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RN Battleship Roma detail set No.3 1:350 Eduard This is the last of three sets to be released by Eduard for the Trumpeter kit. Part 3- (53-201). This comprehensive single sheet set is jam packed full of parts for use throughout the ship. Mostly though, it contains the ships railings for the main deck, upper decks and platforms. It also contains numerous parts for the ships boats, such as hull gratings, superstructures, railings, oars, thwarts and gunwhales. Items such as rudders, propellers, life rings, portholes, engine covers, wheel houses, seats, windscreens and hatches are also included. Even the Carley floats are provided with gratings, although for best effect the moulded section should be removed first, which will be a little time consuming, but will give them a much better look. All the boats cradles are also replaced with new PE items, and are much more detailed than the moulded on parts, which will have to be removed first. Conclusion I’m not quite sure why this set wasn’t released with the other two which I reviewed HERE, but at least it’s out now. This set, even if used on its own looks like it will bring a big improvement to the kit, giving some much need finesse to the finished model, and certainly much improved detail for the ships boats. Review sample courtesy of

RN Battleship Roma Detail Sets 1:350 Eduard Since Trumpeter released the Roma as long ago as 2012, it’s taken the re-boxings released this year for Eduard to release anything for it. These two sets, each with two sheets, although the second sheet of set two barely constitutes a sheet. As usual you will need to remove quite a few parts of the kit details before the PE can be used. 53-199 – Main Deck and Guns. The first set consists of two sheets of etched brass crammed full of new parts, not including multiples. The sheets contain the usual numerous small parts such as the watertight doors, deck hatches, vents, skylights, vertical ladders, and anchor chains, complete with chain stoppers. There are also new jibs for both the small cranes and the large aircraft handling crane, loads of replacement deck houses, ammunition lockers, parts to details the winches, capstans, splinter shields, barbette walkways, breakwaters, support braces for the searchlight towers, boat cradles, funnel caps, and a complete replacement for the ships catapult. There are also new mast platforms, complete with support braces, yard arms complete with Jacobs ladders and halliards. The boat handling booms have cable rollers fitted as well as other fittings to the uprights. The main turrets are fitted out with a new AA platform, splinter shields, ammunition racks, vertical ladders, new doors for the rangefinder extensions, ammunition lockers, and strake around the base of eh turrets and to finish them off, each gun barrel can be fitted with their individual tampions. 53-200 – AA Guns. Naturally, this two sheet set is to add detail to the kits AA guns, but, not exclusively, as with most Eduard sets. The secondary armament turrets are fitted with new AA mountings, including supports, ready use lockers, vertical ladders, hatches and barrel tampions. The smaller turrets have new hatches, and canvas bags, but only to be used in the extreme elevation. The smaller AA weapons are all given various amounts of new detail and could include new sights, seats, ammunition chutes, elevation arcs, hand wheels, levers, and foot pedals. In addition to the AA guns, there is also new detail for the paravanes, pipe brackets, liferaft ramps, searchlight hand wheels and grilles, rangefinder hatches, doors, and fittings. There are also handling trolleys for the ships aircraft, launching cradles. The RO.43 biplane is also given new supports for the main and wing floats, new struts for the wings and tailplane and finally a machine gun for the rear gunner. Conclusion This is another pair of very useful etched sets from Eduard. The amount of detail covered is quite exhaustive and will require a fair amount of patience and time to get it all fitted correctly. Some of the details are completely new, not found in the kit so research will be required to ensure it was fitted. My biggest gripe is still the instructions, which really need to be made clearer, especially where parts positioning is concerned. Still, that’s a personal thing, which doesn’t stop me from recommending this set to any one with the lovely Trumpeter kit. Review sample courtesy of

Roma - Photo Etch Detail Set for Trumpeter Kit 1:700 Eduard When Trumpeter announced their 1:700 Roma in 2011, it made a great many modellers, including this one, very happy indeed. Whilst the wartime navies of Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States have been relatively well represented in our hobby, the navies of some of the other nations, including Italy, have not. Add to that the fact that the Vittorio Veneto class were particularly handsome battleships, and you have yourself a winning formula. Trumpeter’s kit doesn’t disappoint either, being both well detailed and accurate. Although the Trumpeter kit includes a small fret of photo etched parts for the aircraft crane, funnel caps and some other smaller bits and pieces, there are still an awful lot of fine details that can be added to further enhance the basic kit. This is where Eduard step in. Their set includes a range of small detail parts including the anchor fittings and chains, cable reels, ladders and stairways. Also included on the fret are parts for the ships numerous lifeboats and the catapult for the aircraft. A few doors have been provided, but not enough to cover the entire ship. This is more a testament to the quality of Trumpeter’s kit that anything else. As you would expect, Eduard have also included a full set of railings. Although these items can be quite fiddly and frustrating to use, they really do add a spectacular finishing touch to the model. Unfortunately Eduard have chosen to manufacture these without a third rail to connect the stanchions at the base. This means that the railings will have minimal contact with the plastic – a feature which will make them much more difficult to fix in place. I’m not sure why Eduard have elected to use this approach. It was a feature of some of their earlier 1:700 sets, such as those for the Tamiya Scharnhorst and King George V, but their more recent sets seem to have adopted the three bar approach used by other manufacturers. Conclusion Nothing finishes a model warship off better than a set of fine photo etched parts. In this set Eduard have included almost everything you could want to complete the Trumpeter kit, from the railings, down to the cable reels. Setting aside my reservations about the railings, if you have this kit or are thinking of getting it, then this set can be recommended. Review sample courtesy of