 
| Tamiya 1:350th Scale
Japanese Navy Submarine I-400
Previewed by
Jay Laverty
February 2008 
We all know what to expect when we purchase a Tamiya kit, as their reputation for quality engineering and high levels of detail precedes all of their releases. The 1:350th I-400 certainly lives up to these expectations, and in some ways exceeds them.
Recently we have seen the way models are packaged evolving to include what would traditionally be the remit of the aftermarket industry and now small elements of photo-etched parts are becoming almost standard.
In addition to the well detailed plastic sprues in the kit comes a small etched fret comprising some appropriate elements best represented in metal. Props for the Aeroplanes, catapult parts, and even the crane, it is easy to imagine how well detailed the finished model will be when build straight from the box.
The plastic parts are excellently done, with no visible signs of flash anywhere across the sprues. I am certainly no expert to the level of detail that can be expected in 350th scale model kits, but I am deeply impressed with this model in particular. Of particular note are the deck guns, being extremely highly detailed, as are the diminutive Seiran Special Attack Planes although they do have very heavy panel lines for this scale. I’m not sure how else they could be represented in 350th scale so I shouldn’t complain about them though. However the props are part of the photo-etched sheet, which means they will look much closer to scale than had they been done as part of the plastic sprue.
There are a couple of options of how to display the model, and the well laid out, multi-lingual instructions clearly describe what steps to take depending on which way you want to display the model. The option is there to store all of the aircraft in the hanger and close it, or open the hanger and have a combination of aircraft ready to launch or being launched, and with a small amount of additional detail it would be possible to show the aircraft being recovered as well.
This is a superb model kit of a very significant submarine in WWII even if it’s time in action was extremely limited. The I-400 never completed its first mission, and actually ended up disposing of its aircraft and destroying all documents before returning to Japan to surrender following the cessation of hostilities. The I-400 and it’s sister boat the I-401 were thoroughly studied by the Americans before they were scuttled in 1946 and remained the largest submarines ever built until the USS George Washington and the USS Triton were launched in 1959, although the latter were nuclear powered, meaning that the I-400 series remains the largest conventionally powered submarines ever built.
I would highly recommend this kit to anyone for the same reason that I myself got it. As something different from the normal remit of my modelling interests, it will become an uncomplicated and quick project that should provide some superb results with the minimum of effort.
  
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