Aoshima?

depends manny, if they are the old waterline series or the new ones. For the old 700 waterline, their quality was slight lower that tamiya/has but lately have been releasing really REALLY good 350 scales in addition to the 700 WL

here is a review of some of the latest BB they have made:

http://www.modelshipwrights.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=3424

PE for the Fuso

http://www.modelshipwrights.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=3379

reference book:

http://www.modelshipwrights.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=3104

I just got the Yamashiro by Aoshima. This and the Fuso are new tooling. Id say the build is superior to Hasagawa on this one. Having seen the mould of Hasagowa's Ise. Id say Aoshima is a crisper more accurate mould. By the way flyhawk make an exeptional full pe kit for the Fuso for $30 it would blow your mind. Review for the yamashiro's pe is here , it gets 98%!

http://modelshipwrights.kitmaker.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=Reviews&file=index&req=showcontent&id=3519is

over  at modelshiprights. there is only a one fret difference between the Yamashiro and Fuso. Give it a look.

Silent One wrote:

I just got the Yamashiro by Aoshima. This and the Fuso are new tooling. Id say the build is superior to Hasagawa on this one. Having seen the mould of Hasagowa's Ise. Id say Aoshima is a crisper more accurate mould. By the way flyhawk make an exeptional full pe kit for the Fuso for $30 it would blow your mind. Review for the yamashiro's pe is here , it gets 98%! http://modelshipwrights.kitmaker.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=Reviews&file=index&req=showcontent&id=3519is over  at modelshiprights. there is only a one fret difference between the Yamashiro and Fuso. Give it a look.

The new tooling on the Yamashiro, Fuso, Nagato, and Mutsu in 1/700 scale are SUPERB!  The older kits of these ships are horrible.

Bill Morrison

warshipguy wrote:

The new tooling on the Yamashiro, Fuso, Nagato, and Mutsu in 1/700 scale are SUPERB!  The older kits of these ships are horrible. Bill Morrison

I think many of us "grew up" building the old waterline series, but having bought a few last year or so, they really do not hold a candle to the new moldings and offerings by the current companies. And with all the new ship kits being released, there is probably no good reason to buy the older WLS kits unless you really MUST have a specific ship NOW.

Is this the "right" one? It is listed as "new tooling, 1944 configuration":

Be careful as there are some old tooling kits still floating around as people have said above.As for which kit. Both are beautiful ships. Probably easier to find references on the Fuso Ive found. I think it all comes down to wich pagoda you like . Check out these pics and this will help you make up your mind. These show the primary differences.

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd101/Kroyt/CCF11072008_00003.jpg

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd101/Kroyt/CCF11072008_00002.jpg 

 :) 

As for flyhawk pe I got mine from pacific models in the USA. Id check their site so confirm the box art also . I got my new tooling Yamashiro from them so they have the new stuff. Aoshima doesnt get sold in  New Zealand so have to buy mail order all the time . Grrr!

I understand that they are supposed to be in 1944 configuration . But I m sure I heard that they dont have the right AA guns for then, eg not enough. but its a good starting place.  

Silent One wrote:

Be careful as there are some old tooling kits still floating around as people have said above.As for which kit. Both are beautiful ships. Probably easier to find references on the Fuso Ive found. I think it all comes down to wich pagoda you like . Check out these pics and this will help you make up your mind. These show the primary differences. http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd101/Kroyt/CCF11072008_00003.jpg http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd101/Kroyt/CCF11072008_00002.jpg   :)

I like the Yamashiro personally. I like the insane looking bracing on the rear of the pagoda. For some reason the Fuso is more popular and far easier to get referance material on. I dont know why. Neither ship did much during the war and both died in the same battle.

I think there will be a 350 scale Fuso soon. So I decidede to do the Yamashiro now and the Fuso later in 350.

Incidentally there are good aftermarket gun options . Voyager make resin turrets with barrels. corsair barrels are good but expensive. I like the Lion Roar option with resin blast bags and a pe set with the barrels personally.

Silent One wrote:

I like the Yamashiro personally. I like the insane looking bracing on the rear of the pagoda. For some reason the Fuso is more popular and far easier to get referance material on. I dont know why. Neither ship did much during the war and both died in the same battle. I think there will be a 350 scale Fuso soon. So I decidede to do the Yamashiro now and the Fuso later in 350. Incidentally there are good aftermarket gun options . Voyager make resin turrets with barrels. corsair barrels are good but expensive. I like the Lion Roar option with resin blast bags and a pe set with the barrels personally.

I need these:

Also am still confused on which kits are the newly-tooled.  Great Models advertises theirs as newly-tooled but their box-art looks like the "old" kits (the kits are over $40 so I hope they are new-tool)...Other sites' box-art shows the Fuso in a night action for the new-tool version (cool painting)...

I guess a proper kit number would solve that mystery once and for all...

I also heard that there was an insane real wooden deck replacement available for these two kits and saw a review on it but have no idea where to get it???

I am sorta new to waterline modeling but have finished my fav Japanese carrier of all time, the Zuiho:

searat12 wrote:

Yup, I don't know why the Yamashiro is not more popular, as to my eye, it is much more attractive than the Fuso (mentioned in several books as 'the ugliest battleship ever built!').  Good job on the Zuiho too!

I still need those AM TURRETS--HELP!

Also, the Yam is cool in that it actually was able to engage Oldendorf's battleships while Fuso was not...Also the Yam was the flagship of the group w/ the Jap Admiral on-board...he was killed when she was sunk...I read that the Fuso's bridge was blown completely off!!!

pacific front

http://www.pacificfront.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=3129

white ensign models

http://www.whiteensignmodels.com/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?REFPAGE=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2ewhiteensignmodels%2ecom%2facatalog%2fcatalogbody%2ehtml&WD=fuso&SHOP=%20&PN=Voyager1%2ehtml%23aVoyVNC0501#aVoyVNC0501

Fuso PE and refs:

http://www.freetimehobbies.com/index.asp?PageAction=PRODSEARCH&txtSearch=fuso&Page=1

some 350/700 barrels

http://www.bdbarrels.com/

http://www.battlefleetmodels.com/id65.html

JMart wrote:

pacific front http://www.pacificfront.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=3129 white ensign models http://www.whiteensignmodels.com/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?REFPAGE=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2ewhiteensignmodels%2ecom%2facatalog%2fcatalogbody%2ehtml&WD=fuso&SHOP=%20&PN=Voyager1%2ehtml%23aVoyVNC0501#aVoyVNC0501 Fuso PE and refs: http://www.freetimehobbies.com/index.asp?PageAction=PRODSEARCH&txtSearch=fuso&Page=1   some 350/700 barrels http://www.bdbarrels.com/ http://www.battlefleetmodels.com/id65.html

I dont know to be honest, never ordered directly from them.

Other ship-heavy AM online stores are

FreetimeHobbies.com

hey, did you try luckymodel?

http://www.luckymodel.com/scale.aspx?search=Y&q_brand=&q_category=&q_scale=&q_word=fuso

its "available" so you know what that means... they will get to you at some point...

Oh, Freetimehobbies also has a ship AM "section" for wood ship AM; they only have the Akagi stuff at the momment.

For ship AM, you cant go wrong with pacific front, WEM, freetimehobbies, battlefleet models

http://www.battlefleetmodels.com/

they are all 1-2 person 'shops" that will answer your individual questions.

And since Im shamelessly providing you endless propaganda, you should also check out

http://www.modelshipwrights.com/

and browse around a bit.

White Ensign is verry fast. so is pacific front. I ordered from them recently and got all my stuff within 10 days airmail.

Note with those resin turrets you cant elevate the guns as the blast bags are moulded onto the turret ( without surgery that is) The turrets I understand are appropriate for Yamashiro as well. Worth thinking about if your going to pose the ship as firing.