Hasegawa

1/700 IJN Ise High Grade Full Hull Special

Kit Number: CH113 43163

Reviewed by  Luke R. Bucci, IPMS# 33549

MSRP: $89.95 Kit Supplied by Dragon Models USA: www.dragonmodelsusa.com The Ship The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) Ise was completed on December 15, 1917 as a super-dreadnought, built at Kobe's Kawasaki yards. After the disastrous loss of carriers at Midway in June, 1942, all ten older IJN battleships were considered for conversion into carrier hybrids in order to quickly bring planes to sea. A complete conversion, removing all guns and installing full length flight decks and hangars, was planned, but never carried out. The Kongos were not modified because their 30+ knot speed made them the only big-gun escorts for carriers. The Nagatos were not modified since their 16 inch armament was needed in case of a big-gun engagement. The new battleship Shinano was converted into a carrier, but because of time and scarcity of labor and materials, only the Ise and sister ship Hyuga were refitted as quasi-carriers (BBCVs), with a minimum of effort. The Ises were chosen over the older Fusos because Hyuga lost X turret to an explosion in May 1942, and the X and Y turrets of this class were unable to be modified with higher elevations, and thus, the slightly newer Ises were considered inferior to the Fusos in a long-range gun battle. So the Ise and Hyuga were refitted in 1943 with a short aircraft handling deck over the quarterdeck over a hangar with a T-shaped lift. Two large catapults were installed, a very slow and inefficient method of launching multiple planes. Ise's conversion was finished in October 1943 at Kure (hence the need for Kure Gray paint). The aircraft deck had an 8 inch layer of concrete to replace the ballast lost from the 14 inch turrets. Ise and Hyuga were originally intended to operate 22 Yokosuka D4Y Suisei (Judy) dive bombers with wheels (not floats). It would take 30 minutes to launch all aircraft in theory, but reality forced designers to substitute Aichi E16A Zui-un (Paul) attack floatplanes for some of the Judys. Ise was sunk in harbor in shallow water at Kure in late July 1945 by US carrier aircraft, and broken up at Harima in 1946. Ise never operated aircraft in action. Certainly, these hybrid battleships have captured the interest of modelers as they are unique and odd, and have been favorite, but complicated, subjects for modelers for many years. The Kit Hasegawa combined their previous rework (43163) of their old Ise kit (011) with a new bottom hull, display stand, photoetch set, weapons sprues, metal propellers and brass main gun barrels. Result: "High Grade Full Hull Special" kit CH113. The kit appears to depict Ise after September 1944 (presence of rocket launchers at stern), so this kit depicts her at the Battle of Cape Engano in October 1944 (except for missing flight deck 25mm single guns, which are not included in the kit). The kit comes in a box twice as deep as usual in order to hold the extra parts. The box art is a photograph of a completed model with all the photoetch and metal parts unpainted, to show you what the extra features are and where they go. The kit contains: Instruction sheet Decal sheet Four metal propellers (parts MB) Eight brass 14in gun barrels (parts UB) Metal nameplate in Japanese (part UA2) Wooden display stand (part UA1) MA-169 Ise/Hyuga Super Detail photoetch set (steel) Twelve sprues of injection-molded polystyrene plastic: Sprue A - Main deck and port side of upper hull Sprue B - Waterline plate and starboard side of upper hull Sprue C - Foredeck, bridge and other pieces Sprue E - Flight deck and hangar pieces Sprue F - Bridge and hangar pieces Sprue G - Inserts for hull halves Sprue J (2) - Main turrets Sprue L (2) - Catapults (not used), triple 25mm guns, barge, flight deck struts Sprue M (2) - Aircraft (4 Judys, 4 Pauls per sprue) Sprue N - Hull bottom, hull bottom pieces, supports Sprue W (2) -Weapons & parts sprues

The Build This kit is detailed enough to look fine OOB (Out-Of-Box). The photoetch parts make a big difference, and the full hull satisfies those who prefer them. Like the earlier kits, this on uses the parts from the original battleship version, and simply adds new parts on top of the original version to convert the ship into a BBCV. While this approach provides for efficiency for the model maker, it is not an ideal way to engineer this complex hybrid. I must say that this kit has been well engineered in order to make the conversion as easy as possible, and succeeds in doing so. Although the decks have adequate details molded on, the vertical sides of superstructures do not have doors, portholes or other fittings. Thus, this kit is suitable for super detailing. The Instructions cover one large sheet of paper, and are devoted to subassemblies, with 13 steps. Instructions are clear as to what needs to be done to kit parts, and leaves the timing of assembly up to the modeler, which I prefer. Be sure to inspect the Instructions carefully for modifications that need to be done before assembly - the upper hull sides need some work opening holes and filling portholes, best done before any painting or assembly. The rear deck needs some sanding in order to fit the elevator. Another pre-assembly event is attaching the main gun turrets with retainers (so they can rotate). After decks are glued in place, access to the undersides is blocked. If you miss out and do not add turrets until after the decks are in place, you can always drill a hole in the unseen portions of the deck to attach the retainers. Also, consult the guide to see which parts are not used - the kit sprues and extra weapons sprues will leave many parts for the spares box, always appreciated. The instructions show both regular and photoetched pieces so you can choose which you use (although photoetch parts win hands-down all the time).

As usual, I first removed parts from sprues and sanded them. Plastic parts were crisply molded with almost no flash, requiring little cleanup. Next came airbrushing the numerous plastic parts and the photoetch sheet (both sides!) with Model Master acrylic Kure Grey after attaching parts to double-sided tape on cardboard to keep them in place. Subassemblies included the hull bottom, main decks, hangar section, bridge, main gun turrets, stack, AA guns, rear superstructure, mainmast, railings, boats, planes and flight deck. In general, I used Tamiya Extra Thin Cement for large pieces such as hulls and decks, and cyanoacrylates for everything else. Cyanoacrylates (or epoxies) are required for adhesion of photoetch and metal parts to plastic. Assembly of the hulls (upper and lower) is facilitated by inserts that keep them in proper shape. Parts fit well, but some seams are obvious. The worst offenders are on the boat deck and around the flight deck bulges. I did not do anything special to fill or alter them, so you can see what will transpire. I did fill and sand the complex seam formed at the bow of the bottom hull since it was so obvious. The seams are in awkward places and difficult to sand, but most are hard to see under the flight deck overhang. Photoetch parts were easy to remove from their sprue and folded easily without breaking. The bottom hull was assembled (sans propellers) and airbrushed with Tamiya Hull Red, thinned with Tamiya Acrylic Thinner. The main hull was assembled but decks not added until after the wood decks were painted. A drafting pen was used to fill portholes with black color. Removal of deck objects at the stern as indicated by the instructions is necessary for proper fit of the flight deck elevator. The extreme rear of the deck is visible under the flight deck, so be sure to paint it IJN Linoleum and Kure Gray and wood color. I decided to paint the wood decks by hand since there were many molded-on fittings - much easier to paint around the fittings than to mask many tiny fittings for airbrushing. After the base coat was dry, I mixed Model Master #4 Brown with Polly S White and thinned the mix with water. Using a brush with a fine tip, I painted individual planks by letting the thinned paint flow by capillary action to desired lengths. This requires a steady hand and patience, but prevents a monotonous-looking deck. Use 3-4 additions of White to the base brown in order to have planks of differing colors, and randomly paint various lengths of planking. The deck looks much more realistic after individual planks are highlighted. After painting and addition of main turrets, the decks can be added to the hull. The hangar and flight deck subassembly was done after the decks were added to the hull, and before other subassemblies added. Although the instructions say to paint the deck a lighter shade of grey, and paint the rails silver, I used the same Kure Grey to airbrush to flight deck, but kept it to one thin coat, which turned out to look lighter. The rails were blackened with weathering powder, more realistic instead of a parade-ground shiny silver look. I had to add metal rod posts for the catapults in order to attach them to their supports - I did not see any posts in the kit. The photoetch catapults are excellent and the proper larger size. The bridge assembly looks complex, but goes together well if you start from the bottom. Paint the bridge decks IJN Linoleum before assembly - much easier that way. I used a drafting pen to blacken the windows, but the photoetch set has pieces to replace the molded windows (they look like ladders) for you advanced modelers. For the main turrets, take care to remove the proper molded on ladders and make holes to attach rangefinders and gun platforms, as per the instructions. The plastic barrels for the main gun turrets looked fine to me, but the brass barrels are even better. You will have to cut off the plastic barrels and drill holes to accommodate the brass barrels. The biggest advantage of the brass barrels is the drilled-out muzzle, and they are perfectly circular in diameter with the right taper. AA guns required virtually no assembly, but there were many of them. I used a drafting pen with black India ink to color the 127mm AA shutters and the springs on the triple 25mm mounts. The funnel had a complicated photoetch searchlight platform support structure, but it folded nicely and fit well, and looks much better than the solid plastic counterparts. I assembled the photoetch main mast using a "second hand" ball with movable arms tipped with alligator clips. This allowed juxtaposition of the delicate pieces in the right orientation so glue would bond. I installed the mainmast as the last item to the model because it is very delicate. Boats were painted and windows added with a drafting pen. Railings in this kit are different from other photoetch railings I am familiar with. They use flat plates that are meant to be glued to the deck every few stanchions or so, rather than a continuous bottom rail (the norm) or only the individual stanchions (a nightmare). These railings require a different folding strategy, and in general work OK, but I still prefer the continuous bottom rail style since they are less work and look cleaner. Fortunately, all decks had a border gutter strip (to be painted Kure Grey) that the railings adhered to, hiding the attachment tabs somewhat. The decks of old battleships had few straightaways and many angles, and that means a lot of folding. The kit railings were designed to be folded at stanchions, and matched the kit, something missing from aftermarket sets - a nice touch. This foresight and attention to detail should be lauded, and is all too rare in 1/700 ships. For the complicated angles, cut the railing into 2-3 shorter pieces - this makes them easier to fold to the excruciating angles needed. I did find that railings with many folds were not quite long enough, and left a few minor gaps (no I did not misfold or misapply - they are just a wee bit short). Also, railings were not given for superstructure decks or flight deck (I plan to add nets later, but that is another review…). I did not add the very detailed and realistic gangway ladders, as these were removed when the ship was sailing. The kit comes with eight each Aichi E16A1 Zui-un attack floatplanes (code-named Paul) and Yokosuka D4Y1 Suisei dive bombers (Judy). The planes are adequately detailed, and the decals for them are first-class. Tail markings, rear gunner guide lines for the tailplanes, propeller warning lines for floats and roundels with white margins are correctly sized, in register and opaque. There are 10-12 decals per plane, making aircraft subassembly intricate and tedious. I chose Floquil Pullman Green enamel for the IJN aircraft green color instead of the usual IJN Green aircraft paints available, because Pullman Green is faded compared to the IJN Greens, and looks better in 1/700 scale. You will have to cut off the spinners, glue the props on and put back the spinners - again, tedious and tiny. I used a drafting pen to blacken the radial engine of the Pauls, and to add radiator openings. When the aircraft are finished, they look marvelous. I did not add wheels to the Judy landing gear stumps because this is a review kit, but this is an option for superdetailers. Simply cut thin slices from a plastic rod (like cutting a salami) and glue to thinned-down stumps (or resort to aftermarket photoetch landing gear). Solvaset was essential to get the tiny decals to settle down. The decal sheet has enough markings for two models, which came in handy when a few decals were destroyed by my handling. Be aware these decals are tiny and not for the ham-handed or impatient. I usually paint roundels and float prop warning lines by hand, but these decals are worth the effort. The photoetch trolleys intended for each aircraft type were not tall enough to clear the props, so I only used them on the catapults. After assembly, I used Weather Systems powders for rust on the hull, and black on the flight deck, stack, and gun barrel tips. Rust should only be on anchor chains, anchors, and parts of the hull not easily reached when underway. On a large ship with sufficient crew, everything the crew could reach was kept chipped and painted and rust-free, especially in the Imperial Japanese Navy on a battleship that did not see much operational duty. I used Polly S White acrylic paint to drybrush the bottom hull, because after only a short time in the water, hulls became discolored and fouled, which in 1/700 scale looks light gray or white. One reason this is my first full hull build is that I disagree with all those pristine red hull bottoms. That look lasts maybe a few days after the last drydocking (at least for WW2-era bottoms - hull antifouling paints are much better now than 60-70 years ago). Besides, hull bottoms are seldom seen on warships outside of drydock. I like my models to portray ships in the water, which means waterline builds. So I did not glue the bottom hull to the upper hull, accounting for a larger-than-usual seam between upper and lower hulls in the photographs of the finished model. There was one trivial problem with this kit - the flight deck held 25mm single AA guns that were present when the rocket launchers were fitted, but were removable. Thus, it was doubtful that the guns appeared along with aircraft, which were landed by the time the rocket launchers were fitted in June 1944. There are no single 25mm guns included in the kit, so if you want to add them, you will need aftermarket parts, or raid another IJN ship kit. I left them off since I planned to keep the aircraft on the flight deck (after all that decaling, I am going to show them off). For historical accuracy, there were rocket launchers and 25mm singles but no planes after June 1944, and planes, no rocket launchers and no 25mm single guns before June 1944. The planes in the kit were as intended, not as actually tested (those were the standard Jake and Pete floatplanes).

Summary For a retail price of $90 that approaches pricing of finely detailed resin kits, an injected molded plastic kit had better be good. This one is. The photoetch and decal sheets are outstanding and greatly enhance this kit to the level of a resin kit with photoetch, and having brass gun barrels, metal propellers and many extra parts all in one box makes this kit a bargain, compared to buying a kit and several aftermarket sets. The extra premium-grade details are superior to the regular kit pieces. Whether this or any other kit of Ise is 100% historically accurate is still controversial. Judging from the references below, the consensus is that this kit is close. Accordingly, I added a flag from the decal sheet on top of turret A just for fun, even though I know Ise did not display one. This kit is not for beginners though. It has many parts, different materials (not just plastic), and the instructions leave the sequence of painting and assembly up to the modeler, which could get some into trouble. Some advanced tools are needed (pin vise and "second hand" devices) that beginning modelers usually do not have. The photoetch is more complicated than most other warship sets, and the decals are exceedingly tiny (which is good). I found the model went together pretty well, although the rocket launcher deck assembly was a bit tricky, and adding the hangar deck bulges was more difficult than it should have been. Advanced modelers will want to take care of some seams around the hangar deck, main deck and the hulls, but there is very little work needed other than to follow the directions, cut, sand, paint and glue. I actually built this model faster than other, simpler kits. Hasegawa deserves credit for making a complicated model come together nicely. Recommended for intermediate to advanced modelers who want the best Ise BBCV kit available. A relative bargain and self-contained to yield a decent model.

Selected References: · Battleship Ise Class. 1/700 Waterline Series Modeling Guide Book of Imperial Japanese Navy Battleship. Model Art Extra 02. Model Art Co. Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, 2008, pp. 57-82. [reviewed for IPMSUSA in February 2008] · Jentschura H, Jung D, Mickel P. Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy. United States Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, 1977, pp. 26-28. (ISBN 0-85368-151-1) · Jones DH. Ise/Hyuga BBCV. Plastic Ship Modeler Quarterly 1994; 4:14-17. [out of print, but available online at http://smmlonline.com/articles/ise/ise.html] · Kristiansen T. Gakken Pacific War Series 26 - IJN BB Ise Class. Gakken, Japan, 2006. (ISBN 4-05-602066-3) · Layman RD, McLaughlin S. Phantoms of the Pacific. Ch. 12 in The Hybrid Warship. The Amalgamation of Big Guns and Aircraft. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, 1991, pp. 128-137. (ISBN 1-55750-374-5)

Selected Websites: · http://www.combinedfleet.com/Ise.htm (operational history) · http://smmlonline.com/articles/ise/ise.html (Daniel Jones' article on modifications to accurize Ise models) · http://steelnavy.com/GakkenIseTK.htm (Gakken Series 26 book review)

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