IMAI USS Susquehanna

Devin,

congretulations for finding this interesting modelkit! IMAI issued this kit around 1975,
when they started a whole series of large scale sailing ship kits (for example the
"Santa Maria" in 1:60 scale). At the end of the 70s they even produced wooden
sailing ships. This can be called "back to the roots", because, like many japanese
model companies, IMAI started production with wooden kits somewhere around 1960.

After IMAI´s final bankrupcy some models were reissued by chinese model company
LEE, I have for example the ex-IMAI 1:150 scale japanese training vessel "Nippon Maru".
I am not sure whether LEE used the original IMAI tools or whether they were pirate copies.
Comparing sprues from smaller 1:350 scale models from both companies I didnt find
differences, so maybe these kits came from the original tools. Since a few years
AOSHIMA uses the tools and has brought us back some nice models, amongst them
your "Susquehanna", which was reissued in October 2005 under the name "Kurofune"
(which means black ship in japanese - remember Commodore Perry who went to Japan
in the middle of the 19th century with his black ships, to force Japan to open their market
to the west. I dont know whether Susquehanna ever belonged to his fleet ). You will find it at Hobby Link Japan, (currently out of stock) for 9.800 Yen, that´s approx. 91,- $ .

Your model must have been produced between 1975 and 1985 and the IMAI sailing
ship kits of that period can be counted to the best ever produced.
 

Even if I can`t help you with building hints, I hope that the history of your model
is clearer now to you.

Modellers greetingd from Germany.

Axel Wolters   

Thanks for the information, Axel.  Your dates seem about right for the kit's appearance.

"After staring longingly at this kit on the shelf for a couple of years",  Where is your hoby shop something like that stayed on the shevles a couple of years? I have got to visit the model shop they have any more rare hip kits waiting to be sold?

 

Jake

Devin:

I built the Monogram version of the kit about ten years ago and it is still one of the nicest builds I've ever done.  The fit of the parts was still great and there was hardly any flash.

I did a lot of research on the Susquehana, sadly Imai produced a configuration that may have existed only for a very short period of time following her commissioning with a main armament of sixteen 8" smoothbores, all on broadside, and this may have been her fit when she was part of Commodore Dewey's squadron in Japan in 1853 (which would be logical for Imai).

According to most sources (including Caney's book), the Susquehana and her near-sister Powhattan, had two 10" smoothbores on pivot rails on the bow and eight 8" smoothbores in broadside (4 per side) aft of the paddlewheels.  During the Civil War, her armament was significantly increased with 9" Dahlgrens in broadside and heavier guns (150 pounder Parrot rifles on pivots).

I couldn't find 150 pounder Parrot rifles and pivot carriages in 1:144, so purchased 9" Dahlgrens and 100 pounder Parrots from Model Shipways and put fourteen Dahlgrens in broadside (7 on each side of the ship), Parrot rifles in the forwardmost gun ports, and a Parrot on the poop in a scratchbuilt pivot carriage.  You may have better luck with commercial fittings now, I haven't worked in that scale in a while, so not sure if there have been some new offerings.

Good luck, it's a great kit!

Mike     

Carmike:

I have read your post with interest, that Monogram also issued the IMAI model ?
All my old catalogs didnt show the model and I didnt know that IMAI cooperated
with Monogram. A few IMAI kits have been sold in Germany under the Revell label
ind the 1980s, but that was beforge Revell and Monogram merged.
Although Monogram sold most of its programme in Germany, a "Susquehanna" 
wasn´t known to me yet. The process of learning never ends......    

  Actually the Monogram kit is the Imai molds.They had the Susquehanna,USS Constitution,  USS United States, And Cutty Sark. The Latter three being 1/120 scale. Monogram used inferior plastic than Imai and almost ruined the molds.I've got all four kits in both companies. The Imai kits are a lot nicer and cleaner. Aoshima has some of Imai's molds now. Good luck with your build its a nice kit.

Rod

Woxel59:

The instructions are undated, but give a Monogram kit #3702, and there is a note on page 3 that "Plastic parts in this kit are molded in the United States from Imai molds without any alterations."

I don't know how the overall quality of the kit compares to the original Imai kits.  I purchased the kit in 1982 and didn't get around to building it until 1994.  It has been on my mantle ever since.  None of the parts (especially the masts and spars) were warped, nor have they sagged or warped in the nearly 14 years since I built the kit. No problems with the hull or deck either, so it's hard to believe that there's an issue with the quality of the plastic, it just may be a different spec than the molds were designed for.

My only problem in construction was that the Model Shipways 9" Dahlgrens and 100 pounder Parrot rifles that I substituted for the kit's cannons sat too high in their carriages for the gun ports.  Not wanting to modify the hull, I modified the Model Shipways gun carriages so that the guns sat lower in them.  All in all, it was a very enjoyable build of a unique ship.

A quick trivia note about the Susquehanna: on May 8, 1862, with President Lincoln aboard, she shelled Confederate batteries at Sewell's Point, VA, during the "Peninsula Campaign."  This may be the first (and certainly one of the few) times that a US Navy ship went into combat with the President embarked.   

This is the finest plastic kit I have ever built in terms of ease of fitting parts together and the strength of the plastic. It all came together so easily. It has a beautifully molded hull, and those tiny cotter pins solve a lot of problems. I have never been able to find ones that small anywhere. Having the masts molded as a single piece is a great idea.

Thanks for the feedback and information, guys.  I'm looking forward to building this kit, but I think I'll wait until I get a few things off of my bench, first.

Jake, I had the same feeling about that kit being on the shelf.  For the longest time I thought it had to be something else in a box that LOOKED like the old Imai kit.  But it sat on the shelf - probably due to the $150 price tag - for two years before I finally convinced myself that I had to have it.

Thanks again, everyone.