This new harbor diorama has been brewing for a few years. My son and I have put together a couple of other ones using the same diorama base, but this one is different in that it features more maintenance and cargo vessels, as well as quite a few more submarines than I had four years ago. My idea was to create busy, crowded views with that “forest of masts and wires” look, and it took me some time to complete the extra ships needed to achieve that! The base board is pretty simple: particle board at water level; docks and dry land slightly higher, to match the height of the SkyWave piers; a runway with SkyWave hangars; and straightforward grassy areas. Everything else — warehouses, workshops, cranes, towers, fuel tanks, barracks, and even tiny trucks — lives in a box of 1/700 accessories until staged in whatever way suits my current vision. Hasegawa’s Harbor and Tugger Sets, along with SkyWave’s Naval Base, Hangars, and Factories make up most of what makes it look like a port. Here is a list of all the ships on display:

• Light Cruisers Abukuma and Kashima
• Submarines: I-68, I-58
• Submarines with float planes: I-13, I-14, I-16, I-401
• Submarines with Kaiten: I-56, I-58, I-370
• Submarine Tenders: Heian Maru, Jingei
• Seaplane Tenders: Akitsushima, Notoro
• Army Transport Ship: Sakito Maru
• Food Supply Ship: Mamiya
• Miscellaneous small craft and tugs.