Kagero IJN Battleship Fuso. Super Drawings in 3D

[Shar2]

IJN Battleship Fuso

Kagero Super Drawings in 3D

 

Fusō was the lead ship of the two Fusō-class dreadnought battleships built for the Imperial Japanese Navy. Launched in 1914 and commissioned in 1915, she initially patrolled off the coast of China, playing no part in World War I. In 1923, she assisted survivors of the Great Kantō earthquake. Fusō was modernized in 1930–1935 and again in 1937–1941, with improvements to her armour and propulsion machinery and a rebuilt superstructure in the pagoda mast style. With only 14-inch (356 mm) guns, she was outclassed by other Japanese battleships at the beginning of World War II, and played auxiliary roles for most of the war. Fusō was part of Vice-Admiral Shōji Nishimura's Southern Force at the Battle of Leyte Gulf. She was sunk in the early hours of 25 October 1944 by torpedoes and naval gunfire during the Battle of Surigao Strait. Some reports claimed that Fusō broke in half, and that both halves remained afloat and burning for an hour, but according to survivors' accounts, the ship sank after 40 minutes of flooding. Of the few dozen crewmen who escaped, only 10 survived to return to Japan.

 

 

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:-

 

• Overview
• Design
• Armour
• Power Plant
• Mechanisms of fire control
• Radar Equipment
• Searchlights
• Aviation
• Upgrading
• Conclusion

 

The rest of the eighty five pages are filled with the now well known style of beautifully drawn 3D renderings of every part of the ship.  More time and effort seem to have been taken with this volume as there are a lot more detailed renders, including cutaways of the magazines, athwartships of No.2 and No.3 turrets, and of the whole ship horizontally. Naturally there is a wealthy of information for the modeller to use during their build, and having built the 1/350 Fujimi kit I wish I had had this book at the time. Every area of the upper hull and superstructure is dealt with plus the lower hull including the propellers and rudder.  The area where I had difficulty in getting right, the funnel and searchlight towers is very well detailed in the book and would have been most useful. As well as the ship renders, there are also close up drawings of the triple 25mm mountings, searchlights and each of the main turret styles

 

 

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 as the ship was in 1944, in 1:350, with additional drawings of the fore and aft views also in 1:350, ships fixtures, such as turrets, funnels, searchlights, single, dual and triple 25mm mounts and radar, which are in a mixture of 1:200, 1:150 or 1:50 scales.

 

 

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 Fujimi kits in 1:700 and 1:350. Having compared the renderings with my completed 1:350 kit, Fujimi have done a great job on getting it right, and the use of their etched detail sets was worth it.

 

 

 

Review sample courtesy of