Japanese battle doctrine was focused on the concept of the decisive battle, with lighter forces whittling down an approaching enemy until the battle line could be engaged. As a signatory of the various naval disarmament and limitation treaties of the 1920s and 1930s, Japan had to tailor its doctrine within the boundaries of the treaties. Accordingly, a greater emphasis was placed on maximizing the impact of the lighter forces upon an approaching enemy.

Japanese destroyer design evolved from the late 1920s through the very early 1940s as a manifestation of the effort to diminish an enemy force by engaging them at night with superior ships of longer range, high speed, and weaponry (i.e. torpedoes). The Yugumo class was the final production iteration of what began with the Fubuki “Special Type” destroyer. 
 

Design

The Yugumos were a further refinement of the previous Kagero class ships; the Kageros were themselves considered the perfect mix of speed, range, and weaponry in a destroyer by the Japanese.  Still, they felt it worthwhile to hone the design with a mix of small enhancements. To improve stability, the forward 12.7cm main mount was moved back 4.75ft/1.5meters. To reduce the wake at high speeds, the extreme stern was extended 2.5 ft/0.8m at the waterline, thereby presenting a slope to the aft end of the hull from the main deck on down to the waterline.  The change also produced a pronounced waterline knuckle at the very stern.

The bridge was redesigned to lessen wind resistance and increase the internal space.  The facing was inclined slightly aft, off the vertical, and the forward surfaces of the compass bridge deck faired within the structure to a greater degree.  While the placement of the bridge began at the same frame number as the proceeding Kagero class, the bridge was extended aft of the forecastle break by 1.5 meters to provide more room. The entire aft end of the bridge sat upon a set of raised trestles over the main deck for support. 

The forecastle was extended aft slightly over the main deck to accommodate new type davits for the 7m cutters. Small changes were also given to shape of the main director, the cupola atop it (for the later batch of eight ships), and in the design and location of the aft mast. 

The main battery still consisted of three, twin 12.7cm 50 cal. guns in fully shielded turrets, but the mount was improved to allow the barrels to elevate to 75* for better AA effectiveness. All the turrets were reinforced with two horizontal stiffener bars.  The ships had improved stability over the previous class, which allowed them to retain their full main battery while accommodating the inclusion of several additional 25mm AA mounts as the war progressed. The ships retained the same 52,000shp power plant of the previous class. 

Eleven units were planned and constructed under the 4th Naval Armaments Supplement Program (also known as the Circle 4 program) of 1939. Another eight units were completed out of sixteen planned under the 5th Naval Armaments Supplemental Program (Circle 5). The rest of the units were cancelled in lieu of simpler destroyer construction. A further batch of eight ships was also cancelled on Nov 8, 1943. 
 

Namesake of her class, she was laid down at the Maizuru Naval Dockyard on June 12, 1940 and commissioned into service on December 5, 1941. After training, she joined the newly formed DesDiv10 (Kazagumo, Makigumo, Yugumo, Akigumo), which was then attached to Destroyer Squadron 10 and served as escort to the First Air Fleet in April, 1941. Yugumo escorted the Kido Butai at Midway, and was a constant participant during the Guadalcanal campaign and further operations in the mid and upper Solomons islands.  She underwent a refit in May, 1943, gaining radar and greater AA. 

During the subsequent evacuation of Kiska, she acted as temporary flagship of the division until Kazegumo’s return from repairs.  Ultimately, DesDiv 10 returned to the Central Solomon Islands for more escort and troop transport missions. At the Battle of Vella LaVella in October, 1943, she charged a line of US destroyers seeking to intercept the Japanese mission. Yugumo was sunk by concentrated gunfire and torpedoes after torpedoing (and eventually sinking) USS Chevalier.

Kazegumo

Laid down at the Uraga Dockyard on December 23, 1940 and commissioned on March 28, 1942, Kazagumo was the flagship of the aforementioned DesDiv 10, beginning with that division escorting the Kido Butai at Midway. She was used heavily during the Guadalcanal and Solomons campaigns, the evacuation of Kiska, and in operations throughout the SW Pacific. She incurred mine damage in mid-1943 but returned to service soon enough with changes to her fit including a Type 22 radar and increased AA. She was torpedoed by USS Hake in Philippine waters in June, 1944.

(Reviewer’s note: I am reprising the background, design of the class, and portions of the kit histories as posted in the Hasegawa 1-700 Yugumo review of January, 2018, as this new kit is of the same class destroyer, just from a different manufacturer.)

The original Yugumo class kits came from Hasegawa as part of the original Waterline Consortium range introduced in the early 1970s. Those models were fairly typical of the original waterline kits in that they were relatively simplistic in appearance, with a mix of positive and negative features. Those Yugumos had a good, basic hull shape, and generally correct bridge and structures in terms of size and scale. The kits were woefully short on details, excepting linoleum tie-down strips, while weapons and boats were somewhat crude and generic.  The sterns were incorrect, with no slope. Still, they may have been among the most accurate of the original waterline destroyers.

Second generation kits were issued by Pit-Road in the mid-1990s. While these kits provided the much-desired level of detail of the typical Pit-Road kits of that period, the model itself was a bit of a disappointment when compared to the other Pit-Road issued Type A destroyers, namely their Asashio and Kagero class kits. Their Yugumo kits were rife with outright errors:  poor bow profile, a bridge too short in length and improperly positioned on the forecastle, with a compromised shape that did not truly reflect either configuration of the early or late war bridges, and a stern that did not extend and slope down towards the waterline. 

Over time, some photo etch sets were issued by Five Star and FlyHawk to address some of these errors. Even PitRoad eventually issued a small PE fret (PE-196) to address some of the superstructure issues. However, these options still come down to more corrective efforts without necessarily satisfying all the problems.

Hasegawa updated its Yugumo class offerings in 2017 with brand new kits. These new kits benefit from more extensive research and modern injection molding technologies, offering vastly improved models of extremely high detail, all properly scaled.   However, there have been issues with the hull tending to bow upwards at the bow and stern. This has certainly been true with the initial production run(s) and it’s not clear whether or not the issue has been since corrected.  Hull issues notwithstanding, these were still the most accurate of the class kits upon their release. 

Fujimi saw fit to release its own version of the class in early 2018. They have differentiated their kit by offering it as one of their NEXT version kits. The NEXT kits are re-engineered or newly designed kits that are meant to dispense with glues where possible (though not entirely) and paint, by offering pre-colored, snap-together parts and stickered decals. Ever improving technology has enabled a high level of detail and finish, so these type kits have proven to be very popular, particularly among their target audience.  Keep in mind that the snap-together parts require some degree of robustness to avoid breaking or bending when emplaced. So, many of the small parts and masts are thicker and more overscale than their counterparts in a “regular” assembly kit. 

In my opinion, Fujimi has been rather astute about its assessment of the current state of the hobby. It has recognized that many new modelers or potential modelers are coming to the hobby from other venues, typically electronic or anime related games. As such, they arrive with less modeling skills and/ or time, or patience, for assembling and detailing a kit than traditional model builders.  So, Fujimi has added NEXT ship kit lines in 1/700 and 1/350 scale to offer what is essentially upscale, snap-together assembly type model kits. (Fujimi has also begun introducing NEXT automotive kits.) 

The one thing I do find puzzling about this line is Fujimi’s offering of specific, photoetch Grade-Up sets for these same kits. It seems counterintuitive. I mean, if you’re offering pre-colored, snap-together kits to ease assembly, then why introduce the intricacy of a far more complicated glue, paint, and labor-intensive add-on? Plus, to my way of thinking, once you add photoetch, you are forced to paint the kit in its entirety. So, aside from getting potentially sharper molded parts, how is this better than their standard line of kits? I must be missing something in my reasoning, so I would appreciate any insights here. 

This particular set of two destroyers is the tenth such release in Fujimi’s 1/700 line of NEXT ships.  One ship is offered as an early war version of the class, namely Yugumo, the other as a mid-war variant with a revised foremast and radar, here as Kazagumo. There are two full sets of sprues, with some divergence to accommodate the two different fits.  Normally, I might point out here if various sisters and variants can be built from the boxing, but there are accuracy issues with the kit (covered below), which makes doing so difficult. 

I will say that, as a general rule, the sharpness and scale of the detailing is excellent. This is particularly true of things like metal deck treading, hatches with hinges and even molded on railings. Some spot comparisons with Fujimi’s regular assembly Kagero class kits really brought this home. On the other hand, there is some flash on some of the smaller pieces, along with some unfortunate sinkholes. 

Each hull is a one-piece waterline hull, very cleanly molded in gray with extremely sharp and properly scaled details including portholes or sealed covers, porthole eyebrows where applicable, properly shaped anchor recesses with an anchor molded into the recess, a degaussing cable with brackets, spurnwaters (with runoff outlets) all around the perimeter edge of the decks, bollards, and solid propeller guards.

The top of the hull has been engineered to separately accept the forecastle deck and the other molded, linoleum covered deck sections. Numerous mounting holes for smaller snap-in pieces and assemblies are everywhere.  Otherwise, the portion of the main deck amidships is included where the deck is metal plated with treading, along with hatches, deck level skylights for the engineering spaces, and torpedo trolley rails.  Aft, the number three turret base is also included as it’s also set on plated metal. Otherwise, there are no superstructure components other than the base for funnel number one and a portion of the structure underlying torpedo mount number one. 

The numerous tertiary air intakes that are typical of both the Kagero and Yugumo class destroyers atop the forward funnel base are included, though the shapes are slightly simplistic. The simplification applies mostly to the portion of each that faces the bow; otherwise, the shapes are fine. These pieces could be fully shaped with a little sanding and carving work, or, replaced with brass rod. Given that these are largely hidden once all the other structures are in place, I think it likely that most modelers won’t notice the simplified shapes. Note that Fujimi did an excellent job on the tiny pair of intakes at the front of the base of funnel number one and those should be left as is.

So, at this point, the reader has to be thinking that these hulls sound wonderful. And they are, except for one small, nagging, and yet highly significant point: these are not Yugumo class hulls at all, but those of Fujimi’s preceding Kagero class NEXT kits. There’s no sloped stern with a correspondingly longer hull, the forecastle decks are laid out incorrectly and have no extensions aft, and, oh, the inside of the hull has “1/700 NX Kagero Class” distinctly molded within. To repeat: these are not Yugumo class hulls.
 

That brings us to scale accuracy. The hull scales out beautifully for a Kagero type. Those class particulars versus the scale and this kit:
 

Overall Length:	118.5m/388’9”	1/700 scale OA length:	169.28mm	Kit OA length:	169mm*
Waterline Length:	116.2/383’3”	1/700 scale WL length:	166mm	Kit WL length:	166mm
Beam:	10.8m/35’5”	1/700 scale beam:	15.43mm	Kit beam:	15.5mm

(*The separation of the bullnose from the hull accounts for the difference between the calculated kit scale length and the actual kit length. The bullnose is attached to the forecastle deck.)

Obviously, scale accuracy suffers when comparing this kit’s hull to the Yugumo class particulars:
 

Overall Length:	119.3m/391’4”	1/700 scale OA length:	170.43mm	Kit OA length:	169mm*
Waterline Length:	117m/383’10”	1/700 scale WL length:	167.14mm	Kit WL length:	166mm
Beam:	11.2m/36’9”	1/700 scale beam:	16mm	Kit beam:	15.5mm

(*Again, the separation of the bullnose from the hull accounts for the difference between the calculated kit scale length and the actual kit length.)

The construction of the Yugumo class was evenly divided between three shipyards: Maizuru, Fujinagata and Uraga Dock. As these vessels were all completed just as or after the war began, each came out of its yard with an external degaussing cable already installed on the hull. Each shipyard produced its own pattern, though none were that dramatically dissimilar from one another. The biggest point of differentiation came over the last 50 feet of ship’s length at the stern, where the cable usually dipped in some fashion to accommodate the propeller guards. There were some other, subtle differences forward in the vicinity of the forecastle break as the cables rose one level above the main deck to the forecastle deck. For simplicity’s sake, I will focus just on the stern. 

Since the Fujimi Yugumo kit hull is actually that of a Kagero type, and since Fujimi used Yukikaze’s pattern for the kit, then it makes sense that the kit cable follows the pattern set by the Uraga Shipbuilding Yard.

Yugumo class ships that utilized this pattern include Kazagumo, Takanami, Kiyonami, Suzunami, Kishinami, and Kiyoshimo.

The mast parts are a bit thick, as befits the need for strength in a snap-together piece.

The Kagero class forecastle portion is not used, while the instructions call for the aft air intake to be used only for Yugumo.  The torpedo reload bays are well shaped, with proper apertures. Number one funnel is very sharp, even if the auxiliary pipe in the front is a little thick.

The big issue here has to do with the forecastle deck. While it is nicely detailed and correctly has a small wave shield in front of the turret base (whereas the Kagero class did not), this kit deck is otherwise identical to the one meant for a Kagero NEXT kit. This should not be, as number one turret and its base were actually sited 1.5 meters further back to improve stability in this class. That would translate to moving the main turret base back from its current position by approximately 2 millimeters.  I see no way to modify this piece shy of cutting out the turret base and inserting it into some plain styrene sheet in the proper position. 

Everything except the main gun director is used for these kits. 

The only misgiving with the deckhouse is that two mushroom type ventilators have been molded on top. No such equipment was ever placed on top of the deckhouse. Instead, these spots were occupied by rectangular torpedo adjustment tables. This erroneous detail is not just a Fujimi lapse. In fact, this error has been carried down through the decades by just about every small scale Kagero and Yugumo kit ever produced. 

Despite some good detailing, the integrated one-piece stack and RDF compartment component comes off comparatively poorly. Both have a lot of flash, the RDF compartment has a bad sinkhole on one side, and the auxiliary piping on the funnel rates just okay.

Again, there is some very nice detailing but the nature of a snap-together kit requires thick masts and oversized mounting points on the ship’s boats.  According to the instructions, only the ship’s boats and the pieces for the main mast are used off of this sprue, while the foremast from Yugumo class Sprue P is to be utilized for this mid-late configuration. However, this representation isn’t accurate. 

(Rivet counter alert.) The only difference between the two classes regarding a late war foremast is the angle of the upper portion of the mast carrying the yardarms, which was raked slightly back for only the mid-to-late war constructed Yugumos.  In actuality, the early war Yugumos had the same, as-built tripod foremast configuration as did the preceding Kageros. When these Yugumos underwent refits to carry radar, the revised foremasts were identical to those of the refitted Kageros. Only the mid-to-late war Yugumos had purpose-built masts with a raked back foremast.  Understandably, Fujimi has simplified things, but modelers should be aware of the differences.  So, for example, in the case of Kazagumo in her Type 22 radar fit, it would actually be more accurate to use the foremast from this Sprue H.

R-1 is the lower bridge structure, two decks high. It’s used on both ships. On the plus side, it’s sharply molded with an excellent, streamlined shape front facing specific to the Yugumos, portholes and eyebrows, a starboard side full access hatch with hinges, vertical ladder, port side air intake, and awning anchor railing.

These turrets are beautifully and sharply molded, with proper detailing of ventilation covers on the turret sides as well as the top.   The rivets are a nice touch, though clearly overscale. Still, I find them appealing.  All three turrets have the requisite horizontal stiffening bands. Interestingly there are no grab rails molded on.

The guns are okay. Better versions are available from FineMolds, Pit-Road’s NanoDread series, and some 3D printers like Shelf Oddity.

The decal sheet is quite small and beautifully registered.  Just a few things are included: Katakana characters for the ship’s name on the hull sides and stern (briefly used for the very early war period in home waters) for Yugumo, Kazegumo and, interestingly, Makigumo, linoleum coverings for the aft bridge compass deck, life rings, and some Japanese ensigns. 

Since all the parts are pre-colored, there is no color callout. There is a page of fit illustrations specific to both Yugumo and Kazagumo. A mid war and late war fit are illustrated for Kazagumo, though no dates are given. 

There is a silver lining, particularly if you are a Kagero class fan AND would appreciate a well-crafted Kagero hull. These will make the basis for an excellent kit-bashing project. In fact, I wish these had been released before I started a recent Aoshima based set of Kageros destroyers. 

The overall quality of fit of this NEXT type kit is unknown, though I will say that a test fit of the upper and lower hull halves produced a nice, tight seal with no visible seams.

The mix of Kagero and Yugumo NEXT class sprues carrying very similar parts requires extra attention in order to be certain of using the correct item.  It would be easy to confuse the array of masts, deck inserts, bridge pieces, and platforms.  Though the kits come bagged separately, I would advise carefully reviewing and setting aside inappropriate sprues before beginning a build.

This kit was courtesy of my wallet, via HobbyLink Japan. The cost, less shipping, was $31.17. It’s pricey compared to the new Hasegawa version, but you do get two kits for your money. The kit is offered on sale in the US from $39.99 and up, shipping not included.