1:72 Naval ensign Japan

What it is

The Japanese naval ensign in 1:72 scale, that is an accessory to models of ships and vessels. A flag is a small thing on a model, but it is among the elements a viewer notices first: it determines the allegiance of a vessel unambiguously and breaks up a uniform gray surface with a single saturated spot of color.

The real subject

The Japanese naval ensign has the form of a red sun disc with sixteen rays on a white field. The disc is not in the middle of the flag but shifted closer to the hoist, so the rays on the free end come out longer. From the end of the nineteenth century it was used by the Imperial Japanese Navy, and in the same form it is carried today by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.

Where it belongs on a model

A warship carried the naval ensign on a staff at the stern when it lay at anchor or in harbor, and under way it moved it higher, to a mast or to a gaff. If you are building a model to a particular day and place, check a period photograph or the documentation of the particular ship, because the customs differed according to the situation and the period. Place the flag at the very end of the build, when you no longer take the model in your hands. The red area should stay clean; there is no point in weathering it, because it draws the eye and a dirty flag looks like a mistake on an otherwise carefully built model.

Who it is for

For builders of ship models in 1:72 scale who need exactly this last element to finish. For the procedure of applying it, follow the manufacturer's instructions. The model, paints and glue are not part of the package, unless stated otherwise.