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IJN Super Battleship Musashi Kagero Super Drawings in 3D Musashi, the second of two Yamato-class battleships, shared the honor with lead ship Yamato as the largest battleship ever constructed in naval history. During construction of the codenamed Battleship Number 2, special floating cranes of 150 and 350 metric ton capacities were purposely built at Number 2 slipway for this project. Utmost secrecy was maintained during her construction; the entire length of the ship was camouflaged by rope against aerial photography, and urban legend had it that the roofing had consumed the entire supply of rope in Japan. The cover-up was so successful that the Americans were unaware of the construction even though the United States consulate office was essentially just across the bay. The Russians, however, almost discovered it by accident. On 20 May 1938, six Russian-manned TB-3 bombers with Chinese markings flew over Fukuoka, Nagasaki, and Sasebo to drop propaganda leaflets and to take pictures; Battleship Number 2 was actually photographed, but the photograph, even after the Americans reviewed it, did not arouse the alarm that the world's largest battleship should have had. Battleship Number 2 was launched on 1 Nov 1940 in a secret ceremony attended only by a few top naval officials. As soon as she was put into the water, Kasuga Maru (later to be converted to the escort carrier Taiyo) was towed to block Battleship Number 2 from view. She spent the following 18 months fitting out. On 15 Sep 1941, she was under the command of the chief equipping officer Captain Kaoru Arima. On 5 Aug 1942, she was commissioned as the Battleship Musashi, and Arima remained on board as her commanding officer, who would be promoted to the rank of rear admiral shortly after the commissioning. Her commissioning was three months behind schedule due to last-minute requirements for additional communications gear. After post-shakedown fitting out at Kure, Musashi sailed for Truk in the Caroline Islands on 18 Jan 1943 where she was named Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto's flagship; this assignment was the reason why the additional communications gear was required during fitting out. She officially became Yamamoto's flagship on 11 Feb 1943, relieving her sister ship, Yamato. On 23 Apr 1943, ashes of Yamamoto, who was struck down by US Army Air Corps fighters several days prior, were secretly brought aboard via a flying boat. Two days later, Admiral Mineichi Koga came aboard under the pretence of an inspection to take over command of the Combined Fleet. On 17 May 1943, Musashi arrived at Yokosuka in response to the Americans' operations in the Aleutian Islands; the voyage also brought home Yamamoto's ashes. Upon return to Japan, Captain, later Rear Admiral on 1 Nov 1943, Keizo Komura was given command of the ship after Arima was transferred to the Etajima Naval Academy. After a day of preparations in Yokosuka on 23 Jun 1943, Musashi hosted Emperor Showa and his staff on an inspection on 24 Jun 1943. Between 1 and 8 Jul 1943, at Kure, four Type 22 fire control radars were installed on the bridge. Between 5 Aug 1943 and 10 Feb 1944, Musashi remained mostly in port at Truk; the only sortie she embarked upon was the Oct 1943 movement to Brown Island, Eniwetok Atoll, and Marshall Islands in response to a possible American invasion of Wake Island and raids against the Gilbert Islands. On 7 Dec 1943, Captain Bunji Asakura assumed command after Komura was transferred to the Third Fleet. Between 15 and 24 Feb 1944, Musashi was used as a transport to carry one Army battalion, one Special Naval Landing Force battalion, munitions, fuel, and vehicles from Yokosuka to the Palau Islands; en route, the task force encountered a typhoon, and as a result most of the deck load of munitions was lost. The task force arrived at Palau Islands on 29 Feb. On 28 Mar 1944, Admiral Koga moved his flag to land, relieving Musashi of flagship status; this was done due to air raid threats. She departed Palau Islands under the cover of darkness on 29 Mar 1944, but was discovered by American submarine USS Tunny, which damaged her port bow with one of six torpedoes fired at 1744. The hit tore a 19-foot diameter hole, causing minor flooding and killing seven men. Fearful of a follow-up air raid, Musashi continued to sail for Japan at a reduced speed, reaching Kure on 3 Apr. While being repaired at Kure, she was also refitted with heavier anti-aircraft defences, replacing six of her large 155-mm secondary guns with a large quantity of 25-mm anti-aircraft guns. At this time, her anti-aircraft weaponry included 35x3x25-mm guns and 25x1x25mm guns. In May 1944, Asakura was promoted to the rank of rear admiral. On 10 Jun, Asakura took Musashi on Operation Kon aimed at relieving Biak off New Guinea, which was abandoned shortly after due to the American invasion of the Mariana Islands. On 18 Jul 1944, Musashi arrived at Lingga near Singapore and joined the Mobile Fleet. On 12 Aug 1944, Captain Toshihira Inoguchi was given command of Musashi. Like his predecessors, Inoguchi was promoted to the rank of rear admiral after the assignment. In Sep, Inoguchi ordered Musashi painted a dark colour; the paint might have been Royal Navy in origin. On 18 Oct, her deck was blackened with soot. The camouflaging attempts were all made because of the upcoming Operation Sho-Go which resulted in the naval battles in the area of Leyte Gulf. On 18 Oct, Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita engaged in Operation Sho-Go by taking a powerful surface fleet that included both of the Yamato-class battleships. The fleet sailed into the Sibuyan Sea west of Leyte of the Philippine Islands, aiming to hit the vulnerable American transports on the other side of the island. At 0810 on 24 Oct 1944, an aircraft from carrier USS Intrepid spotted the fleet. By 1018, Musashi's lookouts reported about 30 incoming hostile aircraft. At 1027, the battle began. By chance, most American aircraft focused on Musashi, whose guns fired in combat for the first time. Because the air cover was inadequate, the Japanese ships were left to fend for themselves. Musashi's anti-aircraft weapons helped setting up an intense umbrella of flak above the fleet, while her 18-in guns fired into the water to make huge geysers aimed at knocking down American torpedo bombers. Without adequate air cover, however, powerful Musashi was, she was helpless against multiple waves of attacking aircraft. After the final attack ended at 1530, she suffered hits by twenty torpedoes, seventeen bombs, and eighteen near misses. Efforts to correct the worsening list failed, and Inoguchi gave the order to "standby to abandon ship" at 1915; by this time, the list was at 15 degrees. Immediately after this order, Inoguchi retired to his cabin with the intention to go down with the ship; he was never seen again. At 1930, the list to port reached 30 degrees, and abandon ship order was given. At 1936, Musashi capsized and sank. 1,023 lives aboard Musashi were lost on that day. This is the latest book from Kagero in their Super Drawings in 3D, and like the previous books it has a brief history and the ships specifications at the beginning. This includes the following:- Design Armour Armament Fire Control and Sensor Aircraft Launching Service The rest of the seventy five pages are filled with the now well known style of beautifully drawn 3D renderings of every part of the ship. It is obvious that a lot of time has been taken to get the drawings this good and accurate, and there is a wealthy of information for the modeller to use during their build. Every area of the upper hull and superstructure is dealt with. I particularly like the renderings of the huge bridge structure and the myriad of AA turrets. Considering the size of the ship she was of a surprisingly clean design, I guess because any superfluous top hamper and fittings would have been damaged by the huge blast of the main guns. For even more detail, especially for the rigging, Kagero have included a double sided A2 fold out sheet with a three view on one side, unusually in 1:400, with additional drawings of the ships fittings, such as the light AA weapons, main and secondary turrets, ships crane, main rangefinders and searchlights, in scales ranging from 1:50 to 1:200 plus bow and stern views in 1:350. Conclusion This is another superb book in the series and a great addition to any maritime modeller’s library. This series is a boon to any ship modeller and is turning into a magnificent collection of titles. The detail included is second to none, and the renderings are so clear that they will be a delight for the superdetailers, particularly if building the beautiful Tamiya 1:350 scale kit. Review sample courtesy of

IJN Battleship Musashi Detail Sets 1:350 Eduard Tamiya first released the 1:350 IJN battleship Musashi in 1979 and apart from adding new parts in 1981it hadn’t really been updated until 2013. To update and detail this latest release Eduard have now produced three sets of photo etched parts. The three sets are for the ship, deck plates and railings. Part 1- (53-133). This comprehensive two sheet set is jam packed full of parts for use throughout the ship. It includes everything from the hyper complicated and realistic aircraft handling crane to vent grilles and liferings. The aircraft handling crane is completely replaced with brass and although there is minimal folding required, there are a great many parts that go to make up one of the most realistic cranes I’ve come across. Every boom, jib, cradle and cable wheels are included, as well as all the webs, supports and brackets. All the modeller has to add are a couple of 0.3mm plastic rods to finish it off. The rest of the sheets contain numerous intake grilles, vent grilles, inclined and vertical ladders, cable reels, some of which require the modeller to provide some 1.5mm plastic rod for the drums whilst the large ones the drum is made up of brass etch that is rolled to shape. There are also hand wheels for the winch brakes, a new face plates for the breakwater and deckhouses, deck hatches and a new accommodation ladder for the foredeck. The light AA gun tub splinter shields are replaced as are the two Type 21 radars atop the main rangefinder as well as the Type 13 radars on the foremast, which also gets a full complement of ladders. The 155mm turrets are provided with new access doors, ladders, and a small crane, with the fore and aft mountings also being fitted with aerial towers. The main 460mm turrets are fitted out with replacement platforms, doors, ladders, rangefinder hatches, and the practice gun platforms and railings which weren’t always fitted, so check your references. The various gun directors have new port covers fitted, as do the 127mm turrets. There are loads of new platforms, railings and inclined ladders fitted to the main superstructure tower and a large platform fitted to the front of the funnel casing. On the quaterdeck there are several replacement platforms, new boat bay doors and the large perforated gratings in front of the catapult mounts. Talking of catapults, both units are completely replaced, with separate cable wheels, platforms and mounting plate. To complement the new catapults there are full set of transport and launch cradles for both the single and twin float aircraft, each of which also receives a new propeller. Part 2 – (53-134). Whilst the set above does include a lot of the subsidiary railings for the platforms this set completes the ship with a full range of railings for the main deck, and superstructure. What is nice with this set is that Eduard have taken the trouble to actually shape the foredeck railings so they fit the sheer of the hull, making life a lot easier. There are also a selection of smaller railings and handrails for areas such as the main rangefinders, 127mm mounts, and quarterdeck. Part 3 – (53-135). This is a very simple set which provides a set of new deck plates for areas such as the AA mountings, gun tubs, boat bay recesses, AA platforms, main superstructure decks, quarterdeck grille surrounds and aircraft handling turntables. The main plate will make painting the decks much easier as they can be painted separately then fitted after the superstructure has been painted. Conclusion Eduard seem to be really getting to grips with their maritime update sets and these three are just superb. These look like they will bring a big improvement to the kit, giving some much need finesse to the finished model. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of