HASEGAWA MODELS 1:700 Scale HIKAWAMARU
Kit Review by Thomas Richter
Note: This review was originally posted on the former DF in 2003. It has been revised to represent present day availability, and cost.
Scale Size: 1:700 (length 23 cm, width 3 cm)
Kit Number: No. 92 WATER LINE SERIES
Price: No longer available (See Update at the end of the review)
As one of the rarer models, this kit offers the opportunity to build a Pacific Ocean liner. The kit is out of production and not very common on the second hand market.
A big advantage for the ambitious modeler is: The original is still around! According to Internet sources the HIKAWA MARU is berthed at Yokohama, and some photos of the original are available on the web. Because this is not one of the popular or famous ships on the Atlantic, here are a few facts:
She was built at Mitsubishi Shipyards for the Nippon Yusen Kaisha Line (NYK Line) and served on the Yokohama - Seattle - Vancouver route. She was commissioned in 1930 and also operated from Kobe. In contrast to the Atlantic liners, she was designed to carry a significant amount of freight, resulting in a rather different exterior layout. Cargo booms and hatches dominate the appearance. With a displacement of 11 662 tons a length of 163.3 meters she could take on 331 passengers and crew. Her twin B&W diesels allowed for a speed of 17 knots. Before the war she was quite popular, nick named "The Queen of the Pacific". When war broke out she became a troop transport, and later a hospital ship (Pictures of her different paint schemes are also available on the net).
At the end of the war the HIKAWA MARU was the only big Japanese liner that had survived. Between 1947 and 1953 she was used as a transport between Japan and America, before she was converted back to a passenger liner. In 1961 she became a floating museum and hotel. Since 1973 she serves as a restaurant in Yokohama.
Parts List (all parts molded in white and black) approx. 100 parts: Main deck, forecastle and poop deck, boat deck, bridge decks, one piece waterline hull + bottom, detailed bridge front, various vents and masts, 14 boats, two piece funnel, decals for ship’s name and funnel colors, instruction sheet in Japanese, lead for ballast between the two hull parts.
Decals Rating 4/5 : Very good quality containing ships name in two colors (two allow for hospital ship version) and the white stripes across the side of the civilian version. Only the missing draft marks prevent a 5/5 scoring.
Ease of Construction Rating 5/5 : The kit is easy to build and fit is excellent. This is probably the one can do at this scale. No more comments.
Ease for Conversion Rating 4/5 : The Hikawa Maru can be converted to her appearance as a troop carrier or hospital ship with distinct color schemes. The kit even includes some conversion parts (a gangway between the bridge and the forecastle and a large hospital cross). A conversion to another civil liner in this scale would mean major scratch building due to the distinctive layout of the Hikawa Maru.
Crispness of Molded Pparts Rating 4/5 : Hull plating is difficult not to exaggerate in this scale and also the rail tracks" and "Aztec temple steps" effects are there, but compared to Airfix and Revell kits, this is one is definitely the winner. The only counter argument might be, that this kit is more sterile (a bit like the Heller kits), whereas Revell kits tend to bring out small details in more life (and more exaggerated). Parts are molded very well with no flash. The detailing is superb for this scale. The davits of the boat deck could come in separate parts (as they do on the poop deck) instead of being molded to the boats.
Things we like: The detailing and fit of this kit is very good. Portholes and windows are clearly defined and detailing of the hatches is almost too tiny to see. Although the original is not well known it is fun to build a ship away from the traditional Atlantic greyhounds. Hasegawa has not attempted to model the railings so the road is clear for extensive use of photo etched parts.
Things we would like to see it have:
Per definition a waterline model lacks a proper hull. About the only major shortcoming of this model.It is hard to imagine what the Japanese modeling engineers would have created if they had been told to do a 1/350 version of the HIKAWA MARU! The war ship scale 1/700 is a very small scale. It is hard to imagine, the step to the more common liner scale 1/600 model is quite a big one (volume increases by about 50%!). On the other hand the small scale for a small project to be achieved in little time, with a rewarding result.
Overall Comments: If you are searching for a small project that stands out from the usual liner modeling: here's your model. Almost perfect in this scale and with a totally different focus on the Pacific.
TR ~ 2003
Update: Fortunately, this kit (and her hospital ship version) is still available! It can be obtained via Trident Hobbies (see link on the ‘Links Page’) for (at the time of writing) $13.99 (US).