1/350 IJN Yahagi
Hasegawa's 1/350 Yahagi Operation Ten-Go

And here we go, finished at last, my first ever 1/350 scale ship model, Hasegawa's Operation Ten-Go edition of the IJN Agano-class light cruiser, Yahagi.

Yahagi was the third ship in the IJN's Agano-class of light cruisers, small sized cruisers designed to act as escorts for destroyer squadrons. Though fairly small with a rather underwhelming main armament, the cruisers were fast and very seaworthy, and also featured a powerful torpedo armament which carried a full reload. Main armament was 6x 15.2cm/50 41st Year type guns, of 1912 vintage in 3x2 turrets, originally from the Kongou class fast battleships, whilst secondary dual purpose armament was 4x 8cm/60 Type 98 AA guns, in 2x2 turrets. The ship also carried a heavy compliment of 25mm AA guns in single and triple mounts, and a total of 8x 610cm torpedo tubes in 2x4 launchers, with a full reload carried for each launcher.

The ship had a top speed of around 36 kts, and could carry and launch a pair of A13E Type 0 Reconnaissance float planes.

Yahagi was launched October of 1942, and was commissioned into the Imperial Japanese Navy in December 1943. She served throughout the major battles in the late part of the Pacific War, including the Battle of the Philippines, Battle of Leyte Gulf, and the Battle off Samar.

Yahagi sadly met her end during Operation Ten-Go in 1945, sent to escort Yamato on her final voyage, she was sunk by aircraft as she valiantly tried to defend the battleship. After multiple torpedo hits, she eventually went down taking 445 of her crewmen with her. The others survived to be rescued by the destroyers Hatsushimo and Yukikaze, includinbg her captain, Tameichi Hara. As she sank, her survivors could still see Yamato sailing on in the distance, not knowing Yamato herself was only a short time from her own end.


This was the first 1/350 ship I have ever done, and only the second ship in any scale. As such it was quite a new experience for me, and was a very different building process. Typically I am used to mostly assembling a complete model, and then painting it all in one go. However for this ship, the process was different, and built up in layers, painting and attaching each part as I went along. It was quite a complicated build, with a LOT of small details (and I do mean a lot...), however the quality of the kit itself was superb, Hasegawa have really outdone themselves with this one. Even without aftermarket parts, the details and fit are excellent, and I was able to achieve a result that I am mostly happy with, although the float planes were an absolute pain.

As always, this was painted with Vallejo Model Air paints, the most noticeable ones being Fire Red and Sea Grey for the hull and superstructure, and RLM26 brown for the linoleum decks.

In the end, I am pleased to have a model of my favourite cruiser. And whilst I am not entirely satisfied, I feel that the ship itself looks good enough. I do also have a 1/350 kit of the IJN Akizuki to do in the future, but after how long it took me to build this, I think it will be a while before I make another ship.

Happy Building!

~Katya