kit review 1:120 USS Susquehanna - WoodyJOE

[James H]

1:120 USS Susquehanna
WoodyJOE

Available from WoodyJOE for ¥ 43,000 (approx. $400/£335)

 

 

USS Susquehanna, a sidewheel steam frigate, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the Susquehanna River, which rises in Lake Otsego in central New York and flows across Pennsylvania and the northeast corner of Maryland emptying into the Chesapeake Bay. Her keel was laid down by the New York Navy Yard in 1847. She was launched on 5 April 1850 and was commissioned on 24 December 1850, Captain John H. Aulick in command. After completing her trials, which she began in January 1851, the side-wheel frigate sailed on 8 June for the Far East to become flagship of the East India Squadron under the command of Commodore John H. Aulick. Aulick's orders included instructions to visit Japan and negotiate a treaty opening diplomatic relations with that country. After presenting demands and an official letter from President Millard Fillmore to the Japanese government on 14 July, the American warships departed on 17 July. On 12 February 1854, Susquehanna returned with the squadron to Japan as part of Perry's show of force, resulting in the signing of the Convention of Kanagawa on 31 March 1854. 

During the American Civil War, the ship was assigned to the Atlantic Blockading Squadron and sailed for Hampton Roads. Late in August, Susquehanna participated in the joint Army-Navy expedition to Hatteras Inlet, North Carolina, which captured Fort Clark and Fort Hatteras on 29 August. During September, she captured two British schooners: Argonaut on 13 September and Prince Alfred on 28 September. In the same month, she also took two Confederate schooners as well: San Juan on 28 September and Baltimore the following day. Following the end of the American Civil War, Susquehanna brought American delegates to Veracruz bay in Mexico during the destruction of the Second Mexican Empire in order to open up relations with the United States backed Mexican president Benito Juárez. When the Susquehanna found out that the acting imperial ruler Maximilian I of Mexico had decided not to abdicate, the ship turned around to head home 1866. The ship ended her active service as flagship of the North Atlantic Squadron. Decommissioned at the New York Navy Yard on 14 January 1868, Susquehanna was laid up until she was sold for scrapping on 27 September 1883 to E. Stannard of New York City.

 

The kit
This is the very latest release from Japanese company, WoodyJOE. For those of you with Facebook, WoodyJOE has shown some of the development of this kit over the last months, with their finished model designed to show a finished ship on one side and the construction on the other…presumably for model fair display purposes. The box itself is sort of average in size for a model with these dimensions, but it is certainly heavy! Packed into an attractive but generic nautical-themed box, a product label for Susquehanna is affixed to the lid in a way that it looks printed on. 

Upon opening the box, the first thing to check out is the colour-printed instruction manual. This 32-page, stapled booklet breaks the construction down into 36 stages, but most of those have many sub-stages, effectively creating well over 200-300 sequences. Rigging illustrations are supplied too, and they are beautifully clear to understand. Photo annotation also refers to the specific part number, whether it be strip wood, sheet parts or metal elements. A full parts list is supplied at the beginning of the manual, as well as suggested paints etc. All of this is in Japanese though, befitting a kit that’s probably aimed for their home market. 

A series of sheet plans is included for just about everything you will need, such as hull profiles, fitting positions, masting etc.

WoodyJOE kindly popped the Tamiya gearbox unit into my sample. This isn’t a standard part in this kit, but it is of course designed to specifically fit this unit, should you wish to purchase it extra. As with Tamiya products, you are expected to build this itself, and it is supplied as a mini-kit, complete with electric motor and a small tube of grease for lubrication.

Another item to be purchased separately is this battery box. A relatively inexpensive item costing only a £/$ or so.

Now, onto the various fittings. These have been supplied stapled to two sheets of card and certainly keeps everything neat and in order. Each packet of parts is also neatly labelled (in Japanese). Here you will find that parts are generally cast in white metal, but with very good definition in the most part. There are a few lines on the cannon that look like an original 3D-printed master wasn’t fully cleaned up, but this is easy to deal with. 

Instead of white metal, WoodyJOE have opted to include the belaying pins as cast-brass items which must be removed from their casting block and cleaned up prior to installation. 

Other bagged items include wire, ferrules, varying chain sizes, pins, rigging pins, etc.

A number of parts in this kit are labelled in the same fashion as those on the card sheet but are bagged instead. 

This is where you will find spools of rigging cord that are clearly numbered in reference to the rigging drawings. 

Ughhhhh!! I really don’t like these! Here are the plastic rigging blocks. For me, there’s only one place to store these. However, if they don’t bother you, then they are actually very nicely moulded, but you will need to paint them appropriately. 

Plastic also features on the ship’s launches, with the basic hulls being supplied. These are painted though, and will be fitted out with timber, so it’s not a deal-breaker. The mouldings are also superb. 

You will find numerous timber elements also individually bagged and labelled too, clearly referencing their use within the instruction manual. This applies to the various lengths and diameters of dowel and strip. A quick look at these shows the superior quality of all timber. Some of the finest I’ve seen in a kit.

Another sheet of card has several packages stapled to it that contain various sheets of laser-cut timber parts. Notice parts here for the launches, mast tops, cannon bases, channels.

A second and third packet of laser-cut parts contains the clearly identifiable paddle wheels and stern rails amongst other parts that are spread over numerous sheets.

Now we come onto the sheet materials, with this first sheet containing the parts for the stern. Note the engraved bevel marks to help you shape these properly.

A large sheet of high-quality ply contains the hull bulkheads. In my opinion, there should be more of these, especially on a single-planked model. Laser cutting is excellent.

An equally large sheet holds other key hull components. Here, as well as more bulkheads, you can see the false keel and long ply parts that will further help align the bulkheads and provide further rigidity. 

It will come as no surprise to see that there are a few sheets of photo-etch (PE) parts in this release. These contain everything from gratings to deck structure elements, and also those large gun swivel mount circles that you see at both bow and stern areas of the ship.

 

 

Conclusion
Of course, this is such an unusual subject to tackle and in many ways has some unusual construction techniques that aren’t typically seen in today’s kits, such as the stern that is built up from slices. It would have been good to see the Tamiya gearbox kit added as standard, as it’s generally a very low-cost item to purchase by itself (around £11 at time of writing), but of course, not all modellers would want to use this anyway. Personally, I think this model is aimed at those with some experience, and I wouldn’t recommend a single-planked hull for anyone without the prerequisite skillset to tackle it. As the bulkheads are perhaps spaced a little too far apart for my liking, you’ll need to ensure that you don’t create any sag between them when planking, giving an uneven finish to the hull. Another thing I would have liked to have seen would be copper plates supplied for the lower hull instead of notes on painting it in that colour. Even a roll of self-adhesive copper tape would’ve been a nice touch. A real oddity is the inclusion of plastic rigging blocks. This is probably my biggest single gripe with this kit, and I guarantee those will be thrown away and replaced with something more suitable in timber, possibly from Master Korabel. Now, that’s the gripes out of the way, and in no way do I want you to think that this isn’t a lovely kit to look at. It genuinely is. At 862mm long, it’s certainly not a small model, despite the 1:120 scale, and it definitely has to be the best thought out model I’ve seen in ages with regards to material identification and presentation. Everything is designed to make the modeller’s life as easy as possible. The drawings are also excellent, as well as the photographic instruction manual. Of course, all text is in Japanese, which does sort of indicate that their primary market is Japan. There are ways of translating this, such as with smartphone apps that will translate the image when you hover your phone camera over. With regard to the instruction manual stages, I do think many of them are fairly self-explanatory anyway. But…the smartphone translator app is free! 

 

In all, a high-quality package with excellent timber and some very nice fittings. The whole lot will build up into an outstanding finished model that is most certainly very different from your regular sail ships. If you get the chance to get one, I doubt you’d be disappointed.

 

My sincere thanks to WoodyJOE for sending this new release out for review here on Model Ship World. To purchase directly, click the link at the top of the article.

 

 

 

[mtdoramike]

Very nice kit review, but the Woody Joe link doesn't work. This kit reminds me of the Billings kits in that it uses quite a bit of plastic molded parts, which I detest. But it looks like a great kit and I love the fact that they were future thinking enough to build the kit with Radio Control in mind if you so desire. 

[James H]

7 minutes ago, mtdoramike said:

Very nice kit review, but the Woody Joe link doesn't work. This kit reminds me of the Billings kits in that it uses quite a bit of plastic molded parts, which I detest. But it looks like a great kit and I love the fact that they were future thinking enough to build the kit with Radio Control in mind if you so desire. 

I'm not entirely convinced their plan was RC, but I'm sure it could be adapted with the paddle wheels.

 

The link works for me, but here it is again: http://woodyjoe.shop-pro.jp/?pid=144494623

[catopower]

Nice kit review, James! Glad to see you got a review kit from Woody Joe.

 

I'll add that everything about this kit is pretty much standard Woody Joe product. Plastic blocks and deadeyes are standard in all their kits, as is the beautiful packaging and indexing of the parts. Very much Billing Boats like. And, as you point out, these parts are easily swappable for your favorite wooden deadeyes and blocks. Though, my preference is still the Syren stuff 😉

 

Their kits can sometimes be a little light on some details, but they also tend be pretty accurate on the measurements and scale, so it's very easy to do some of your own upgrades.

 

I agree that RC is not the intention of the motor addition – it's more of an add-on capability "just for the fun of it".

 

I'm not sure that one can actually buy direct from Woody Joe for shipment overseas. So, I'm surprised to see the store link. I've received things from Woody Joe before, but never a purchase.

 

 

Actually, I highly recommend purchasing from an online hobby dealer that I and many members here have dealt with, Zootoyz.jp.

 

The owner of the business, Kazunori Morikawa, can communicate in english and his site is in english too, making ordering much simpler than trying to do it in Japanese. He's also a great person and always sends little goodies with your model kit orders, and you won't get gouged on pricing like what I've often seen on Ebay and Amazon.

 

He's very conscientious about his business and the products he sells. So, PLEASE, if anyone is going to buy one of these kits from him, make sure you know what you're getting into first, so you don't bch and moan to him if you're not happy with Woody Joe's lack of a free replacement parts policy – he takes your complaints very seriously and personally. 

 

Clare

 

 

Edited August 27, 2019 by catopower

[James H]

1 hour ago, catopower said:

Nice kit review, James! Glad to see you got a review kit from Woody Joe.

 

I'll add that everything about this kit is pretty much standard Woody Joe product. Plastic blocks and deadeyes are standard in all their kits, as is the beautiful packaging and indexing of the parts. Very much Billing Boats like. And, as you point out, these parts are easily swappable for your favorite wooden deadeyes and blocks. Though, my preference is still the Syren stuff 😉

 

Their kits can sometimes be a little light on some details, but they also tend be pretty accurate on the measurements and scale, so it's very easy to do some of your own upgrades.

 

I agree that RC is not the intention of the motor addition – it's more of an add-on capability "just for the fun of it".

 

I'm not sure that one can actually buy direct from Woody Joe for shipment overseas. So, I'm surprised to see the store link. I've received things from Woody Joe before, but never a purchase.

 

 

Actually, I highly recommend purchasing from an online hobby dealer that I and many members here have dealt with, Zootoyz.jp.

 

The owner of the business, Kazunori Morikawa, can communicate in english and his site is in english too, making ordering much simpler than trying to do it in Japanese. He's also a great person and always sends little goodies with your model kit orders, and you won't get gouged on pricing like what I've often seen on Ebay and Amazon.

 

He's very conscientious about his business and the products he sells. So, PLEASE, if anyone is going to buy one of these kits from him, make sure you know what you're getting into first, so you don't bch and moan to him if you're not happy with Woody Joe's lack of a free replacement parts policy – he takes your complaints very seriously and personally. 

 

Clare

 

 

Thanks for the info.

 

I've been trying for quite a while to get contact with WoodyJOE, and I have to thank a fluent Japanese speaker from the Czech Republic who I believe helped me break through to them initially. 

 

You're right, the kit itself is superb, plastic blocks aside, and there could room for a little further enhancement once more reference is sourced.

 

Thanks also for the info on the company to purchase from if outside Japanese territory. 

[RickyGene]

I have built a Woody Joe Ship.  I love their kits.  I was wondering have you seen one of these.  It too was kitted from Japan.

Imai 1/80 Susquehanna.  I purchased off of eBay for $280.00.  Years ago I built their smaller plastic version.

[RickyGene]

Oh and the length @1309mm = over 51"...………...😲

[Moab]

I built one of their smaller river boat kits and was very pleased. The wood and laser cutting were the best I've ever used. The non-english instructions were very good...Moab

[EKE]

I've been thinking about future projects, and I've always wanted to build a great clipper ship.  I've looked at all of the notable kit options (Red Jacket, Flying Fish, Thermopylae, etc.) , but I noticed that WoodyJOE offers several versions of Cutty Sark.  There's a huge, 1:80 version that's over 40"long, and then a 1:100 version, with or without sails. 

 

I may see if I can purchase the 1:100 without sails.  It's about 34" long.  From what I can tell, the quality, packaging and instructions are similar to the Susquehanna.  I think Cutty Sark would be a good clipper to build, since there is abundant information available on her, and I could bash a bit to bring it up to a higher level.  I'd certainly want to do real copper plating on the hull.  

 

Edited August 30, 2021 by EKE

[Dziadeczek]

Hi Erik,

Where do you get your Woody Joe kits from?

Ages ago I built a nice little model of a Japanese brigantine "Osyoru Maru" from the now defunct Japanese company IMAI (which was subsequently bought by Woody Joe). I remember, this was a nice little kit, good quality materials and pictorial instructions easily understood (I don't speak Japanese). Although, I remember, I replaced kit's wood with my own cherry, pear and maple...

So, if Woody Joe makes equally good kits, you won't be disappointed with your Cutty Sark.

 

Where exactly do you live in LA? I live in Glendale, in the San Fernando Valley, between  Pasadena and Burbank. I wish we could meet next year in the planned (so far) Nautical Research Guild conference, provided this Covid19 paranoia finally goes away... I am keeping my fingers crossed!

We could talk about shipmodeling until the proverbial cows come home, he he...   😄

 

What are you currently building? I am in the middle of the rigging on my Frenchie in 1: 48 (after mr. Boudriot's 4 volumes on the 74 gun ship). Painstaking task!

Regards,

Thomas

Edited August 30, 2021 by Dziadeczek

[EKE]

Hi Thomas,

 

I’ve never bought anything from WoodyJOE, so this is new to me.  The photo I posted is from their site.  I’ll probably use one of the links in this thread to try to order one. 
 

I’ll reach out to you via PM to chat.

-E

[Kusawa2000]

I have bought several of there temple kits and the kit of the Yamato and there work is amazing. The wood is well cut and the instructions are pretty intuitive even though they are in japanese. I dont know about there ship kits but if the temple kits are any indication I would recommend them very highly. Here is a pic of the Joruji Temple model I built a few years ago. 

[EKE]

1 hour ago, Kusawa2000 said:

Here is a pic of the Joruji Temple model I built a few years ago. 

 

 

So beautiful.  I would really like to build one of these to display in my office!

[mtaylor]

2 hours ago, EKE said:

 

So beautiful.  I would really like to build one of these to display in my office!

There's been a few of these built here.  Search for them in the non-ship area in Short Leave

[Kusawa2000]

For anyone who is interested in getting a woody Joe kit, this is the website that I ordered through.. I had no problems ordering and they were willing to answer any questions you may have. 

 

Wooden Scale Model Kits / Woody JOE (zootoyz.jp)

 

hope that helps

 

Mike Draper

Whitehorse, Yukon

[EKE]

I just bought the WoodyJOE 1:100 Cutty Sark.  Very nice e-commerce site at Zootoyz.  We'll see how the shipping goes from Japan.

-E

[catopower]

Mike, beautiful job on that pagoda! I actually have this kit and want to get to it. But, I did a quick weekend build of a 1/150 scale version of the same thing. It's a new kit and they use printed paper for some of the detail, which works really well for the small model. I agree that Zootoyz.jp is the way to go if you want to buy a Woody Joe kit.

 

EKE, I have the hull started for Woody Joe's 1/75-scale kit of the Dutch-built corvette Kanrin Maru. Maybe I mentioned this earlier in this post, but Woody Joe does their homework. I purchased some plans from a museum in the Netherlands and used it to check the Woody Joe kit's hull, and it's spot on. I think you'll find the same is true of the Cutty Sark (as well as the Susquehanna).

 

 

 

[EKE]

I was also looking at their offerings under "Japanese Castles"  These models are stunningly beautiful.  This reminds me of the castle palace I visited when we were in Tokyo.

 

[EKE]

36 minutes ago, catopower said:

EKE, I have the hull started for Woody Joe's 1/75-scale kit of the Dutch-built corvette Kanrin Maru. Maybe I mentioned this earlier in this post, but Woody Joe does their homework. I purchased some plans from a museum in the Netherlands and used it to check the Woody Joe kit's hull, and it's spot on. I think you'll find the same is true of the Cutty Sark (as well as the Susquehanna).

 

Great to hear, Clare.  I'll give a report when I receive the goods.

-E

[Kusawa2000]

1 hour ago, catopower said:

Mike, beautiful job on that pagoda! I actually have this kit and want to get to it. But, I did a quick weekend build of a 1/150 scale version of the same thing. It's a new kit and they use printed paper for some of the detail, which works really well for the small model. I agree that Zootoyz.jp is the way to go if you want to buy a Woody Joe kit.

 

EKE, I have the hull started for Woody Joe's 1/75-scale kit of the Dutch-built corvette Kanrin Maru. Maybe I mentioned this earlier in this post, but Woody Joe does their homework. I purchased some plans from a museum in the Netherlands and used it to check the Woody Joe kit's hull, and it's spot on. I think you'll find the same is true of the Cutty Sark (as well as the Susquehanna).

 

 

 

Clare: One piece of advice.. if you are going to use paint to colour the wood on your woody joe kit  (the japanese cedar is very bleached in its colour), I would recommend puritan pine Minwax stain for the natural wood colour and Vallejo or other pigment paints for the grey roof and white paneling. I think any acrylic or enamel paint would be too thick for the cedar wood that is provided.  I also have 2 Woody Joe kits waiting to be built. 🙂 They are a nice break from rigging and they are a real topic of conversation when on display. I also found them a great souvenir if you have had a chance to visit Japan. 

 

Mike Draper

Whitehorse, Yukon

[catopower]

Thanks for the tip Mike!

 

Actually, I just finished building my 14th Woody Joe kit a couple weeks ago, and another 8 or 9 in my stash!

 

Most of those completed are smaller kits, but include all of their Japanese traditional watercraft, which is really where I've turned most of my attention to these these days.

 

Hey, I'd love to talk more about Woody Joe kits, ships, temples, pagodas, castles, etc., but I feel like we're hijacking this thread.

 

Can we move the discussion? I guess it would have to go into Shore Leave???

[catopower]

By the way, I see that Woody Joe has released another version of the Susquehana kit, but with sails and associated rigging modifications.

[Kusawa2000]

3 hours ago, catopower said:

Thanks for the tip Mike!

 

Actually, I just finished building my 14th Woody Joe kit a couple weeks ago, and another 8 or 9 in my stash!

 

Most of those completed are smaller kits, but include all of their Japanese traditional watercraft, which is really where I've turned most of my attention to these these days.

 

Hey, I'd love to talk more about Woody Joe kits, ships, temples, pagodas, castles, etc., but I feel like we're hijacking this thread.

 

Can we move the discussion? I guess it would have to go into Shore Leave???

Clare: Sounds like a plan! see ya in shore leave.. 

 

Mike Draper

[Roger Pellett]

Re:  Susquehanna Kit.

 

To me, the appearance of this otherwise handsome model produced from the kit is spoiled by a pair of trailboatds that appear to be oversized and pasted on instead of flowing into the hull.  They give the model a crude appearance.

 

Roger

[Bill Morrison]

It's interesting that the old Imai kit of the USS Susquehanna is also 1/120 scale.  I wonder if this manufacturer patterned the model of of the Imai kit.  It is an interesting construction technique mixing bread & butter method with plank-on-bulkhead.

 

Bill

Edited February 11, 2022 by Bill Morrison

[catopower]

Bill, Woody Joe took over the wooden Imai line of kits.

 

I'm kind of surprised that the Imai kit was also 1/120 though. They had a 1/50 scale Kanrin Maru / Bali kit, but the current version is reduced to 1/75. 

 

I guess your comment about bread-and-butter construction refers to the stern filler. They seem to do this commonly, rather than give you a block of wood and expect you to create the right shape. When they can simplify something with laser-cut parts (bread slices), they tend to.

 

Edit 2/24: Oops! The Imai Susquehanna was shown in earlier posts above with the scale shows as 1/80. So, that makes more sense now.

 

Edited February 25, 2022 by catopower