Shipbucket

Japan, Shinano-Class (1945)



Japan, Shinano-Class (1951)



Japan, Shinano-Class (1962)



The Shinano (信濃 named after a former Japanese province, now Nagano Prefecture) was the largest and highest displacement aircraft carrier in the Imperial Japanese Navy. She was a conversion of a Yamato-class battleship, the keel of her was laid in the Yokosuka Arsenal which housed a large dry dock lengthened expressly for the project to 330 m long, the hull was assigned No. 110. The design contemplated a slight reduction in vertical armor (10-20 mm less) compared to its Yamato-class brothers. Its construction was subject to the development of future events, the battleship had a completion date for 1945 but in 1944 With the final advance of Germany on Soviet land and with Japan occupying Hawaii, the Shinano had to enter service quickly to be the support ship in the "Kyojin no Daraku" operation, between 1949 and 1951 it was decided to modernize these aircraft carriers for the use of jet aircraft such as those for Ki-201 jet fighters and KI-210 jet bombers (imported German AR-234s).

In 1958, faced with the new heavier and more modern fixed-wing fighters that the Shinano embarked wing contemplated, it was decided to keep the flight deck sloped and add more space for radar and air control equipment, greatly reducing the obsolete armament. of the 40's, by 1962 the aircraft carrier was the flagship of the first Japanese carrier strike group that would be considered until 1967 the largest aircraft carrier in the world before the arrival of nuclear-powered supercarriers.

BEYOND awesome!!! An angle-decked Shinano! I love the design...very nice work!!!

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MS State Guard - 08 March 2014 - 28 January 2023

The Official IJN Ships & Planes List

#FJB

Before anything else: I've made a more updated and correctly scaled D4Y recently, see the images below for it.

Now, back to the main point. While artistically-speaking the drawings are truly of high quality, and I specially praise your effort of adding a top view to the pre-existing Shinano, I have some remarks on the overall design once the angled deck is added in the mix.

The stern shape changes significantly below the waterline between the 1945 and 1951/1962 ones. Also the hull depth seems to change as well.
Moving the deck edge elevator aft between 1951 and 1962 seems like a massive undertaking and a very unlikely work to do. You had already cut the side of the ship during the 1950s refit when it was first added (no issues here, we've seen it multiple times on postwar USN carrier SCB refits). To cut another part of the hull and flight deck aft, move the entire elevator, machinery and rails, rebuild the flight deck and decks where the elevator once was sound like a waste of work and time, and I'm not sure how and if you would weaken the ships superstructure. It would be best to add a deck edge elevator once and then not move it anymore. You can strengthen it, replace it with a larger one but that's it.
Also, check that your aft starboard side elevator proably cuts partially into the hull, deck edge ones sould never do that for structural reasons.
It also seem you are depicting a gallery deck between the hangar and the flight deck and the hangar itself being a deck too low than it should. Shinano had no gallery deck and her hangar deck as completed was the same what would have been the battleship main deck.
The port side elevator might also cut into the ship's hull even taking into account how it thins aft.
Landing lights should not go bow to stern as in an axial deck carrier but should follow the angled deck instead. Some axial takeoff lights forward are fine instead.
I'd also increase the angle of the third catapult (the "waist" one on the angled deck), right now you are launching aircrafts into the jet blast deflector of the forward port catapult which is a recipe for disaster. Think that you might want to be able to safely launch a plane from the waist catapult simultaneously with one of the two forward ones.
The ordinance elevator near the island is very oversized for its purpose, even a quarter of that size should suffice. Also I'd try to add another closer to the forward catapults, you'd want to load your planes as quick as possible.
Also, the one aft probably interferes with the Tartar luncher as it is.
Speaking of the missile launchers, there are inconsistencies between side and top view in relation to their positioning abeam or below the flight deck. They also lack proper guidance.
Radars are all way too low and should be moved higher on an, accordingly modified, mast. There are updated ones as well.
There are some other things, but those are the most glaring I noticed.



Don't see it as being too harsh on you, carriers are hard beasts to draw and I've been sitting on two-year old WIPs myself with lot still to be done. See it as feedback to further improve, because artistically-wise you are already there.

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My Worklist
Sources and documentations are the most welcome.

-Koko Kyouwakoku (Republic of Koko)
-Koko's carrier-based aircrafts of WWII
-Koko Kaiun Yuso Kaisha - KoKaYu Line (Koko AU spinoff)
-Koko - Civil Aviation