#083 IJN Gunboat Hashidate

Building the Tamiya 1:700 kit of the IJN Gunboat 橋立 Hashidate, presented in a laser cut case with figures from ION Model.

Notes

Hashidate (橋立, Standing Bridge) was the lead vessel in the Hashidate-class gunboats in the Imperial Japanese Navy.

She was intended initially for support of combat operations by the Imperial Japanese Army in the Second Sino-Japanese War off the coast of China. At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hashidate was assigned to the China Area Fleet as part of the 2nd China Expeditionary Fleet’s 15th Escort Group. With the start of the Pacific War, she was assigned to ”Operation C” – the invasion of Hong Kong. She remained based at Hong Kong for most of the war. At some point in 1943, five additional Type 96 25 mm AT/AA Guns were added, along with depth charges in 1944.

On May 22, 1944, she was torpedoed by USS Picuda (SS-382) in the South China Sea off Pratas Island while towing the crippled merchant passenger/cargo ship Tsukuba Maru

The Kit

Water Line Series No. 553 IJN Gunboat Hashidate Aoshima No. 003657 1:700 is an interesting 2012 tooling, featuring the IJN Gunboat Hashidate and also a couple of Type 95 light tanks.

Paint Scheme

Paint Scheme - Type 95 Light Tank

Build Log

Just the basic kit with the addition of some PE railings:

No crew or sea base for this build yet. Let’s work on that later…

Presentation Case

I’m experimenting with some new ideas to present and store ship models. For the Hayasui, I’m going to try a laser cut case:

• closed inner frame
  • open on both sides for either viewing or posing with a backdrop on one side
  • LED strip installed in the top
• box top that fits over the frame for dust-free storage

Inner sea base height: 10mm

Case Design

I used MakerCase to generate a simple parametric designs:

• Inner frame:
  • material thickness: 3mm
  • inside dimensions:
    • width: 160mm
    • height: 80mm
    • depth: 40mm
  • closed box
  • edge joints: flat
  • panel labels: enabled (to be excluded from cutting)
  • cut line width: 1mm
  • kerf: 0.2mm
  • panel layout: separate, single file
  • exported as inner-template.svg
• Outer cover:
  • material thickness: 3mm
  • inside dimensions:
    • width: 166mm (160mm internal width + 2 x 3mm material)
    • height: 84mm (80mm internal height + 3mm material + 1mm tolerance)
    • depth: 47.7mm (40mm internal depth + 2 x 3mm material + 1.7mm tolerance)
  • open box
  • edge joints: finger 9mm
  • panel labels: enabled (to be excluded from cutting)
  • cut line width: 1mm
  • kerf: 0.2mm
  • panel layout: separate, single file
  • exported as cover-template.svg

Refined in Affinity Designer as box.afdesign

• exported for cutting as box.svg
• finalised in xTool Studio as box.xs

Building the Case

I cut the box with an xTool S1 Laser Cutter at the library.

Case design:

Completed with some veneer decals from ProperPlane:

Sea Base

I used a foil base on mod podge and tissue. Sea colour built up with the standard technique of multiple layers of mod podge and acrylic colours.

Paint Scheme - Sea Base

Crewing the Ship

Steaming along without any crew is a bit disconcerting … so I’ve added a few figures for colour, from the set: Imperial Japanese Navy - Chilling on Deck (92 figures) ION Model No. J700-001 1:700

Paint Scheme - Figures

Case Background

Inspiration:

• Postcard Hong Kong from the Harbour, 1930s
• 1930s Harbour Central
• Hong Kong Skyline over the years
• Early 20th-century postcards of Hong Kong

Final Gallery

I’ve fitted clear acrylic in the front window of the outer case, but left the rear open, so the background can be replaced with another picture or clear acrylic. The ships can also be displayed with the outer case removed. The micro USB connector in the base can be powered to light the box.

Credits and References

• this project on scalemates
• Water Line Series No. 553 IJN Gunboat Hashidate Aoshima No. 003657 1:700
  • on scalemates
  • instructions
  • Purchased from Hobby Point for SG$32.40 (Mar-2023).
• Imperial Japanese Navy - Chilling on Deck (92 figures) ION Model No. J700-001 1:700
  • on scalemates
  • Purchased from Super Hobby for SG$18.96 (Jan-2023)

Research References

• Hashidate-class gunboat
• IJN Gunboat HASHIDATE: Tabular Record of Movement