delicacy of these structures makes them a bit fiddly to assemble, but they are worth the effort. Even just test-fitted to the flight deck, they are absolutely stunning. I can’t wait to finish my AKAGI!

If you have been thinking of building Hasegawa’s 1/450 AKAGI, this set is a great reason to go ahead and do it. For a reasonable cost and a little extra effort this upgrade will enable you to turn an already good kit into something exceptional. Thanks to Gold Medal Models for the review sample.

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