Lindberg IJN I53 Update

[Kazzer]

Mr. Wizard has now cast his eyes over the Lindberg IJN I53 and has pronounced the following good news.

1. The model accepts our Sub-driver SDK25G Sub Driver 2.5" KIT Gato (Includes 2 motors, 1 servo, pushrods, seals, gas saver) Snort Ready. Revell Gato $365.00. This is a straight drop-in!

2. You can use the same Sub-driver in the Revell Gato. This must be great news for those who already own a Gato Sub-driver.

There are some problems with the accuracy of the model and the experts and purists are enjoying these, but for all that it's an interesting boat. If you, like me, aren't that fussy, then just make sure you stick a Rising Sun flag on it and then lesser mortals will be assured it's a Jap submarine! :wink:

Hopefully, we will see some interesting fixes for the problems, as those talented ones amongst us come up with different ideas.

Attached are two photos of the boat.

Rose, the Wizard's granddaughter, (keeper of the Cave Keys where He is usually locked up) is showing off the boat.
The second photo shows the I53 against the Revell Gato.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Yeah! ... what he just said.

David,

[herrmill]

Mike,

Please keep us up-to-date on the still unreleased I-20 & try to get some pre-release photos for us who are sitting on the fence.

Regarding the I-53 kit, perhaps those of us who have been vocal about some of the design shortcomings have been a wee bit overly critical.

With some creative thinking & some radical plastic surgery, one may want to build it into a KD type which it more closely resembles. Granted, the C3 was larger in both size & displacement, but why be concerned with rivet counting at this point.

Or one could saw off 16" starting at the bow, strap on several landing craft to the deck & build themselves a D type transport.

Better yet, why not just think outside the box & using the existing I53 hull, build up the hull, superstructure & add a few masts to convert it into one of these: http://www.combinedfleet.com/Kyuryokan_c.htm :wink:

Chuck

[modelnut]

I just ordered the Lindberg kit from Amazon and have been searching the web for reviews and references --- or pictures of finished kits. There is not much out there. Mostly just the threads on this forum.

The kit looks a lot like http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...I-52planII.jpg the I-52. Why not just go for that and bugger the rivet counters.

I'm a bit disappointed that no one has come out with a conversion kit yet. I saw a few aftermarket PE sets online but nothing else. I have thought about ways to rig the diving planes but I don't know how they would work in reality. For me this is all theory and eye-candy. My kit should arrive within seven days from now.

Thank you for all the info you have collected! I have saved quite a bit of it to my computer for reference.

- Leelan

[greenman407]

Good Deal Leelan! Please start a builders thread on it for us to enjoy. We will be watching with great interest and will give you what ever help we can.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Gonna take a lot of lip-stick to make that pig pretty!

Rotsa Ruck

David

[Kazzer]

I'm a bit disappointed that no one has come out with a conversion kit yet. ................

- Leelan

I guess we're all disappointed in Lindberg for messing up an otherwise good model. Problem is, there's no money in wasting hundreds of hours making a kit to fix the mess, and, as I just got off the phone with Lindberg, even they have made no decisions on the two IJN models.

Best I can suggest is 'cob them up yourself!' Maybe we should have a competition for who can do the best one?

BTW If anyone is looking for a model, I saw one in Dan's Crafts & Things, Rochester, NY last week. $150.00 or so.

[trout]

$130 here http://www.hhvastore.com/index.php?productID=11205

[trout]

Down to $120 at http://www.propshophobbies.com/Produ...tCode=LND70818 How low can we go?

[oztruck]

I am after another one, second hand and without the kit box (too big to post to Australia) Just put all the parts in a smaller box. Can anyone help?

Cheers Chris.

[modelnut]

Best I can suggest is 'cob them up yourself!' Maybe we should have a competition for who can do the best one?

That's what I thought. But at least we have a fine example to go by. I discovered oztruck's amazing build yesterday.

BTW I have searched the web for days now and I only found one finished Lindberg model posted in one gallery.

- Leelan

[modelnut]

Good Deal Leelan! Please start a builders thread on it for us to enjoy. We will be watching with great interest and will give you what ever help we can.

Will do. I also ordered the PE set with all the extras. Cost almost as much as the kit.

- Leelan

[modelnut]

Down to $120 at http://www.propshophobbies.com/Produ...tCode=LND70818 How low can we go?

$104.99 http://www.hobbysetcohio.com/lnd70818.html Why couldn't I have found that one instead of the one for $149 at Amazon.com?

- Leelan