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  1. Ahoy, friends of the adhesive guild. Back to my roots, building model ships. It was a nice excursion into the Star Wars universe and I had a lot of fun. But now I’m looking forward to a real ship that I’ve had in the pipeline for a long time. The pre dreadnought battleship Mikasa of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). I know, nothing new for most. There are so many construction reports about this boat and yet it remains a must for me. And that for two reasons. First there is the shape of the hull. Really archaic. Reminds me of a Greek trireme because of the suggested ram. I like it incredibly much. And on deck everything on this ship is so different than on my Bismarck, for example. Secondly, I don’t just have a Pontos Detail Up Set for this model. No, as a bonus there is also the MK1 Deluxe package from KA Models. There are a few details that are missing from Pontos. Probably not researched thoroughly enough, or what?!. But more on that later. Well, it’s going to be an etching orgy in the very first cabin. What fun. Then I would like to introduce you to the available material for this project. First of all, the model. This is available from a number of manufacturers such as I Love Kit, Wave Corporation or HobbyBoss. But everything is definitely Trumpeter, which you can see immediately when you open the box. After all, my Mikasa comes from Merit International. It’s amazing how many names this model is sold under. The picture shows the box from the company I Love Kit, as I no longer have mine. Of course there is also my favorite etched part set from Pontos. And now I’m exaggerating, I know, but this model also comes with the MK1 Deluxe package from Ka Models. I’ll explain what motivated me to do this later in my construction report. Unfortunately there isn’t much from Veteran Models for this model, but at least this: This time the figures come from the company ION, which I appropriately won as a prize for my Bismarck. It is still incomprehensible to me that the manufacturers, regardless of whether it is the model or the expensive aftermarket products, that anchor chains have double bar links. So they became worried. Let’s move on to another exquisite accessory. Discovered in one of the many construction reports about the Mikasa. These fantastic dinghies from Micro Master from New Zealand. A little dream. So, this is the first list of ingredients for my new project. Although I can’t or don’t want to rule out the possibility that one or two particles could come along. On to the next two years of fun.
  2. Subject exclusively concerning the assembly of this 71-metre ferry. The subject of the design of the model is here: I can start the assembly even if the upper deck that we could call the walkway bridge is not designed yet, which would not be long in coming. The goal of the project is to moor the Nomadic to the Titanic, as it did in Cherbourg before it left for Ireland, in order to transship passengers. Part of the assembly of the accessories must be done before the gluing of the half shells, afterwards it will be impossible to come back to it. The Nomadic will be held to the Titanic by two piano ropes inserted in each ship. Everything will be dismountable. The Nomadic or the Titanic can be exposed alone as needed. The piano ropes will have another function, that of driving the 12 v continuous from ship to ship for lighting the Nomadic, the more on one rope the less on the other. No unsightly wires therefore. Once the piano strings are removed, the holes will be two of the many cooling water or sewage outlets on both ships. So I cut two brass tubes to insert them into the hull, they will serve as guide bearings for the piano strings. I soldered well for the front tube a very thin transformer copper wire, this wire is very thin and very good conductor at least for the milliamps consumed by the two leds that will be used to simulate a main deck lighting. No need for more in my opinion, it must be low in intensity, hot leds (yellow) of course. For the stern as I have a central bulkhead at this level I had to solder the wire after gluing it inside, then I soldered by putting the iron in the hull, a bit sporty... The tubes: A little coating remains to be applied to integrate the tube to the hull, we will see that fire after painting. Both wires, the + at the front, the less at the back. SE also poses the problem of glass in the end ports of the main deck. So I thought of Rhodoïd packing material to design them. It's port is not very accessible, it's impossible to glue directly a plate. The idea came to me to make a frame in Rhodoïd, which thanks to its flexibility will come to stick two of these faces on the ports giving the illusion of a glass. It will first have to paint at least the surrounds of the ports in white, because it would otherwise be impossible to paint with aerosol without putting some on the glass once the half-shells are glued. Once painted, I could mask the openings with either tape to paint the rest, in two steps. For the ports more in the center, it's the same, but there I have access to glue the transparent... The parts are starting to pile up, I printed sometimes 4 copies, to have spare parts in case of breakage and for several copies. The last parts like the mast and its scales were well printed, the bar a little less because it is very thin, the compass is really beautiful. The gratings are also well done, we can see the micro-holes that should not be filled with paint... Navigation light lantern Compass. Grating.
  3. Ahoy everyone. So as promised, here are the fruits of my labor after two and a half years of construction. All that's left for me to do is wish you a lot of fun looking at the pictures.
  4. Here I show the construction of my Bismarck model from the Trumpeter brand in the scale 1:200. The Pontos Detail Up Set “Advanced” is used for optimal detailing of the model. Various Veteran Models sets and all sorts of other aftermarket accessories do the rest. Not to mention a bunch of styrene profiles for scratch building and the famous leftovers box. I’m trying to create a model that shows the period from April 1941 to about 80% historically correct. I worked on the model for almost two and a half years and it was finished in October last year. I ended up here with you through a friend and will enter some pictures of the construction here during the days. This is the start The torso needs my attention first. Portholes have to be built up and the cooling water intakes have to be added. The original kit is missing the sacrificial anodes on the shaft pants. I had decided to apply the Baltik camouflage scheme. She simply looks her best this way. But I didn't know what work there would be on the superstructure. The wooden deck of Pontos simply looks authentic. Then comes the swastika in the aircraft identification, which is banned in Germany. Naturally painted, no decal. This way you can better see the grain of the wood. Then the first fine details of Pontos come onto the lower superstructure. A close-up of this fan shows the depth Pontos brings to the model. And the rear superstructure. And then the ship comes onto its final stand, as the superstructure is glued to the deck next. Camouflage stripes painted and on the deck. Now I continued at the bow and laid anchor. Note the double bridge chains. With an aftermarket product as expensive as Pontos', you'd think they'd be included. But far from it, only normal jewelry chains are included. At the end of the first part, my self-created paravans for the companionways. I made them out of diluted wood glue and tissue. Jölle
  5. The last ship I built was ORP "Garland" from MM, and that was in 1986. At that time the ship was in a uniform gray paint job and here suddenly appeared the same version and in camouflage. And so something touched me, nostalgia as I saw in the display case of this already aged gray ORP "Garland" from my childhood days, that I decided to build it again and that is in camouflage. What and how it will come out of it we will see at the finish. And now the shipyard is moving.
  6. Hi all Here is my 1:200 model of the RAF’s newest acquisitions the Poseidon MRA.1 I used the Hasegawa P-8A Poseidon kit (10830) and Draw Decal RAF Poseidon MRA.1 set (20s-737-176) I finished it in markings of the first Poseidon received by the RAF ZP801 based at RAF Lossiemouth with 120 SQD i used Xtracolor X301 Boeing Grey for the main colour and Tamiya paints for all other parts Thanks for looking and Happy Modelling
  7. IJN Pre-Dreadnought Mikasa 1:200 Hobbyboss History Mikasa is a pre-dreadnought battleship built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) in the late 1890s, and was the only ship of her class. Named after Mount Mikasa in Nara, Japan, the ship served as the flagship of Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō throughout the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, including the Battle of Port Arthur on the second day of the war and the Battles of the Yellow Sea and Tsushima. Days after the end of the Russo-Japanese War, Mikasa's magazine accidentally exploded and sank the ship. She was salvaged and her repairs took over two years to complete. Afterwards, the ship served as a coast-defence ship during World War I and supported Japanese forces during the Siberian Intervention in the Russian Civil War. After 1922, Mikasa was decommissioned in accordance with the Washington Naval Treaty and preserved as a museum ship at Yokosuka. She was badly neglected during the post-World War II Occupation of Japan and required extensive refurbishing in the late 1950s. She is now fully restored as a museum ship and can be visited at Mikasa Park in Yokosuka. Mikasa is the last remaining example of a pre-dreadnought battleship anywhere in the world The design of Mikasa was a modified version of the Formidable-class battleships of the Royal Navy with two additional 6-inch guns. Mikasa had an overall length of 432 feet, a beam of 76 feet, and a normal draught of 27 feet 2 inches. She displaced 15,140 tons at normal load. The crew numbered about 830 officers and enlisted men. The ship was powered by two vertical triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one propeller, using steam generated by 25 Belleville boilers. The engines were rated at 15,000 indicated horsepower, using forced draught, and designed to reach a top speed of 18 knots although Mikasa proved to be faster during her sea trials in December 1901. The ship reached a top speed of 18.45 knots using 16,341 indicated horsepower. She carried a maximum of 2,000 tons of coal which allowed her to steam for 9,000 nautical miles at a speed of 10 knots. Mikasa's main battery consisted of the same four Elswick Ordnance Company 40-calibre twelve-inch guns used in all of the preceding Japanese battleships. They were mounted in twin-gun barbettes fore and aft of the superstructure that had armoured hoods to protect the guns. The hydraulically powered mountings could be loaded at all angles of traverse while the guns were loaded at a fixed angle of +13.5°. They fired 850-pound projectiles at a muzzle velocity of 2,400 ft/s. The ship's secondary armament consisted of fourteen 45-calibre 6-inch quick-firing guns mounted in casemates. Ten of these guns were positioned on the main deck and the other four guns were placed above them at the corners of the superstructure. They fired 100-pound shells at a muzzle velocity of 2,300 ft/s. Protection against torpedo boat attacks was provided by twenty QF 12-pounder 12 cwt guns. Lighter guns consisted of eight 47-millimetre three-pounder Hotchkiss guns and eight 2.5-pounder Hotchkiss guns. The ship was also equipped with four submerged 18-inch torpedo tubes, two on each broadside. The waterline armour belt of Mikasa consisted of Krupp cemented armour that had a maximum thickness of 9 inches over the middle of the ship. It was only 4 inches thick at the ends of the ship and was surmounted by a six-inch strake of armour that ran between the barbettes. The barbettes were 14 inches thick, but reduced to six inches at the level of the lower deck. The armour of the barbette hoods had a thickness of 8–10 inches. The casemates protecting the secondary armament were 2–6 inches thick and the deck armour was 2–3 inches in thickness. The forward conning tower was protected by 14 inches of armour, but the aft conning tower only had four inches of armour. Mikasa, like all the other Japanese battleships of the time, was fitted with four Barr & Stroud FA3 coincidence rangefinders that had an effective range of 8,000 yd. In addition the ships were also fitted with 24-power magnification telescopic gun-sights. The Model Originally released by Merit International in her 1905 fit, Hobbyboss have now released her as she was completed in 1902. The large top opening box with a very nice painting of the ship at anchor, contains 19 sprues, and four separate parts, all in a light grey styrene, one black stand, five sheets of etched brass, a length of chain and a smallish decal sheet. Whilst not having the Merit kit to compare it with I have checked the hull and fittings with my book on Japanese Battleships by R A Burt. From what I can see Hobbyboss have the hull correct, which makes a nice change, as their Trumpeter colleagues seem to have a problem with this area in their ship kits. The mouldings are superb, especially for what is still quite a large model, there is no sign of flash or other imperfections and a fair few moulding pips to clean up. The only real problems appear to be the masts and the yardarm positions in particular. The kit calls for the lower yardarms to be attached above the lower platforms, whereas all the pictures and photos show these were fitted below the platforms, easily remedied during the build. Talking of the build, construction begins with the gluing the two hull halves together, along with the three bulkheads, rudder and lower gun deck. This all produces a really strong hull and certainly won’t collapse when handled. The ten 6” mounts on the gun deck are then fitted, each pinned into place, while four two piece 3pdr guns, each with PE gun shield are also fitted to their respective positions, two forward and two aft. The three piece main deck is then added and the model turned over to fit the two bilge keels, four propeller shafts with separate A frames and the four propellers. Each of the PE guns shields around the 6” and 3pdr guns are made of PE, they come in alternate parts and can be posed open, (three parts) or closed up, a single part). The main deck is then fitted out with a variety of winches, skylights and decks houses, as well as the two funnel bases. The multitude of large ventilators, each made from six parts are the glued into their respective positions around the midships section, followed by more skylights, hatches and smaller winches. The lower front, lower rear and two centre sections of the main superstructure are then fitted, after which two mote 6” guns are fitted fore and aft of the upper deck and eight 3pdr guns amidships. Each of the openings for the guns are shielded by PE parts much like those on the lower gun deck and are also able to be posed open or closed. Two mezzanine decks are fitted with nine support columns then glued into place over the gun mounts. The upper front and rear sections of the upper deck are then attached. For the myriad of ships boats there are fourteen cradles made of plastic and four of PE, these are all positioned within the well that the upper gun deck bulkheads created. Four more large ventilators are assembled and fitted in the same area. Each of the eight boats are made up of multiple parts, the rowing boats can be assembled open or with canvas covers fitted, they are also fitted with PE rudders. The steam launches have separate boilers and masts, but can also be assembled with a canvas cover in place, whilst the steam pinnaces are fitted with three ventilators mast and PE rudder. The boats can be attached to their cradles later in the build to allow easier access to the boat deck. There are lots of deck furniture to fit next, these include hatches, windlasses, anchor chains, haws pipe covers, (PE),storage boxes, raised deck hatches with PE grilles, cleats, bollards, Jack staff, Ensign staff, and breakwaters. With these all in place, it’s onto the bridge and the armoured conning position, including separate roof and rear screen, also on the lower bridge deck are three small deck houses, two flag lockers and two, two piece 3pdr guns. On each side there two support frames for the upper bridge deck wings. The upper bridge deck is then fitted with ten support columns before being glued into position. The single piece command bridge is then attached, along with four mast stay blocks. The same procedure is carried out for the aft positioned auxiliary steering position. The bridge and aft positions are then fitted with searchlights, binnacles, rangefinders, and PE cross braces for the outboard wing supports. The two bridge decks are also fitted with their respective railings, and inclined ladders, all made of PE. The main gun turrets are assembled next, each being made up from a turret base, onto which the four separate trunnion mounts and two guns are fitted. The turret is then slid over the guns and glued to the base, being finished off with three unidentifiable parts to the roof. The two masts are then assembled, each should be the same, but remember to fit the lower yardarm beneath the lower observation/gun platform. They are each made up from three mast sections, two platforms several PE support braces, two yardarms, a gaff, and a 20m boat handling crane. The lower platforms are fitted with two 3pdr guns, while the upper platform has a single searchlight. The two funnels are next to be assembled. Each one is made up from two halves into which the inner top section is sandwiched. Two steam pipes are fitted to the forward funnel, while the aft has three. The forward funnel also has a platform attached to its forward face to which two pipe are attached from below and two horns are fitted to the upper surface which is surrounded by a PE railing. Both funnels have a PE ring which needs to be rolled to shape before being attached, followed by the funnel cap grille. Both are then glued to their bases, before being attached to their respective positions on the boat/upper gun deck. The masts and main turrets are also fitted at this point. The mezzanine decks are fitted with eight 3pdr gun assemblies before the main railings are attached. The main deck railings are also fitted at this point, along with the main anchors in their stowage areas, their handling cranes. There are several derricks on each side of the hull which I presume are for handling the anti-torpedo netting which is provided in folded form in PE, as well as their associated storage decking which is also PE. Life-ring containers are folded to shape and a lifering added before being attached to their locations on the main hull. Four boat davits are fitted wither side of the boat deck and eight anti-torpedo net booms attached to the low down, near the waterline. Either side of the quarterdeck are four more davits onto which are attached four more of the ships boats. As with the previous boat assemblies, these can be assembled either open or with their canvas covers fitted. The two PE accommodation ladders are folded to shape, assembled and fitted either side of the quarterdeck and lastly, but by no means least, the prominent three piece covered walkway is added to the stern, and fitted with the ships name plate. Above the walkway is a small PE platform which, once attached completes the build, with the exception of painting and all the rigging has been added. The kit comes with a large black plastic stand, a name plate backplate and the name plate in etched brass, which is a nice touch. Decals The smallish decal sheet contains two Ensigns, one straight, the other as if flapping in the breeze. Not quite sure why they have done this, but in their infinite wisdom Hobbyboss have made the flags quite complex in that the sun, and the sun’s rays on either side have been printed separately which could be fun to get right. I presume it’s to prevent bleed through but I’ve not seen any other manufacturer do this. The other decals on the sheet include the prominent funnel bands and the ships name. Conclusion The last pre-dreadnought in existence deserves it’s place in maritime lore, and it’s great to see this ship given the 1:200 treatment, as it’s the perfect scale for what is in fact quite a small ship. Once built, it will look superb in any collection, but I suggest you invest in a nice case to keep the dust off it. There are a number of upgrades for this ship produced by the likes of Mk1 Design if you wish to take it to the next level, but with all the etch that’s included some modellers may feel that is a little extravagant, That said, it could certainly do with a wooden deck and turned barrels, such as those reviewed HERE. Review sample courtesy of
  8. Here I would like to show you this classic airliner before the wide bodies were available. The kit is from Nitto and has also been on the market under the Doyusha label (afaik). The kit's decals were quite ok, but I did not like the liveries (KLM and JAL). So Draw decals came to the rescue with this colourful livery. The specialists among the audience may have noticed, that Aeromexico did not use the -61, but the -63 with slightly different engines. But I hope nobody else will notice... The Cockpit glazing was not usable. So I had to use filler and had to sand it. The decals from Draw were also useful here. I hope you like this sleek airliner. Any comment is welcome. cheers, Norbert
  9. Oh no...not another Airliner! Yes, and there is more to come. Here is a very colourful addition to my collection. In the early Noughties (2002-2006...) JAS painted there Aircraft in a very colourful manner. When I saw this kit, I just had to have it. Well, as usual, older Hasegawa decals tend to be brittle and this one was no exception. The decals reacted to softening fluid in a very unusual way. they wrinkled, but stayed that way even after drying. So I had to do some repair work with a lot of Colour mixing and painting at some Areas. It took some trials until I was satisfied with the results. I added an APU inlet just aft of the side tail, which will open when the APU is started. I got some MD-80s by Hasegawa in a similar livery and I am Looking Forward to Building them hoping for less difficulties... I like this scale especially for the big airliners. They are a lot easier to handle. cheers, Norbert
  10. HMS Hood Parts 6 and 7 1:200 Eduard Continuing their releases of etched sets for the huge 1:200 HMS Hood from Trumpeter, Eduard have released the last two sets. The first, (No.6) covers the ships superstructure, the second, and final one for review, (No.7), for the main top. Part 6 (53-194) – Superstructure. This two sheet set contains numerous parts to upgrade the kits superstructure, including the many water tight doors, each made up from two parts, deck hatches, vertical ladders, vents, and skylights. There are also new parts for platform supports, splinter shields, yards and wind deflectors. Mainy of the deck houses are almost completely replaced, I almost as the roof sections need to be cut away and used with the new PE sidewalls. The biggest problem with the set is that it’s been designed to be used on the kit funnels, the forward one of which has been shown to be the wrong size. So, if you’re a detail nut, and if you’re using these sets that’s a given, then you will need to get hold of the replacement funnel set from the likes of www.scalemodelwarships.com. The rear funnel is fine and you can use the parts from this set which includes new internals to the funnel top. Before using the PE, read the instructions carefully as there are quite a few areas of kit detail that needs to be removed before the PE can be added. Part 7 (53-197) – Main Top. Although this two sheet set is for the main top, it also includes many other details for the forward section of the superstructure, including the lower armoured bridge, such as watertight doors, sections of the bridge not included in the kit, splinter shields, railings, wind deflectors, brackets, support braces, and end bulkheads. The main top itself is provided with new window frames, star platform, star support braces, vertical ladders, doors, railings, access walkway and railing, a whole new lookout section, upper mast platform and supports. Once again, read the instructions carefully to ensure you are removing the correct sections of the kit before adding the PE parts. Conclusion Although the prices of these sets seem to inexorably rise, they are perfect for super detailing this mighty kit. At least the modeller has the option of how much detail you wish to add, rather than buying one large set. These two sets are more than that mentioned on the pack labels and really do look the business. Review sample courtesy of
  11. HMS Hood 1:200 Eduard Continuing their releases of etched sets for the huge 1:200 HMS Hood from Trumpeter, Eduard have released the next three sets. The first, (No.3) covers the ships railings, the second, (No.4), is for the ships life rafts and boats, the final one for this review, (No.5), ships deck fittings. Part 3 (53-189) – Ships Railings. This single large sheet contains a complete ships complement of railings, including all decks and platforms, some of which will need to be modified to accept the PE parts. The prominent quad of inclined ladders and their landings are also included, as are several braces for the smaller platforms Part 4 (53-190) – Ships boats and rafts. This two sheet set is for all the ships boats and not only provides details of the kit life rafts, but includes addition rafts as well. This is a very comprehensive set covering each boat with a multitude of new or replacement parts. Each of the motor boats receives new decks, deck gratings, cabins, handrails, breakwaters, internal bulkheads, seats, stern rails, bow rails, propellers and rudders. Some of the boats have up to twenty two PE parts to add. The story is the same for the cutters, but with slightly fewer parts. Each has new thwarts, deck gratings, rudders, and a plethora of oars. Even the ships dinghy is given the PE treatment with new centre board case, gunwhales and grating. The ships davits are also provided for with the griping spar, davit span, lifelines, block and tackle for each end, including lines, and jumping nets. Of the ships main boats, the motor boats, motor cutters and cutters etc. there are a complete set of cradles, each made from for pieces of PE. For the life rafts there are new paddles and gratings, and there are some new rafts in the form of square two piece rafts, of which there are twenty. Part 5 (53-193). Deck. Another large two sheet set which covers a multitude of areas with items such as a new breakwaters, complete with all supports and fittings, new anchor plates, and new capstan details. Then there are the enormous number of new deck hatches and watertight doors, some of which even have separate dog clips. A lot of kit detail will need to be removed first, before the PE can be glued into place, but the effort is worth it. The set also includes new doors for each of the ready use lockers, hatches for the deck skylights and a range of different sized cable reels, for which you have to make the drum from plastic rod. There are also several platforms and fittings for B and X turrets, but you will have to check your references to see if they fit in with your build dates. Finally each of the mushroom ventilators has a grille to be fitted, as do the vertical vents. Conclusion Although the prices of these sets seem to inexorably rise, they are perfect for super detailing this mighty kit. At least the modeller has the option of how much detail you wish to add, rather than buying one large set. The railings are probably the most important set you could buy as without these, most models just don’t look right. Review sample courtesy of
  12. IJN Pre-Dreadnought Mikasa Gun Set 1:200 Master Models As the number of 1:200 scale warships increases so does the number of sets that Master Models release. This set is for the Merit International IJN Pre-Dreadnought Mikasa, but should also be ok to use on the recently released Hobbyboss kit. They are well up to the standard we’ve come to expect from Master Models. [200-009] This set is a combination of turned brass and aluminium barrels, the larger items, such as the four 305mm and the fourteen 152mm are aluminium, whereas the twenty 76mm and twelve 47mm are in brass. The 305mm main guns also have brass trunnions, which are inserted into the hole near the rear of the barrel, these then fit into the kit trunnion mounts. All the barrels are so cleanly machined, so it’s quite unusual to find any swarf or imperfections, although there are one or two of the 152mm barrels in this particular set that will need some swarf to be cleaned off before use, fortunately this is only found around the joining pin, so doesn’t affect the look of the barrels. Conclusion Even in this large scale, injection moulding cannot always get the look and size of the barrels quite right, and this is where these amazing sets come into their own. Being meal they also have that “weighty” look that is difficult to explain, but you know when you see it. Review sample courtesy of Piotr at
  13. HMS Hood 1:200 Eduard The huge 1:200 HMS Hood from Trumpeter has been out for a while now, but it was only a matter of time till Eduard got it in their sights. So, here they are; well, the first two sets at least from a total of six. The first covers the AA weaponry and rocket launchers, while the second deals with the radars. Part 1 (53187) – AA Guns and Rocket Launchers. This two sheet set contains, naturally everything you’ll need to super detail all the AA weaponry, this includes the 4” turrets. Each of the different weapons are covered to a greater or lesser degree, but all will benefit from having the extra parts. The quad 50 call mounts receive new seat, foot rests, shield, sight and ammunition canisters. The RP mounts get a replacement rocket cage, new side panel, interior detail and armoured door, which can be posed open to show off the new interior. The 4” turrets, receive a completely new gun shield, elevation gears, elevation guides, seats, control wheels, shell handling trays, breech handles, and many other details, amounting to a total of forty five parts. The octuple PomPoms ammunition trays are assembled next, all eight of them. The only kit parts used in the construction of the PomPoms are the mounting base, barrel block and elevation end plates. All the rest is replaced or added to in PE. There are total of forty one parts, just for the mounting, without the ammunition trays. Part 2 (53188) – Radars. Although called the radar set, it’s a bit of a misnomer as is also includes new details for the six searchlights, including new body, grille, grille crosspieces, mounting plate, support yolk, hand wheels, sights and hinge plates. The secondary directors need to be carefully hollowed out, before a new interior can be fitted, along with a new sight port, sight doors, and pedestal mounted electrical boxes. There are new arms for the two semaphores and new grilles for the two aldis lamps. The air defence observers, (ADO), pedestal mounted binoculars, are provided with new mounting fixtures, while the pedestal is given new mounting plates, the six searchlight sights, (SLS) are each made up entirely of new PE parts, some of which have to be carefully rolled to shape. The air lookout observers, (ALO), are completely replaced with PE parts, mounting, upright, binocular mount and seat. The captains sight, (CS) is given three PE parts to give it a better look. The main armament director is fitted out with the two main aerials for the Type 284 radar. Each array is made up of support frames, the curved radar backplane and the gridded, front plate, a vertical access ladder to the director roof is also added. The Type 279 radar array that is fitted to the main mast uses the kits mast head pole, to which the two aerials are slid on to with the supports between them and the wave guide attached to the base. The PomPom directors are fitted with no less than thirteen parts, leaving just the central pedestal from the kit. The compass and bridge platforms are also given the Eduard treatment before the various ALO, SLS, ADO, PPD and CS assemblies are fitted into their respective positions. Conclusion There have been a number of large, very detailed sets released for the might Hood kit, but these are very expensive and out of reach for some modellers. These sets and the four yet to be released will give the kit a much need boost in detail, yet suitable for those on a smaller budget. They also give the modeller choice on exactly how much extra detail they want to add. Review sample courtesy of
  14. HMS Hood Splinter Shields Scalewarships.com 1:200 The set also includes the raised shields either side of the main turret mounting, bridge shields, bridge windows, and also replacement bridge overhangs, should you damage them whilst fitting the bridge shields. As with the degaussing cable set reviewed HERE, this set also goes to replace the incorrect parts of the ship that are most noticeable. In this case it’s some of the splinter shields. Namely the ends of the mid shelter deck 4” gun turret shield, the aft quarter shields, and three areas of the aftermost shield, also on the shelter deck. The offending kit mouldings will need to be carefully shaved off and replaced with the PE parts, which also include the inner face supports. Conclusion This is another very useful and cheap way to improve on this epic kit, along with the degaussing cable and the new funnel set, due in time for Telford, this is great way for the budget conscious modeller to improve their model.
  15. HMS Hood Degaussing Cable Scalewarships.com 1:200 The release of the Trumpeter 1:200 scale HMS Hood was met with great excitement, even the gestation period before release seemed interminable. Unfortunately there are a few faults with the kit, on being the degaussing cable doesn’t go where it should. To that end Robin at Scalewarships.com has produced this set just to replace the errant kit item. The single sheet of relief etched brass contains enough cable to go round the whole ship with the correct routing around the hawse pipes. Naturally, being 1:200 it’s still quite a large sheet yet will take some care and patience to fit correctly. You will need to read the instruction carefully as there is a particular order to fit the cables. The diagram in the instructions shows you what’s what, so stick to it. Each of the anchor fairings is handed, the shorter one being fitted to the port side. There are number of supports included that need to be added to the inner face of each fairing and the cat heads and pulleys, also included in the set, to be added. Conclusion This is a very nice and easy to use set which would add some much needed detail to this great kit and correct the slight flaws in the kit items. It is also considerably cheaper than buying the big sets out there, some of which aren’t accurate themselves. So if you just want to correct the most glaring mistakes, this and the next two releases will be the way to go.
  16. HMS Hood Trumpeter 1:200 HMS Hood (pennant number 51) was the last battlecruiser built for the Royal Navy. Commissioned in 1920, she was named after the 18th-century Admiral Samuel Hood. One of four Admiral-class battlecruisers ordered in mid-1916, Hood had serious design limitations, though her design was drastically revised after the Battle of Jutland and improved while she was under construction. For this reason she was the only ship of her class to be completed. As one of the largest and, ostensibly, the most powerful warships in the world, Hood was the pride of the Royal Navy and, carrying immense prestige, was known as ‘The Mighty Hood’. She was involved in several showing the flag exercises between her commissioning in 1920 and the outbreak of war in 1939, including training exercises in the Mediterranean Sea and a circumnavigation of the globe with the Special Service Squadron in 1923 and 1924. She was attached to the Mediterranean Fleet following the outbreak of the Second Italo-Abyssinian War. When the Spanish Civil War broke out, Hood was officially assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet until she had to return to Britain in 1939 for an overhaul. By this time, advances in naval gunnery had reduced Hood's usefulness. She was scheduled to undergo a major rebuild in 1941 to correct these issues, but the outbreak of World War II in September 1939 forced the ship into service without the upgrades. When war with Germany was declared, Hood was operating in the area around Iceland, and she spent the next several months hunting between Iceland and the Norwegian Sea for German commerce raiders and blockade runners. After a brief overhaul of her propulsion system, she sailed as the flagship of Force H, and participated in the destruction of the French Fleet at Mers-el-Kebir. Relieved as flagship of Force H, Hood was dispatched to Scapa Flow, and operated in the area as a convoy escort and later as a defence against a potential German invasion fleet. In May 1941, she and the battleship Prince of Wales were ordered to intercept the German battleship Bismarck and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, which were en route to the Atlantic where they were to attack convoys. On 24 May 1941, early in the Battle of the Denmark Strait, Hood was struck by several German shells, exploded and sank. Due to her perceived invincibility, the loss had a profound effect on the British people. The Royal Navy conducted two inquiries into the reasons for the ship's quick demise. The first, held very quickly after the ship's loss, concluded that Hood's aft magazine had exploded after one of Bismarck's shells penetrated the ship's armour. A second inquiry was held after complaints that the first board had failed to consider alternative explanations, such as an explosion of the ship's torpedoes. It was more thorough than the first board and concurred with the first board's conclusion. Despite the official explanation, some historians continued to believe that the torpedoes caused the ship's loss, while others proposed an accidental explosion inside one of the ship's gun turrets that reached down into the magazine. Other historians have concentrated on the cause of the magazine explosion. The discovery of the ship's wreck in 2001 confirmed the conclusion of both boards, although the exact reason the magazines detonated will always be a mystery since that area of the ship was entirely destroyed in the explosion. The Model I think I’m right in saying this is one release that maritime modellers have been really looking forward to. Since Trumpeter started their 1:200 scale product line, the Hood was one ship that was always mooted to be included. Well, here she is in her beautiful, enormous glory. Arriving in a huge box with a great painting of the mighty Hood at sea on the front the sheer size of the box gives a hint at what is inside. Once the lid has been prized away the modeller is confronted with three smaller boxes and a flapped area which covers the single piece hull, the mould for which must be amazing to see. The hull is well protected by two cardboard supports and foam pieces at each end to ensure the delicate bow and stern aren’t subject to transportation damage. Inside the other three boxes are four separate deck sections, three for the main deck and one for the shelter deck, twenty sprues, eight separate superstructures/deckhouses and four separate propellers, all in a grey styrene. There are also seven sheets of etched brass, four metal rods, a length of chain, and a smallish decal sheet. As with most Trumpeter kits the moulding of all the parts is superb, with no signs of flash or other imperfections, which is quite amazing considering the size of some of the parts, although there are quite a few moulding pips which will require extra cleaning up and the propeller blades have a slightly annoying tag on their outer edges, as you will see in the accompanying photographs. Unfortunately, also as with a lot of Trumpeter kits there are some really annoying inaccuracies, which is strange, since they did so well with their 1:350 scale kit. Whilst some are easily handled, like the rubbing down of the rather too prominent hull plates, although the hull itself is generally correct, there are also those which are a bit more difficult to rectify, namely the different sized funnels where they should be the same. Hopefully someone will release a fix for this, or it may be time to try some scratch-building. Over it is pretty accurate though, with a few minor problems, which are best noted in the excellent review by the HMS Hood association, HERE Construction begins with the fitting of the six strengthening braces into the hull; topped off with the fore deck, centre deck and quarterdeck. On the underside the propeller shaft exit glands are attached, followed by the metal shafts, A frames, propellers, ensuring you have the correct propellers on each side as they are handed, and the single rudder. Turing the hull the right side up, six parts of the rear superstructure are attached to the rear of the centre deck, along with four cable reels which are a combination of PE and plastic, followed by a selection of vents, hatches and upper deck supports. The large, single piece shelter deck is then fitted atop of the superstructure parts, also covering the join between the foredeck and centre deck. The lower bridge structure is fitted with bottom sections of the mast supports, a pair of three piece paravanes, six boat booms, four Carley floats and some small platforms, before being glued into position. The shelter deck is then fitted out with numerous ventilator mushrooms, inclined ladders, and derricks, whilst a large boat boom is fitted to either side of the hull amidships. The cradles for the ships boats are then added to the shelter deck, followed by yet more ventilators, chimneys and a pair of large ammunition hatches. The sixteen small ready use lockers and seventeen cable reels are then assembled and glued into position, followed by the thirty five large ready use lockers. On the foredeck, the anchor chain windlasses, four smaller windlasses, and main breakwater are attached, along with the breakwaters either side of B turret. Then more mushroom vents, windlass, lockers and chain pipes are fitted, followed by the large vents around both B turret barbette and the armoured control tower base, which also has three winches fitted to the deck around it. The four piece anchors are then assembled and fitted to the hawse pipes, followed by two lengths of chain and two deckhouses attached to the rear of the main breakwater. The quarterdeck is similarly fitted out with mushroom vents, although not quite so many, winches, large vents around X turret barbette and the prominent inclined ladders either side of the rear superstructure, as well as the square scuttles sited nearby. Back on the foredeck there are several derricks fitted, along with the Jackstaff, cleats, and bollards. Similar fittings are attached to the quarter deck, along with the Ensign staff, as you can see the instructions bounce around a little. The build then moves onto the superstructure, with the assembly of the sundry parts fitted to the rear funnel base, as well as Carley floats, winches and two of the smaller ships boats, a smaller tower structure is attached, and fitted with two, two piece wireless arms. The after tower structure at the end of the shelter deck is a single piece item and is fitted with a number of platforms and their associated supports, the after main armament director, made up from nine parts, two large intakes, two six piece searchlights and one of three, eleven piece AA directors, one large and two small Carley floats. The two structures are then glued to their respective positions. The shelter deck is then fitted with more hatches, intakes and five deckhouses. The four searchlight platforms, two either side of the aft tower and two alongside the aft funnel are fitted along with their searchlights, whilst the aft PomPom platform and two quad machine gun platforms along with their seven piece mounts are glued into position. The base of the bridge tower is attached to the tops of three deckhouses, behind which the four flag lockers are fitted on either side of the forward shelter deck there are two observers binoculars, and aldis lamp, a large signal lamps, a semaphore pole and a quad machine gun mount. Two large and two small directors/rangefinders are also fitted near the signal lamps. The armoured tower and deck structure are then glued into position, followed by the tower roof and the large six piece director/rangefinder. Onto the deck, three deckhouses are fitted, along with four inclined ladders and a vertical ladder. The bridge itself is a single piece part, and is fitted out with sixteen observers binoculars, two AA directors, two searchlights, three further decks the lower mast supports, foremast, the complex PE foremast starfish structure, top mast, lower yardarm, inclined ladders, vertical ladders, and main armament director. The funnels are next on the assembly line, and whilst the rear funnel is the wrong size, most modellers will probably overlook this and build the kit straight out of the box. Each funnel is in two halves, which are then glued to the base, and fitted out with PE hand/foot rails, internal platform, spacers funnel cap and grilles, followed by the numerous uptakes fitted to the outside of each funnel. The main mast is next up and whilst the mast itself is a relatively simple build, the various fittings for the boat crane are PE parts, as is the complex starfish platform. The upper mast is attached to the platform and topped off with the Type 281 radar array. The crane is a single piece jib, PE hook assembly and PE cable assembly. Once complete the funnels, foremast and mainmast assemblies are glued to their respective positions, as are two smaller boat cranes fitted one each side of the rear funnel. There are thirteen large ships boats provided in the kit, a mixture of cutters and motor boats and each is made up from multiple parts, including propellers, propeller shafts, rudders, etc, but strangely the rowing boats are not provided with any oars. They may have been stored elsewhere when cruising, but it would have been nice to have some for interest. The completed boats are then attached to their respective cradles. Finally we come to the armament. There are four, six piece UP mountings, with the option of using PE or plastic parts to build them, six, seven piece four inch secondary turrets, and three, eighteen piece octuple 2pdr PomPoms. The main turrets are very nicely moulded, although perhaps a little deep. Each turret is made up from the turret, turret base, trunnion mounts, and two slide moulded gun barrels. Each turret is then fitted with a four piece rangefinder mounted to the rear, but only B turret is then fitted with a UP mounting platform that sits astride the rangefinder and X turret is fitted with two platforms that are attached to the starboard side of the turret roof. The completed armament is then fitted to the model. To complete the model, a full ships worth of railings is provided in PE, as well as four accommodation ladders, four Jacobs ladders and a pair of lifering quick release racks. Oh and of course the rigging and painting to the modellers taste. Decals For the size of the model, the decal sheet is actually quite small and contains only the ships two nameplates for the rear quarters and a selection of Union Jacks and White Ensigns in different sizes and in straight or wavy form along with two Vice Admiral’s pennants. They are nicely produced and appear to have a nice thin carrier film and to be in register. Conclusion It’s been a little while since this kit has been released, and its popularity has meant that we have only now been able to get hold of it. Overall impressions are very good, with the hull and most of the structure being pretty accurate overall. It’s just a shame that Trumpeter, once again, have snatched defeat from what would have been a great victory with the difference in funnel sizes even without the smaller discrepancies. It’s still a wonderful kit and with a super detail set from the likes of Pontos, who look like they are including a new resin funnel, and Mk1 Designs you can relatively easily produce an amazing, museum standard model. Review sample courtesy of UK Distributors for
  17. Colleagues: I am starting a new WIP on the recently-released Trumpeter 1:200 BB63, Missouri. I am using the opportunity offered by the release of this model, the Pontos PE and Trumpeter aftermarket parts, to try to improve my modeling skills. I am not an expert in any sense, but I am an amateur in the best sense. I love modeling and am at a place in my day job, my income, and my blood pressure that I can relax a bit more and devote time to what has been a very long hobby. I Live in Colorado, work in IT networking in a global association, and am just impressed as all get-out by the quality builders, the civility, and the class of the people on this list. Their patience with me (I was posting photos of my WIP in the middle of someone else's WIP...what a newbie goober I am!) is impressive--people on the 'net today don't usually tolerate any mistakes. I have my hull built and am working out the armament builds with the Pontos PE, and i am going to Best Buy to pick up a better camera. I welcome all your feedback, and am looking forward to being corrected lots of times--I learn best that way. I will ask questions, share frustrations, and I know this will take a while....my deadline inside is a few months, but I know I would like it ready for seasonal competitions/displays in the summer of 2015. Best regards, Rick Bauer
  18. HMS Rodney Trumpeter 1:200 HMS Rodney (pennant number 29) was one of two Nelson-class battleships built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1920s. The ship was named after Admiral Lord Rodney. The Nelsons were unique in British battleship construction, being the only ships to carry a main armament of 16-inch (406 mm) guns, and the only ones to carry all the main armament forward of the superstructure. As her superstructure was located aft of midships like RN fleet oilers whose names carried the ...'ol' suffix, she was sometimes derisively referred to as "Rodnol". Rodney was laid down on 28 December 1922, the same date as her sister ship Nelson. Construction of the ship was carried out at Birkenhead by Cammell-Laird shipyard, Launched on 17 December 1925 by Princess Mary Viscountess Lascelles after three attempts at cracking the bottle of Imperial Burgundy. Ship trials began in August 1927 and she was commissioned in November 1927, three months behind Nelson. The construction cost £7,617,799. The commissioning Commanding Officer in 1930 was Captain (later Admiral) Andrew Cunningham and Chief Engineering Officer was Lieutenant Commander (later Admiral) George Campbell Ross, son of Sir Archibald Ross, a marine engineer and pioneer of shipbuilding. From commissioning until World War II broke out in September 1939, Rodney spent the entire time with the British Atlantic Fleet or Home Fleet. In 1931, her crew joined the crews of other ships taking part in the Invergordon Mutiny. In October 1938 a prototype type 79Y radar system was installed on Rodney's masthead. She was the first battleship in the Royal Navy to be so equipped. In 1940 the type 79Y radar was replaced with type 279 and UP AA rocket projectors were fitted to 'B' and 'C' turrets, but removed in 1941 after concern about their safety and effectiveness. These were replaced by 35 single 20 mm Oerlikons over the next three years. Following the sinking of armed merchant cruiser HMS Rawalpindi on 23rd November 1939 by the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, Rodney hunted the enemy ships but developed serious rudder defects and was forced to return to Liverpool for steering gear repairs until 31st December. Rodney was damaged by German aircraft at Karmoy, near Stavanger on 9th April 1940, when hit by a 500 kg (1,102 lb) bomb that pierced the upper deck aft of the funnel, but did not explode and exited sideways after striking the armoured deck. On 13th September, she was transferred from Scapa Flow to Rosyth with orders to operate in the English Channel when the German invasion of Britain was expected. In November and December, Rodney was assigned convoy escort duties between Britain and Halifax, Nova Scotia. In January 1941, Rodney joined the hunt for the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, without success. On 16th March, however, while escorting a convoy in the North Atlantic, contact was made with the German battleships, but no battle followed, as the German ships turned away when they realised that they were facing superior firepower. In May 1941, while commanded by Captain Frederick Dalrymple-Hamilton, Rodney was ordered to sail to Canada, along with the ocean liner MV Britannic and four destroyers. Rodney was intended to travel on to the United States for repairs and refits; the ship carried a number of passengers, as well as additional materials, such as boiler tubes and anti-aircraft guns intended for use in her refit. Britannic was taking civilians to Canada and would be bringing Canadian troops and airmen back to Britain. It was during this run on 24 May that she was called on by the Admiralty to join in the pursuit of the German battleship Bismarck, leaving the destroyer Eskimo to escort Britannic and taking Somali, Mashona and Tartar with her in the search. Despite Admiral Sir John Tovey in the battleship King George V heading north-west due to a misinterpreted signal from the Admiralty, Dalrymple-Hamilton and his own 'Operations Committee' consisting of Captain Coppinger (newly appointed captain of the battleship Malaya, which was undergoing repairs in New York); Navigator, Lt.Cmdr. Galfrey George Gatacre RAN; USN Naval Attaché, Lt.Cmdr. Joseph Wellings; and Executive Officer, Cmdr. John Grindle, decided that Bismarck was, most likely, headed to Brest and so set course to the East to head Bismarck off, 'at some stages exceeding her designed speed by two knots', despite her engines being in need of an overhaul. On 26 May, she joined up with King George V, as Admiral Tovey had realised his mistake and doubled back. Tovey then sent the three remaining destroyers home because they were low on fuel, and had Rodney fall in behind King George V for the battle against Bismarck the next day. Early on the morning of 27 May 1941, along with the battleship King George V and the cruisers Norfolk and Dorsetshire, she engaged Bismarck, which had damaged rudder machinery due to a torpedo launched by the aircraft carrier Ark Royal's Swordfish bombers the day before. Unable to manoeuvre and listing to port, Bismarck scored no hits before her forward guns were knocked out, after which Rodney closed with Bismarck until she was firing on a virtually flat trajectory, and spotters could actually follow the shells to the target. One 16-inch shell was tracked from the gun to where it hit the face of Bismarck's turret Bruno and exploded, blowing out the back of the turret, with the resulting splinters killing most of the crew on the bridge. Rodney fired 340 16-inch shells, some in 9-gun broadsides, and 716 6-inch shells during the battle, scoring many hits from a range of under 3,000 yards (2,700 m) and inflicting most of the damage suffered by Bismarck, whose stern was blown off. During the battle, Rodney also fired twelve 24.5-inch (622 mm) torpedoes at Bismarck whilst zig-zagging across her bow; most of the torpedoes missed, but one hit Bismarck and exploded amidships on the starboard side, making Rodney the only battleship in history to have torpedoed another battleship, although Bismarck survived the hit by Rodney's torpedo. Rodney and King George V finally broke off the action; Dorsetshire was then ordered to finish Bismarck off with torpedoes. Rodney and King George V, running short on fuel, were ordered home, and were attacked by Luftwaffe bombers, who sank Mashona, but missed Tartar, with whom the battleships had rejoined. In September 1941, Rodney was stationed with Force H in Gibraltar, escorting convoys to Malta. In November, she returned home and was stationed in Iceland for a month and then underwent refit and repair until May 1942. After the refit, she returned to Force H, where she again escorted Malta convoys and took part in Operation Torch, the invasion of Northwest Africa. She was subsequently involved with the Invasion of Sicily and Salerno. From October 1943, she was in the Home Fleet, and took part in the Normandy invasion in June 1944, where she was controlled from the headquarters ship HMS Largs off Sword Beach. Her tasks included a 30-hour operation firing an occasional shell 22 miles (35 km) inland, to prevent a Panzer division from crossing a bridge. She also destroyed targets at Caen and Alderney. On 7th June 1944 a collision between Rodney and LCT 427 resulted in the loss of 13 Royal Navy seamen. In September 1944, she performed escort duties with a Murmansk convoy. During the entire war Rodney steamed over 156,000 nautical miles (289,000 km) with no engine overhaul after 1942. Because of the frequent machinery problems and the fact that Rodney had not been upgraded to the extent of her sister Nelson, starting in December 1944 she became the flagship of the Home Fleet based at Scapa Flow and rarely left her mooring. HMS Rodney was scrapped at Inverkeithing, starting on 26 March 1948 The Model The kit comes in a very large box with an artists impression of the ship at sea in its distinctive camouflage. In side all the sprues and other parts are contained in four additional boxes, each with a line drawing of the ship on the tops, whilst on side of the main box contains the large single piece hull held in place by two card supports and covered in a cardboard flap. As anyone who has seen this series of ship kits from Trumpeter will testify, they are big, really big. Even this kit of HMS Rodney, not the largest battleship by any means, is still over a metre in length. Although very similar, naturally, to the earlier HMS Nelson kit in the same scale it does feature the specific features of the original. The nicest addition is the catapult on C turret and the superb looking model of the Supermarine Walrus aircraft that sits on it. The ships crane is also a distinguishing feature when comparing the two ships; one is straight, whilst the Rodney's one has a cranked jib. The single piece hull and deck mouldings are pretty darn impressive and must take one heck of a mould to produce. Whilst both parts are nicely detailed, the hull plating is still a little too prominent, as with the Nelson kit, and the deck planking too symmetrical. The first is easily overcome with a little sanding, and once you have some primer and paint on the effect with be further diminished. The planking though, is something you will either have to live with, or buy one of the superb wooden decks that will surely be released for this kit shortly. The rest of the kit comes on twenty two sprues of medium grey styrene, with an additional six parts that are packed separately. There are also ten sheets of etched brass, two lengths of metal rod, a length of chain and a decal sheet. All the parts are beautifully moulded, with no signs of flash or other imperfections, but there are a fair few moulding pips which will add to the cleaning up of parts. Whilst the mouldings for the main and secondary armament have been produce using slide mould technology, the addition of turned brass or aluminium would have been something that could have been included. Theres not even an add-on set that includes these items, as produced for the USS Missouri and the forthcoming HMS Hood releases. Im sure it wont be long before the aftermarket companies will take up the challenge of producing them though. Construction begins with the drilling out of the holes in the main deck that are required to add the different parts required to build the Rodney, rather than the Nelson. Then its onto the assembly of the four searchlights, two light AA directors, six eight barrelled 2pdr PomPoms, ten winches, ten ammunition ready use lockers, two quad .5 machine gun, thirteen 20mm Oerlikon mounts and six 4.7 mounts. Each of these sub-assemblies is made up from a mixture of plastic and brass, some parts of which are still tiny, even in this scale, so patience will still be a virtue during the build. The build then moves onto the two Walrus aircraft, with each one being assembled from twenty one plastic parts plus six brass parts which make up the rigging wires. The six ships boats are also made from both plastic and brass parts with the exception of the two 32ft motor cutters, followed by the two main armament directors, and nine cable reels. The secondary armament, consisting of six twin 6 turrets are now built up, each from separate turret, turret base and two barrels, and then detailed with a variety of vertical ladders and Carley floats. The aircraft handling crane is built up from no less than twenty three parts and is probably as detailed as any plastic assembly can be, with the only PE part being the access ladder and platform. The catapult fitted to X turret for the most part is also all plastic, with the centre section being made up from fifteen parts, the aircraft cradle from an additional six parts and only the folding ends each being made up form two brass sections folded to shape. The big main armament turrets are next to be assembled, with each of the trunnion mounts, the three gun barrels and the trunnion bar being fitted to the turret base along with a bulkhead that sits behind the guns, followed by the fitting of the turret itself. This is then detailed with PE ladders, the rangefinder caps and in the case of B turret a Pom Pom mount, and C turret with the fitting of the catapult, two ships boats and a Walrus. Before fitting the main deck to the hull, there are three bulkheads fitted, to give both strength to the hull and some more support for the deck. With the hull upside down, the two bilge keels, single rudder, two shaft supports, the two metal shafts and the propellers are attached. Turning the hull over, the modeller then fits the multitude of windlasses, cleats, bollards, cable guides onto the foredeck, and ventilation trunks around the front of the B turret barbette. The main breakwater, three two piece anchors, secondary breakwater are then attached, whilst the ventilator trunking for around the rear of B turret barbette are fitted with PE grilles before being glued into position, followed by the third breakwater sections either side of B barbette. The fifty six small mushroom vents, are then fitted around the foredeck, followed by thirty five large vents, two 20mm gun tubs, and numerous deck hatches and lockers. Staying on the foredeck, the torpedo handling mast and two davits are fitted just aft of the first breakwater, followed by the jack staff, eight boat booms, two either side of A turret, two either side of C turret, eight cables reels six winches and two Oerlikons are fitted into the respective positions. Moving right aft, the procedure of fitting the various bollards, cleats, and mushroom vents continues, although there aren't quite so many of them. There is a chimney fitted between X turret and the superstructure and the Ensign staff at the stern. The Queen Annes Mansions, or bridge structure to most of us, is made up from a single piece main section, to which the side platforms, internal bays, four aldis lamps and six binocular stations are fitted. The next bridge level is attached, along with its six supports, and aldis lamp platforms. Some etch details are then added to the tower, with the addition of two inclined ladders, railings, and platform supports, followed by several sub-assemblies, including two Oerlikons, the two AA directors and two more aldis lamps. On the top of the bridge structure, there is a small tower, made up from three plastic parts and six PE parts. There is a tub at the top into which the seven piece Type 284 radar mounting. The tower is further detailed with the fitting of a two piece office to the rear, with associated railings and two other unidentifiable parts to the front. The foremast is the attached to the office platform and fitted with a gaff, railings and topped out with the forward Type 281 radar aerial. The main and secondary fire control directors are then attached to their respective mounts and fitted to the bridge roof, whilst to the rear, two more blocks and support beams are fitted. Further detail, such as the two .5 quad machine guns, yardarms, navigation lights, PE vertical ladders and railings are also attached. The build now moves onto the funnel, which is made from two halves, and internal structural part, base and funnel top surround, onto which the two piece PE funnel cap is attached. Near the funnel base, there are two lookout posts, each with PE support legs , whilst further up there is a double searchlight platform, with searchlight sub-assemblies, fitted to the rear of the funnel, a walkway to the front and then further enhanced with various vertical ladders, railings and the auxiliary exhaust chimneys. Moving further aft and the construction of the main mast begins with the fitting of the two rear legs to the main pole, between which a double platform is fitted, followed by another double platform glued to the rear of the twin support legs. The star platform is mainly plastic, with all the support braces in PE. This is then fitted to the top of the pole along with a large yardarm, two 0.5 quad machine guns, and two searchlights. The top mast is then attached and fitted with the rear Type 281 radar aerial, vertical ladders, and the Type 272 radar lantern, for which you will need to carefully role the PE parts to shape. The build now moves to the superstructure elements, with the fitting of 02 deck to 01, followed a lot more of the smaller, medium and large mushroom ventilators. The aft director block is assembled and topped out with two of the secondary directors and several vertical ladders before being glued into position. To the rear of the superstructure a Type 282 radar array is mounted, whilst in the centre section the cradles for eh ships boats are fitted. On 02 deck, yet more mushroom vents are fitted, along with five large engine intake screens, followed by the mainmast assembly which is finished off with the addition of a large PE inclined ladder. The large inverted cones in the kit are in fact the mountings for the forward pair of eight barrelled PomPoms and are fitted, along with the gun mounting bases and centrally fitted support structure, between where the funnel and bridge assemblies are fitted. The aft PomPom structure is more conventional and is fitted with a director tower before begin attached just forward of the Type 282 array. At the fore end of 02 deck the armoured director hood and control block are glued into position along with two more lookout stations on either side of the bridge position. The bridge and funnel assemblies are now glued into place along with two more intake screens and the large boat handling boom, which is fitted to the mainmast. A smaller deckhouse is fitted to eh aft Pompom platform and topped off with a double Oerlikon platform, whilst to the front of 02 deck three more Oerlikon tubs are fitted. Several areas are now fitted with PE railings. Four of the 4.7 guns, four PomPoms, and eight Oerlikons are fitted, along with the rear main armament director. The ship boats are fitted to their respective cradles and the various Carley floats are attached, as well as the two flag lockers on the bridge. More Carley floats are then fitted around 01 deck, plus ready use lockers, vent hatches and railings. The superstructure is then fitted to the main deck, although the build described above is the way the instructions tell you how to do it, I might add the superstructure first then add all the parts, but its entirely up to you how you build it. With the superstructure in place there are still plenty of smaller items to add, such as more vents, inclined ladders, hatches, the ships dinghy on its support cradle on the port side of the bridge structure, two more Oerlikon tubs and their guns, the rear mounted splinter shield for the aft 4.7 guns and the splinter shield mounted right aft for the rear PomPom. The rear 4.7 guns and PomPom are glued into position, along with two more chimneys, five ready use lockers and two more winches. Finally the 16 turrets are fitted into their respective barbettes foreward, and the 6 turrets fitted to theirs aft. The sturdy display stand provided in the kit comes with a nice name plate with raised lettering which will look great when painted up. Decals For the size of the model, the decal sheet is actually quite small and contains decals that are mostly for the two Walrus aircraft with roundels for all positions along with the fin flashes. The ship only has the two nameplates for the rear quarters and a selection of Union Jacks and White Ensigns in different sizes and in straight or wavy form. They are nicely produced and appear to have a nice thin carrier film and to be in register. Conclusion Well, what can I say, apart from the fact that I never thought wed see a Nelson and Rodney produced in anything other than 1:700 scale, we now have both in 1:200 and the prospect of having both in 1:350 too, soon. This kit has either been produced by Trumpeters A team, or by the likes of Merit International, as they seem to have got the hull shape and details pretty much spot on from what I can see from researching through my R A Burt books, amongst others. Yes the hull plating is a little overdone and the main deck planking doesn't look right, but these are fairly easy to overcome with a bit of elbow grease and a nice wooden deck. You shouldn't need to buy anything else for it, unless you are a real detail masochist like me, and will wait for the new Mk1 Design release specifically for the Rodney, which is due out pretty soon or something from one of the other detail manufacturers. You are limited to building her form the period of 1942 to the end of 1943, after which the catapult was removed and the 4.7 guns had shields fitted, (although, saying that, the shields are in fact included in the kit, just not mentioned in the instructions), but she never got the upgrades that her sister-ship received. Overall though, this kit will build into a superb looking model, that wont look out of place in a museum or collection, particularly with its spectacular colour scheme, if built with a bit of care and attention of course. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of UK Distributors for
  19. Good evening all, First of all, apologies about the photos-they're not the best.... Secondly, being a rather large Vulcan fan I thought why not try the Cyberhobby 1:200 kit, I would have never thought of buying one, but it was on Ebay for £5. And oh, my. What a kit! The panel lines are crisp, the decals are outstanding and the options available (shrike, blue steel, gear up/down, open crew hatch, etc, are quite varied. It even includes parts for the instrument panel and ejection seats-which shockingly also include control columns!!! A brilliant kit- the one issue being that the pressure needed in order the keep the upper and lower wing sections mated together while gluing is fairly substantial-requiring a clamp to get a good fit. Furthemore, it doesn't come with a bomb bay, so I've scratchbuilt a fairly crude bomb bay and managed to squash that into the aircraft. -Painted using an airbrush and Vallejo "Model Air" colours. Scratchbuilt bomb bay- including hand painted VTTS logo and a sponsor's logo inside (very messy, i know!) So, that's pretty much it from me, Thanks for having a look around Sam
  20. Hi This is my first finished model in at least 9 months. It was a 24-hour blitz-build, which presented no real construction challenges. The model has a wing span of 26cm. I spayed it with Alclad Dull Aluminium followed by a couple of coats of Alclad Gloss Klear Kote, prior to decalling. I had some frustrations with the walkway decals, but apart from that, a pleasurable weekend build to break my lengthy hiatus! One obviously can't describe it as a tail-sitter, so "wing-sitter" will have to suffice!! This is from Wikipedia: "The Northrop YB-49 was a prototype jet-powered heavy bomber aircraft developed by Northrop Corporation shortly after World War II for service with the U.S. Air Force. The YB-49 featured a flying wing design and was a jet-powered development of the earlier, piston-engined Northrop XB-35 and YB-35. The two YB-49s actually built were both converted YB-35 test aircraft. The YB-49 never entered production, being passed over in favor of the more conventional Convair B-36 piston-driven design. Design work performed in the development of the YB-35 and YB-49 nonetheless proved to be valuable to Northrop decades later in the eventual development of the B-2 stealth bomber, which entered service in the early 1990s." Photos of a not so distant relative taken by me at RIAT: And finally, a couple of shots with my only other 1:200 model, the same manufacturer's XB-70 Valkyrie: Thanks for looking.
  21. Royal Navy Crew Eduard 1:200 With Trumpeter having started producing Royal navy ships in 1:200 scale, it’s natural that they will need some crew to man them, and once again Eduard have come to the rescue with this set of crew dressed in standard Atlantic No 3’s dress. The single sheet of what looks like tinned etched brass on which several rows of figures are attached. Each crewmember is pre-painted and self adhesive, making it a lot easier to produce each crewman just by the act of folding the two halves together. As with the 1:350 scale crew sets, these do still look rather flat, perhaps more so given the increase in scale, but at least they have some depth to them. There are several pose included, such as crouching, leaning on the railings, standing at ease, standing with hands on hips, (probably a Chief Petty Officer), and in a climbing stance for use on vertical ladders. There are other poses, one with what look like binoculars, and a couple that look like they’re manning a gun. There are sixty four crewmen in total, so with only a couple of sets you could really make your model look more alive. Conclusion As with the other sets I still have reservations with the thickness of the individual crew, but if you can overlook that, or you have some really fit/skinny crew on your ship then this really shouldn’t be a problem. The ease of use is superb, especially after you’ve spent months creating your masterpiece these will add the finishing touch. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  22. HMS Nelson detail Set Mk1 Design 1:200 The release of the big 1:200 HMS Nelson by Trumpeter was a bit of a shock, but a very pleasant one. While the kit is superb out of the box, both in size and detail, but there was bound to be at least one company to take up the challenge of producing a details for it. Just such a company is KA Models within their Mk1 Design brand. The set comes on a large flip top opening box with a sleeve on which a listing of the contents on the front and a picture of the built, but unpainted model, showing off all the brass. Talking of which, there is a LOT of brass. The statistics speak for themselves, twenty sheets of relief etched brass, one of which is pre-painted, seventy turned brass parts, eighteen turned aluminium parts, five wooden deck sections, ten resin parts and seventy centimeters of chain. This set is not to be taken lightly, there is some serious amount of work, and so all those of a nervous disposition should look away now. The Nelson kit is amazing, but with this set youre not going to just take it to the next level, but into the next solar system. Youll be looking at months worth of work, but the effort and amount of detail youll be adding will be so worth it. Being the DX set the instructions might appear to be slightly amusing, along with the duplication of etched sheet idents, but this is due to the fact that it is what Mk1 Design call the basic set, with all the other supplementary sets included. You will need to be careful identifying the correct part from the correct sheet. As with other Mk1 Design instructions it is really a series of photographs showing the location for where each part is fitted, along with more exploded views on each of the sub-assemblies are built up. They are very clear, but it would still be good practice to annotate on the kit instructions where the styrene parts are replaced with etch. That way you dont build something, then discovering it is mostly replaced with brass. There is so much in this set that it is difficult to know where to start describing what you get. So I will just go through the instructions and try to explain whats what. Firstly the masts are assembled. The main mast uses the kit parts to make up the lower tripod and lower platforms, although with new supports. This section is detailed with the addition of three, four part cable wheels for the boat crane boom, which is made up of a turned brass boom, five etched parts for the lower cradle, along with another turned brass part for the locating pin. The boom is finished off with the addition of the cable wheel and hook. The starfish platform is completely made up of PE including the twelve under platform supports, and upper platform railings. The Type 272 radar lantern is assembled from fifteen parts and will need some careful rolling to get to shape. Before the starfish is fitted to the mast, a large turned brass part needs to be attached to the top of the lower mast along with the lower yardarm and its three mast fixings. With the platform and lantern in place the ensign gaff and upper mast are fitted. The upper mast has three yardarms attached up its length and topped out with and another smaller gaff and the Type 279 radar array. The foremast is quite a bit simpler, consisting of the kit lower section onto which the turned brass mid and upper sections with a PE bracket connection the mid and lower sections and a platform separating the mid and upper sections. The platform is fitted with an ensign gaff, whilst both mid and upper sections are fitted with a yardarm. The mast head is topped off with a Type 281 array. The main gun directors are only given a small amount of etch treatment, in the form of new access hatches, ladders, and visor screen. The secondary armament directors receive the same amount to extra detail, whereas the High Angle Control System mounts are fitted with a completely new Type 285 array, with its five dipoles and the PomPom directors receive the Type 282 with their two dipoles. The Type 284 gunnery director is fitted with a more boxy style of radar array to go with the new hatches and access ladders. With the radars and masts assembled, and with most of the hull already painted by this point, the wooden decks are laid. There is no best method for these, its pretty much what suits the modeller, but I would rub down the deck details so that the replacement deck looks to be fitted more naturally. With the wooden focsle, main and quarter deck laid you can start fitting the many new details. From the focsle aft these are the anchor cable deck plates, large deck hatch, main breakwater, (each breakwater is supplied with all their angled supports separately), complete with large deckhouses, boat boom storage, second breakwater, with associated lockers, cable reels, (with resin centres), windlasses, and windlass controls. Alongside A turret there are more boat booms and their cradles, whilst around B turret barbette there is another breakwater, two deck hatches, four new cable reels, new ventilator grilles and two winches. Between B and C turret there are another pair of winches, five deck lockers and four more hatches. All the kit deck lockers and ready use lockers are provided with new doors, some of which can be posed open should you desire as are all the watertight and armoured doors. The set also provides a full complement of inclined and vertical ladders which festoon the superstructure and masts. The funnel is given a lovely interior that only goes down a third of the way from the top, but gives the impression that the ladders and platforms go all the way to the bottom. Outside the funnel is fitted with new vertical ladders, hand and foot rails, new platforms, foghorns and a large slab or armour plate on either side. The ships crane that comes with the kit is completely replaced with an all etched brass item which will look great once it has been fitted with cables which the modeller has to provide. The paravanes are also completely new units, with a turned brass body with etched fittings, cradles, fins and cable cutter. With 01 deck has been fitted with the wooden deck, etched ships cradles and their bases can be fitted. The main bridge structure is fitted with new platforms, aerial supports and the aerials themselves. Each of the ships boats are all detailed with etched brass, and for this some of the kit details need to be removed. The motor boats receive new cabin structures, railings, jack and ensign staffs, and propellers. The cutters and whalers all receive new gratings, thwarts, rudders and oars. Some of the smaller boats are stored on top of larger ones and the cradles for these are provided as well. The davits in which some are kept are given extra detail that included the turned brass boom, etched straps and scramble nets. The various sizes of Carley floats are all given replacement gratings before being fitted into position and fitted with the supporting straps and paddles. The largest selection of both etched and turned brass parts is naturally dedicated to the ships armament. The three main gun turrets are each witted with new etched trunnion mounts, turned alluminium trunnions and turned aluminium barrels. The main openings for each of the guns need to be opened up further, so Mk1 Design have included and brass template to help with this. They all have the various gun hatches, rangefinder hatches, walkways, rear mounted ventilation hatches roof panels and access ladders. The roof of each turret differs depending on what light AA weapons are mounted, so pay careful attention in fitting the right roof to the right turret. The secondary 6 turrets are only lightly detailed, with ladders to the turrets roof, rear mounted hatches and the turned barrels. The high angle 4.7" turrets get quite a bit more, as on top of the turned barrel, each mount is fitted with new trunnion mounts, along with several fittings on each one, elevation cog, electrical boxes, motor faces, ladder rungs of teach side, and sighting hatches, in either open or closed condition. The light AA weapons are well represented in the set and will probably cause most of the swearing and cursing throughout the build. The quad 40mm mounts arent too bad, with the styrene guns replaced with folded etched brass breech units, loading bins and trunnion mounts for each pair of guns. The mountings do actually use the kit parts, but with most of the detail removed. To each mounting the modeller fits, the trunnion bases, rear rails, main splinter shield, elevation guide, two three piece ring sights and, finally, the two pairs of guns. The octuple PomPoms are a different matter, in that almost the whole mounting is made up of etched brass parts, with the exception of the eight turned barrels and modified kit mounting base. In total, each of the six mounts comprises of seventy three individual parts. That should keep you busy for a while, although when finished, if they look anything like the pictures in the instructions, they will be amazing. Oh, and if the PomPoms didnt break you then the single 20mm Oerlikons may. Theyll certainly test yet more of your patience, as each of the sixty three mounts comprises ten parts, which include a turned brass barrel and pedestal, etched splinter shield, gun breech, pedestal ring, pedestal wheel, shoulder bars, sight, ammunition drum and shield/gun frame. The odds and sundries included in this set, and there are perhaps too many to mention, but Ill try, include items like the fabulous looking accommodation ladders, numerous life rings, boat boom Jacobs ladders, searchlight mounts, shields and elevation wheels. You even get five 6 shell and a couple of etched shell barrows, each made up of nine etched parts. Perhaps some of the nicest looking etched parts are those for the flag lockers whose front faces are pre-painted, showing all the signal flags nicely folded in their individual compartments. Of course no set is complete with the ships railings and this set has a full set for all decks, main turrets and platforms. Lastly and by no means least the set provides the ships name in individual letters for each quarter, and also a lovely representation of the ships bell. Conclusion Ive bought Mk1 Design DX sets before, but this one has got to be the best to date. The sheer amount of extra detail and the levels which the detail is taken is just amazing. Yes it is expensive, more than the original kit, but for the amount of work, and therefore modelling pleasure you will get, makes it a pretty good pound/hour rate. You will definitely need a lot of patience and plenty of previous experience with working with etch, resin and turned metals if youre thinking of buying it. Very highly recommended Review sample courtesy of
  23. USS Hornet Detail Sets 1:200 Eduard Continuing their range of 1:200 scale ships Trumpeter released the USS Hornet in 2013, since then only the likes of Mk1 Design and Tetra have released detail sets, which are almost as expensive, if not more, than the kit itself. Eduard have now joined the fray with five individual sets for those who like to have more of a choice as to what areas they like to add detail, and on a more affordable budget. The five sets include items for the cranes, radar, life boats, Oerlikon, 5” guns and quad AA mounts. Part 1- (53-128) this single sheet set is designed to replace the two ships boat cranes situated on the port and starboard quarters and plus the jib and fittings on the deck crane aft of the island. The boat cranes are of an almost solid construction with a fixed jib and these are represented with a single piece of etched brass folded to shape. To this structure there is a large top box fitted to top of the vertical leg of the crane, which is missing from the kit and also some of the other add-on sets. The cranes are finished off with the fitting of the two hooks, assembled from the upper and lower wheels, hook and hook frames with the wheels joined by two lengths of wire of 0.2mm diameter provided by the modeller. The deck mounted crane uses the kits pole, to which the new jib, jib support, cable wheels, hooks brackets and the top mounted platform complete with railings. The crane is finished off with the attachment of the lower platforms, platform supports, and vertical ladder. Part 2 – (53-129). This radar set contains the main CXAM radar arrays which will need some careful folding to keep the square shape from becoming warped on the main array whilst the second array isn’t folded, but there are a number of small parts, well small for 1:200 scale, particularly the dipoles and mount. The set also includes detail for the Mk 33 Fire Control Director, which includes all the various doors and hatches for the director crew along with the two half Mk 3 radar arrays stacked vertically, their supports and framework. Part 3 – (53-130). Whilst this set is titled Lifeboats, it also contains some new gratings for the top carley float on each of the twelve stacks of three. Each stack is also provided with new support clamps and a pair of tie down straps. The 32ft cutters need to have a couple of areas removed from the thwarts section, before the new well is fitted, along with the new stern planking, footstep, bow hatch, cabin, and rear railings. There are new floor gratings fitted into the lower hull to complete the assembly. The motor boats are fitted out with a new internal cabin area, rear deck, centre console and decking, light fittings plus a complete set of railings and hand rails. Part 4 – (53-131) The kit 20mm Oerlikons are pretty basic and to this end this single sheet set is designed to not only add detail, but correct hem at the same time, all thirty of them. Each gun receives new shield, shield mount, shield mount cover, gunsight, traversing hand wheel, which will require a slug of 0.5mm plastic rod 0.5mm long, the inner and outer faces of the ammunition drum and the correct style of shoulder guards. The set also contains a selection of anti-slip foot plates that are fitted around each mounting. Part 5 – (53-132). The final set in this collection contains parts to detail each of the single 5” guns and the quad 1.1” mounts. The 5” guns receive new sights and sight mounting plate, railings, elevation wheel, traversing crew seat, and two parts for the circular mounting plate. Meanwhile the 1.1” mounts need several parts to be removed before the etched parts can be added. The extra detail includes two crew seats and their supports, ammunition hoppers and replacement gun sights and mounting brackets. The mountings themselves are fitted out with new anti-slip floor plates. Conclusion Whilst the kit is an amazing bit of moulding it does have a number of shortcomings and simple design in areas. This is where these sets come into their own. The etching is up the standards we have come to expect from Eduard and it’s good to see that some extra research has been done other than just from the kit parts. The idea of having individual sets rather than one huge one is great for those modellers who only want to add it to certain areas rather than having to do the whole ship, which to some just isn’t required. If the sets for the 1:200 Missouri are anything to go by these won’t be the last we see released for the Hornet. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  24. USS Missouri Detail Sets 1:200 Eduard Fourth in Trumpeters release schedule of famous battleships in 1:200, the USS Missouri kit is one to behold, particularly the size and detail held within the huge box. But as wonderful and detailed the kit is there are always ways to make a model finer and more detailed than even the kit manufacturers thought possible. Naturally Eduard have taken up the baton and released not one, but 10 etched sets for the modeller to bedeck their creation. The sets vary in size and complexity ranging from two to three large sheets down to one small sheet of relief etched brass. Of course the modeller doesnt have to use every set, but can pick and chose which suits their requirements best. Note that before using any of the sets, some of the kits details will need to be removed. Part 1- (53-113) this single sheet set is designed to detail the ships 20mm Oerlikon AA guns and mounts. Each gun receives new shield, shield mount, shield mount cover, gunsight, traversing hand wheel and the correct style of shoulder guards. There are enough parts to detail 58 individual weapons. Part 2 (53-117), this set, containing two quite large sheets of etched brass is designed to detail up to twenty 40mm quad mounts. The kits gun mounting plate needs to be quite heavily modified before you can use the set along with the removal of the twin barrels rear handles. Now, some careful bending is required to produce the curved elevation tracks fitted to each side of the replacement etched foot plate which is attached to the mounting plate. The mounts are then fitted with new railings and operators seats. The guns themselves are fitted with new sights and the whole mount finished off with the new splinter shield. Part 3 (53-118), This smallish sheet contains a surprising number of parts for the ships catapults and aircraft handling crane. Whilst the core of the catapults and crane are assembled from kit parts the rest is constructed from this sheet. The catapults receive new walkways, turntable, additional support brackets, cable wheels, panelling on the underside front, front and rear bulkheads. There are also two new aircraft launch cradles which are complex items in their own right. The crane receives additional internal crossbraces for the main boom new cable wheels, cable, hooks, access ladders and platforms. A couple of parts need to be made up from styrene rod, such as the guide wheel axles and a pair of large bollards that are fitted just aft of the crane on the fantail of the ship. Part 4 (53-119), Contains a selection of thirty eight floater net baskets in six different styles. Each basket comprises of the main netting which needs to be bent and rolled to shape, before the ends can be folded into position. The supports, three per net are then attached before the assembly can be glued into position on the model, for which there are clear diagrams on the reverse of the instructions. Part 5 (53-121), this is one of the larger two sheet sets, containing parts to detail the 40mm gun tubs. Each tub is fitted out with four layer ammunition racks that surround the insides and finished off with an access ladder for the crew to get over the splinter shields. One pair of tubs also receives a new etched floor. Part 6 (53-122), is designed to provide the ships railings for the main deck, although only the stanchions and tightening chain are provided, well, along with the templates for drilling the holes to fit each stanchion. Wire is then fixed to each stanchion ate three heights, although no wire is provided and no instruction on what gauge to use either. This is definitely one for the masochist modeller, but if done correctly will look outstanding. Part 7 (53-123), this is the largest of all the sets with two large sheets and a medium sized sheet. The number of parts contained in this set is quite mind boggling, there seems to be additional or replacement parts for pretty much every part of the superstructure and the attending fixtures and fittings. The large parts include items such as the chain plates on the foredeck with added hawspipe gratings, mast platforms and their associated support structures, plus a replacement breakwater and its supports. The small and very small parts include such items as the vertical ladders, winch details, davit wires, boat boom cranes, which can be posed rigged, complete with Jacobs ladders, or folded away, capstan details, new floorboards for the carley floats and even the handles on the front of the searchlights. The 5 practice loaders are also super detailed with ten parts per unit, such is the level of detail Eduard have gone to. There are also numerous vents and intake grilles fitted around the main superstructure along with cable reels deck house lights, a host of new aerials and a couple of smaller radars. The funnel caps get a complete makeover which really will help with the scale look of these parts. Finally there are additional fittings and replacement parts for all the main and secondary turrets. Part 8 (53-124). Although this set is titled radars, it contains quite a bit more on the single sheet. Of course the main SK-2 radar array is completely replaced and whilst fiddly, even in this scale, it will look amazing when assembled. There are a lot of parts tot eh SK-2 and the assembly is almost like building the real thing, so special care will be required to ensure everything is aligned correctly. Each of the Mk37 gun directors are also given the Eduard treatment with the replacement of the radars with highly detailed Mk12 and Mk22 arrays and their support structures, in addition to new armoured sighting and access doors, ladders and handrails. The main rangefinder housing is provided with new walkways, railings, roof parts and completely new arm extensions which Trumpeter missed off. Part 9 (53-125). This small sheet contains the rungs for the ladders that are fitted to the hull sides. Using the templates provided, the modeller needs to drill 04mm holes in the specified areas before fitting the rungs. Yes it will be awkward and time consuming but the effect will be worth it. Part 10 (53-126). The final set in this extravaganza of detail provides the hull plates that are fitted along the length of both sides of the upper hull and missed off in the kit. Templates are provided for the correct positioning and its just a matter of measuring along the hull every 35mm placing the template and fitting the plates. Conclusion Well, what can I say, there is enough detail within these sets to keep even the most ardent detail nut happy for hours, if not months. The level of additional and replacement detail s quite overwhelming and you will really need your mojo set to high if you wish to add it all, which after all is the point. If, at the end of the build you have retained your sanity then you will have a truly museum standard model and one worthy of any collection. Of course, with the sets being separate you can buy and fit as much or as little as you wish, depending on say experience or time. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
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