This special issue of Model Art Modeling Magazine has two features that cover the genealogy of Japanese submarine depot ships and the history of Japanese escort vessels. There are two other smaller articles included. One is titled “Lets make the Special naval review of the Imperial Japanese Navy on Japanese Imperial reign 2600 ceremony,” and an article titled “Revell Archives.”

In the first feature, “Genealogy of Japanese Submarine Depot Ships,” there are several articles that cover the available model kits of these vessels. Also included are period photos and line drawings of these ships with what seems to be a description or history (here’s where the lack on my part of being able to read Japanese to know exactly what this section deals with). The last part of the feature is a conversion of Hasegawa’s 1/350 Hikawa-Maru to the Auxiliary Submarine Depot Ship Heian-Maru. This section finishes out with a poster of what appears to the Submarine Depot Ship Taigei.

History

The Sonderkraftfahrzeng 8 was a German half-track that saw wide spread use during World War II. Its prime purpose was to tow heavy guns. Approximately 4,000 units were built between 1938 and 1945. It fought in many campaigns, mainly Eastern Front, North Africa, Normandy, and many more.

Kit Contents

Scale Aircraft Conversion’s F.4/F-86 Landing Gear for the Airfix kit contains four pieces, three landing gear struts and a weighted replacement upper intake piece, sealed in a blister pack. The pieces were all nicely molded and detailed; however, they had a bit more grain than the original kit parts.

Construction

I started construction with the weighted upper intake. After weighing both parts on my (perhaps imprecise) kitchen scale, I found that the replacement intake weighed only one gram more than the original. The instructions called for a total of three grams to be placed above the intake. Therefore, I added a bit of additional weight to be on the safe side.