1/350 Tamiya IJN Kagero

[Stuart]

Lovely little bit of detailing that.

[Tim Reynaga]

More upgrades for the fantail.



The kit reels aren’t bad, and the Infini set comes with excellent etched and turned brass replacements, but I went with Blue Fatty’s simpler to use resin renditions.





I did, however, use Infini’s brass depth charge cranes as well as the torpedo handling cranes; their combination of folded etched brass arms with turned brass bases is quite effective. I bungled one of the torpedo cranes during assembly, but some of its pieces were still useful to dress up the corresponding kit part.



The Tamiya kit includes perfectly good plastic roll-off depth charges with etched steel mounts, and the Infini upgrade set provides even better 3-part charges with separate etched brass mounts. I ended up forgoing all of them and using these six single-piece resin parts from YX Model.



The kit plastic depth charge reload rack was replaced using the two etched brass rack parts from the Infini set. Rather than using the individual 3-part charges provided by Infini, I filled the rack with six resin YX Model IJN type 2 depth charges. The Infini charges consist of turned brass bodies with photoetched ends and look very good, but the one-piece YX Model versions look equally good, and they are so much easier to use!



Here is the completed depth charge reload rack test fitted. The projector is a YX Model resin direct replacement for the kit type 94 depth charge launcher.



This really was supposed to be a simple, quick build, but all the wonderful aftermarket upgrade goodies now available are just too tasty to pass up! These are just some of them...

[B4en]

This really was supposed to be a simple, quick build

The best laid plans...

The extras do all look fantastic Tim. I think my patience would have snapped long ago, along with a lot of that brass!

[ShaunW]

If you have the skill and patience to make the most of these AM parts, as you clearly have, Tim, then they are well worth the effort as they are for the most part vastly superior to what is provided in the kit. But using them is never going to result in a rainy weekend speed build

[Tim Reynaga]

Final upgrades for the deck astern are the paravanes.



The kit parts are reasonable, especially for injected molded plastic. They depict the paravanes stowed away with the handling cranes lowered and all the equipment neatly secured to the deck.



Kagero-class destroyers also sometimes carried their cranes with the paravanes already attached, swung up and ready for action. I liked the dramatic look of this arrangement, and highlighting the mine-clearing paravanes this way adds a bit of poignancy too since Kagero herself was sunk after being immobilized by mines in the Solomons in 1943.



The Infini set provides awesome 10-part etched brass cranes. The set also comes with multi-piece turned/etched brass paravanes, but I went with equally good but simpler to use one-piece resin parts from Wula Models.



Here they are test fitted along with all the other upgrade bits on the fantail.

[Cardinal]

Lot of detail as always. Good work.

[Tim Reynaga]

Rarely depicted details on model ships are the water mains located on the weather decks.



Wula Models of China have produced some truly amazing 3D printed versions of these.



This set represents USN fittings, but the design is fairly universal. Though taller, the valve with the hand crank on top closely resembles the IJN style.





Cut down to match the shorter IJN mains, these already small parts are reduced to a mere 1.5mm in height...





...but now Kagero’s crew can do some proper damage control when the time comes!

[Clashcityrocker]

Just more brilliance, and tiny parts

Nigel

[ShaunW]

The level of detail going into this build is something else, Tim, this is work on the next level!

[Tim Reynaga]

Thanks guys, you put it so kindly... but I know this is getting compulsive but I just can't seem to stop!

Adding to Kagero’s damage control capability were portable fire extinguishers secured to bulkheads on the weather decks.





Five Star makes some beautiful renditions of these with resin canisters and brass holding racks.



Though tiny in 1/350, the real units seem to have been rather large and unwieldy; it must have been a challenge for Imperial Navy sailors to muscle these things around in an emergency!

[JamesPerrin]

I'm getting eye strain just reading this thread. Mind boggling what's possible, terrifying the idea of having to paint it all.

[JohnRatzenberger]

Those fire extinguisher bottles look, inside the brass cover, look more like saki bottles, with the netting around them.

[Tim Reynaga]

Those fire extinguisher bottles look, inside the brass cover, look more like saki bottles, with the netting around them.

Maybe they actually were sake bottles... it is hard to tell!

[Tim Reynaga]

A final component of Kagero’s damage control suite is this set of oxygen canisters by Black Cat Models.



Used for oxy-fuel welding in repair work aboard ship, these canisters were commonly mounted on superstructure exteriors of World War Two era warships.



I don’t have information on where these may have been fitted on Kagero, but photos of other ships show that they seem to have been secured wherever there was space available. This spot tucked away behind the torpedo handling winch seems reasonable...

[ShaunW]

This compulsive detailing makes for compulsive viewing, Tim! You are well on your way to producing a real masterpiece with this model.