IJN Akizuki
by Keith Bender

1/200 IJN Akizuki Early war Destroyer (Nichimo)

IJN Akizuki. This is a 1:200 Nichimo kit. Very nice and big, the way I like em. I decided that allot could be done to this model because of it's size, 26.4 inches. This kit is based on early war and there is no radars to deal with. I thought it over a decided not to use any one particular photoetch set mainly because there really wasn't enough areas to justify the purchase of it. All I needed was a pair of ladders for the split deck port & stb.
    All the molded on grab irons, ladders, railings and anything else that could be made from brass wire was removed. Each superstructure area was assembled, detailed, painted and set aside. I worked the hull next. The upper and lower halves were put together then I plated it. This was done using the paint layer method. All "in" strakes are taped and "out" strakes are left alone for paint. Once these were applied the brace plates were painted as well. The seachest suction and discharge openings are represented by .010 plastic sheet as too the brace plates for the shaft struts and rudder. All the vertical plate lines are scribed on.
    The model has a molded on degaussing cable which is fine but it has no straps holding it to the hull. After some research I decided to put these on. There is over 500 of these around both sides and stern placed 1/8" apart. After drilling two holes per strap I bent .006 wire to a "U" shape and began putting them in place.
    The main guns come completely bare, no detail. After some research I begun putting all the grab irons, rails, doors and other openings on them. There was 66 in all wire pieces added to each mount. The stack uptake was divided into it's proper opening of three then all the wire work was done to it as well. With all the details complete I painted the overall model with Testors Model Master "Gunship Gray". The linoleum decks I used Colour Coats Linoleum color. I gave the model an overall light wash to break up all the same gray on the decks and hull. The only photoetch used was the two ladders between decks. all other details is brass including all the railings. These were made with .010 brass wire for the stations and .060 for the horizontal lines. The main deck lifelines are pushed downward between stations to look like there is a sag between them. Overall this was an excellent kit to build and I highly recommend it. It has been around for many years but it's age hasn't made it any more difficult to build.  I invested about 120 hours in this project.