Aoshima Ocean Liners

It's a bit small and a bit old now but this is a very attractive kit of a class of ship that's largely unrepresented.

Kasuga Maru was owned by the NYK Line and was one of three sisters which all were converted to escort carriers in the early war years, and all sunk.  In Kasuga's case, she became the escort carrier 'Taiyo' and is also modelled by Aoshima in that form.  I have in mind to do a display of her in both forms side-by-side when I can find a Taiyo kit.  As far as I know this is the only such merchant ship in their range of waterline models.

Aoshima do a varied sort of kit, a lot of re-releases these days, like the famous Imai sailing ships.

Michael. 

aardvark1917 wrote:

Good, bad, what? Here's one example: http://www.squadron.com/ItemDetails.asp?item=AOS15025 What about this company in general, too?

These ships are among their older molds which for the most part weren't very good, however the liners. were among the better examples. It won't make any difference which one you buy though as the plastic is all the same in each kit so pick the one that matches most closely the fit you wish to model it in. I have built them all and like to see the commercial paint scheme in with "all the grey blobs" as one friend put it. The Hikiwa Maru by Hasegawa is actually better, but an older vessel. If passenger ships of the Japanese merchant marine are an interest you can take the passenger/freighters Kimikama and Kamikawa maru which Skywave has in their seaplane tender configuration and backdate them to pass/freight configuration with the parts in the box. Also be aware that Waveline (Hi-Mold) made a number of auxilliary ships in resin which were actually passenger ships and passenger freighters in 1/700. They are nice kits that I have built several of, just hard to find.

Excellent information, both of you. Will order at once.

In my case, it's a bit odd what I need the kit for. As a screenwriter/writer, I'm doing a parody of something and need a simple ocean liner to eyeball while I'm writing and doing some Photoshop workups on the thing.

So... I'll get two of 'em. One for history and one to paint up as an all-white modern cruise ship (more or less).

I have to say that if you're referring to cruise ships built in the last 20-30 years (which to my eye all look like live-animal transports) there's not going to be a lot of likeness.

On the other hand, one reason I was attracted to this kit is the fact it's very similar to the MV Fairsea on which I came to Australia in 1958.  The curious coincidence is that Fairsea (or Rio de la Plata as she was then) was actually converted to an escort carrier during WWII (USS/HMS Charger) and was reconverted back to a passenger ship along very similar lines to the Kasuga Maru.

She went on in later years to actually become a cruise ship.

Michael 

The Rio de La Plata was a C-3 sub-type.

There is a nice profile drawing of the escort carrier version here:

http://drawings.us-maritime-commission.de/drawings_c3.htm

Fred

That's interesting, there are outlines of RiodelaPlata/Charger/Fairsea in all her various forms there.  I'll add them to my collection of Fairsea/Charger pics.

If one were to attempt a model of Fairsea in her final form is there a kit that could form the basis and provide at least the hull? 

This is her final 'look' as I knew her;

 

and, for interest, in her Charger days; 

 

Michael 

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In as much as the Rio de Plata was a C-3 hull, I imagine you could start with the Revell Hawaiian Pilot. That would be quite an epic scratch building exercise!

If you have the hankering for 50s and 60s passenger ship tech then you can't go wrong with the old Revell Brasil/Argentina. These were decent models of the Moore MacCormack twins brought into service in the late 50s and early 60s. The facinating thing about at least one of them is that it continued soldiering on until the last year or so quite close to it's configuration as modeled by Revell. (changes would have to be made to the macks, ship's boats and adding an additional deck, not as hard as imagined as it was sort of grafted to the top deck). You can find them on eBay all the time. They are also a decent sized model being in 1/390th scale (what was Revell thinking with the whole box scale thing, how stupid). The Revell SS United States is about 1/600 and the Revell Oriana (recently re-issued) is closer to 1/500. The C-3 freighter mentioned above has been re-issued by Revell under the name Hawaiian Pilot, scale being approximately 1/380 (although on earlier issues scale was stated as 1/400). The Hawaiian Pilot was first issued in the mid '50s in one of Revell's wonderfully colorful boxes. It was then re-issued without changes other than decals as a Lykes Lines ship the Doctor Lykes in an ugly black and white box. After that the molds were modified to create the military transport ship USS Burleigh (which ironically enough was how the real ship Hawaiian Pilot was first built during WW2, MM bought her as surplus after the war altered her somewhat and renamed her Hawaiian Pilot). It was re-issued again in the 90s as the Burleigh. In the last few years the molds were modified again and the ship re-issued as Hawaiian Pilot. For anyone interested in what the changes were and how they compare to the orginal issues of Hawaiian Pilot read on: When HP was converted to Burleigh gun houses were added fore and aft, mounting points were added for small AA batteries on the top deck of the superstructure and the main deck and for some strange reason the kingposts, cranes and yards were also messed with. When changed back to HP from Burleigh on the new reissue the gunhouses were removed and the mounting points for the light AA were filled in, however, the glue points for the gunhouses are still on the deck and need to be removed. The changed configuration of masts and yards was retained. I still like them and have built 3 of them in different shipping lines livery of the period. They do have quite a number of molding pin marks, the dreaded flat bottom and solid molded on railings, but, you have to have something to do, right?

I wonder if there is any chance of a re-issue of the Brasil/Argentina. The prices the original kits are bringing on eBay have risen to the level of ridiculous, well over $100 last time I looked.

Fred

onyxman wrote:

I wonder if there is any chance of a re-issue of the Brasil/Argentina. The prices the original kits are bringing on eBay have risen to the level of ridiculous, well over $100 last time I looked. Fred

Prices will vary with the type of kit for sale. If you are buying a builder kit with a cruddy box they sell for as little as $25 with most in a range of $55-75. At one time I had 6 or 8 of them planning to build all phases of their lives in all the different liveries. I liked the dark blue of the Holland America Line which was right after they were transferred from MM. Sometimes you can get the kits issued in other countries cheaper also than the ones released in the English speaking world. WS

Given that I am perhaps the only person (or at least modeller) in the world with any interest in the Fairsea maybe it really isn't worth the bother.  Come to think of it, my most vivid memory is that of being sea-sick during the crossing of the Bay of Biscay, a charming reminiscence brought back by the smell every time I pass a diesel-powered bus.

Michael 

If you have an interest I would never say it wasn't worth the bother. I would love to see a model of the Fairsea.

I spent a whole summer converting a T-2 tanker model into a containership. The Houston was unremarkable in every way. She was rusty and dirty and traveled on unexciting routes. That is probably why I was able to get a job on her as a young 3rd mate. Nobody else wanted the job. But there is something to be said for doing the ONLY model of an unremarkable ship. It's a nice change from yet another Yamato, Bismark, or Titanic model.

Fred

Actually, that last comment would be more than enough reason for me as well, I've always been attracted to the everyday and unremarkable, whether it be in cars, aircraft, ships or whatever.

Michael 

Besides, the unremarkable would fetch more interest in contests, especially if it were exceptionally executed.

BTW: all this interest has caused the example liner I linked to be "sold-out".

Here's a different one that's still available:

http://www.squadron.com/ItemDetails.asp?item=AOS15018

Yep, that's exactly the same kit with a different name atttached.  Yawata Maru became the carrier Unyo, the third sister, Nitta Maru, was to become the Chuyo.

Note all three ships original names were associated with the initials of the firm, NYK (Nippon Yusen Kaisha - still extant of course) - Nitta, Yawata, Kasuga.

By the way, what is the literal translation of "Maru"?

Michael 

Did the usual Google search for an English/Japanese dictionary finding the translation "circle" for the word "maru"; when that didn't make any sense, I did some more looking, finally clicking a Wikipedia entry on one ship and then found:

Japanese Ship Naming Conventions

More than what you asked for. Very handy reference, however.

Gawd!!  The plot thickens! Interesting, as you say, and thanks.  On the subject of Japanese ship names have a look at this site (which you may already know).

http://www.combinedfleet.com/ijnnames.htm

How would you like to go to war in a ship named "The Shimmering Mist that Rises from the Earth on a Hot Day" ?  Slightly better than "Cactus Fuzz" I s'pose.....

Michael 

Here are the built-up kits made by other folks:

http://debrisfield.russellwild.co.uk/modelgallery/kasagamarurl/

http://debrisfield.russellwild.co.uk/modelgallery/nittamaruae/

 

Nice.  makes me look at my Kasuga with a little more interest.

I like that sea effect.

Michael 

My order came partly through. Ship is on backorder, alas.

Will post piccies of it when it comes including sprue shots.

The dreaded backorder!

I have ceased dealing with any firm who can't say an item is actually in stock.

Michael 

I must've clicked the wrong ship when ordering, as Squadron did say that one was out.

UPDATE: it's impossible to order anything from squadron when it's not in stock; that I was able to means the site wasn't updated fast enough.