With the last of the extra details test fitted, Hatsuzuki’s 9-meter motor launch is ready for paint!
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Nice !
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Tim, very nice work, it will fit right in sitting on the deck.
Mark 
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Sweet! Very Sweet! 
Cheers,
Chris, in Victoria, BC
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Man she looks awesome. Are you going to take us out for a spin…LOL…Cheers mark
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Richard, Mark, and Chris, thanks! I agree, these IJN 9-meter motor launches were attractive vessels.
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Man she looks awesome. Are you going to take us out for a spin…LOL…Cheers mark
Thanks Mark! She does look ready for a spin, although the historical reality of this particular little vessel was not so fun…
Lowered in the afternoon of 25 October 1944 after the disastrous battle off Cape Engaño to pick up survivors from the sunken carrier Zuikaku, Hatsuzuki’s motor launch was left behind as the ship sped off to make her sacrificial attack on an approaching American cruiser/destroyer task force.
It isn’t hard to imagine how cramped and difficult it must have been for the survivors who had sought refuge in this 9-meter boat; these men ended up drifting alone at sea for 21 agonizing days. By the time it was finally recovered by Japanese forces, only 16 of the 48 sailors who had made it aboard were still alive to be rescued.
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Very nice indeed Tim, the small fixtures and fittings bring it to life. The boat’s history is interesting too.
Cheers, Si
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Thanks Si. I’m really enjoying your Königsberg build, by the way.
Thanks Tim, so am I, update coming shortly. 
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Hi Tim,
apologies for long absence - wow - stunning, absolutely amazing, what you are doing to those launches. And really inspiring! Great work!
Cheers
Jan
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Hi Tim,apologies for long absence - wow - stunning, absolutely amazing, what you are doing to those launches. And really inspiring! Great work!
Cheers
Jan
Thanks Jan! That will end up being Hatsuzuki’s only boat - immediately before the Leyte Gulf battle, both her cutters and the other motor launch were removed to make room for additional AA guns.
That being the case, I went back and built up six more of those awesome Veteran Models 25mm single mounts to be installed where the boats had previously been.
So now in addition to the eight 10cm main guns and the five triple 25mm batteries, there will be a total of twenty single 25mm AA guns aboard as well.
No wonder the Japanese designated Hatsuzuki as AA guard for the survivor rescue force!
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Those A/A’s look sweet Tim…Cheers Mark
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Truly extraordinary work Tim.
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Those A/A’s look sweet Tim…Cheers Mark
Truly extraordinary work Tim.
Thanks guys. I also built Pit Road’s 1/35th scale version of the IJN 25mm single a few years ago. Not a bad kit, and MUCH larger than these 1/200 scale guns…
…but I must say, those INCREDIBLE little Veteran Models 25mms are almost as well detailed! 
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Hard to believe Tim but indeed they ARE nearly as detailed - incredible
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Nice work on both scales of single 25mm Tim.the 1/200th mounts look very nice indeed for thier size.
Cheers
Si
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Wow, mass production line!
They really do look outstanding, and the quality of those Veteran kits is unmatched, same for 1/350, even though they tend to be a bit tricky to build…
Great work!
Cheers
Jan
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Richard, Si, and Jan, thanks! Veteran’s 25mms are indeed nice, but I must admit I’m glad to be done with them for a while and move on to something else!
I had mostly completed the funnel previously, but I now realize that I hadn’t included the rivet detail.
Using the same Archer (single-line) N-scale ½” (nominal) rivets 7/8” diameter decals (set AR88024) used on the 10cm gunhouses, I added the rivets to the bands that secured the four forward cowl vents to the funnel.
Next came the (double-line) N-scale 1/160 Beltrail rivets (set AR88081) to the forward funnel feed trunking.
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Great to see this one back on the bench and receiving the Tim Midas Touch 
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