Aoshima A005183 1/700 IJN Submarine Depot Ship Taigei

Taigei was a Japanese submarine tender from the interwar period and World War II. The keel for this unit was laid in April 1933, launched in November of the same year, and commissioned in the Imperial Japanese Navy in March 1934. The length of the ship was 215.65 m, width about 19.6 m, and displacement - 14,400 tons. The maximum speed was around 18.5 knots, and it was armed with including a single 127 mm cannon and 40 mm and 25 mm anti-aircraft guns. Taigei was a kind of aftermath of the disarmament Treaty of 1930, which imposed displacement restrictions on major warships on the world's major navies. The Japanese fleet, striving to circumvent this treaty, decided to build in the 1930s large auxiliary units (eg Taigei), which, in the event of a war, could be relatively quickly converted into, for example, light aircraft carriers. Taigei too was designed and built according to this philosophy. It is worth adding that she was one of the first ships in the Japanese Navy to use electric welding on such a large scale. The ship, shortly after entering service, in 1934, was severely damaged by a typhoon, which in turn forced major repairs on the Taigei. From 1938 to 1940, Taigei supported the Japanese fleet's operations off the coast of China, thereby taking part in the 1937-1945 Japanese-Chinese War. At the very end of December 1940, Taigei reached the naval base in Jokosuce, where work began on its conversion into the Ryuho light carrier.

Aoshima's "Waterline" model-kit line has now been renewed with a higher level of precision! This is a 1/700-scale kit of the submarine carrier Taigei, a large auxiliary ship built to work with Japanese Navy submarines operating in the vast Pacific Ocean. The impressive hull, which is close to the size of a battleship, is simple and easy to assemble, and can be accurately reproduced with a parts configuration that keeps the main points down. In addition to various equipment such as high-angle guns and searchlights, a newly designed carrier-based aircraft has been added. Slide-molding is used to create dense precision; in addition to armaments such as destroyer main guns and machine guns, carrier-based aircraft and various equipment have also been updated. 

This is an injection-plastic ship model kit.

Includes

• 110cm signal searchlight
• 60cm signal searchlight
• Type 89 12.7cm twin high-angle gun
• Radial davit
• Kure Type 2 Type 5 injection machine (aircraft catapult)
• Anchor (large)
• Chrysanthemum emblem (small)
• 12m fire launch
• 12m fireboat
• 11m fireboat
• 9m cutter
• Type 94 water reconnaissance aircraft