Tamiya 1/700 IJN light cruiser Kuma, previewed by Scott Van Aken

Tamiya 1/700 IJN light cruiser Kuma

KIT #:	080
PRICE:	400 yen when new (about $1.35 at the time)
DECALS:	One option
REVIEWER:	Scott Van Aken
NOTES:

HISTORY

Kuma (球磨) was a Kuma-class light cruiser in the Imperial Japanese Navy. The lead vessel of the five ship class, she was named after the Kuma River in Kumamoto prefecture, Japan.

After the construction of the Tenryū-class cruisers, the demerits of the small cruiser concept became apparent. At the end of 1917, plans for an additional six Tenryū-class vessels, plus three new-design 7,200 ton-class scout cruisers were shelved, in place of an intermediate 5,500 ton-class vessel which could be used as both a long-range, high speed reconnaissance ship, and also as a command vessel for destroyer or submarine flotillas. Kuma was laid down at Sasebo Naval Arsenal on 29 August 1918, launched on 14 July 1919 and commissioned on 31 August 1920.

Kuma served in most of the early conflicts of WWII that were based in China and Southeast Asia, operating out of the Dutch East Indies. She was sunk by the submarine HMS Tally-Ho in January 1944 near Penang with a goodly loss of life.

THE KIT

This is one of several 1/700 ship kits I obtained and while the kits were sealed, they were all without instructions. Unfortunately I have been unable to find instructions for this particular kit, but was able to locate some for the very similar IJN Kiso. There are a few differences as the Kiso did not carry a floatplane while the Kuma does. However, figuring out what goes where should not be an insurmountable issue.

Typical of waterline kits of the late 1960s/early 1970s, this one has a separate red waterline plate on which a weight is placed to give the model some heft. The class carries seven main armament guns of which one on the Kuma is replaced by the catapult mount for the sea plane.

Much of what goes on the weather deck consists of davits for life boats, twin mount torpedo tubes, and various masts and small cranes. It all makes for a fairly cluttered look. There are also twin depth charge racks on the stern. All six turrets are the open back variety so are really splinter shields rather than any armored protection.

These ships were an overall darkish grey so painting will be a breeze. A small decal sheet is included with a flag and ship's name. I doubt the sheet is still good, but is pretty much it.

CONCLUSIONS

This should be a fairly painless build for those who have some experience with the genre. The small parts may be frustrating for newer modelers, but most will not have any issues. According to the Tamiya USA website, this kit is not in their current catalog, but the Kiso is with a retail price of $26.

REFERENCES

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_cruiser_Kuma

March 2025

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