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HMS Prince of Wales, 1:350 Etched sets from Eduard


Shar2

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RN Battleship HMS Prince of Wales

1:350 Eduard Etch sets

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The Tamiya HMS Prince of Wales kit has been out for too many years to mention being initially released in 1986. Now whilst other companies have produced detail enhancement sets for this kit, Eduard hadn’t, until now. These three sets provide pretty much everything the modeller requires to really go to town on what is already a good kit. As usual some additional plastic rod will need to be provided by the modeller and some of the kits detail will need to be removed before the etched parts can be added.

Detail set- (53-079) comes on two sheets of relief etched brass to the usual high standard set by Eduard. The larger sheet contains a myriad of parts such as watertight doors which can be posed open or closed, hatches, inclined and vertical ladders, ammunition lockers, flag lockers, replacement 20mm cannon, complete new mountings for the 40mm Pom Poms along with replacement ammunition racks and even the ammunition belts. There are also replacement aerials for the 285 Yagi radar arrays and new mounts for fitting to the main director housings. The foredeck breakwater is completely replaced with as are the anchor chains and their respective stop chains. On the quarterdeck there is a complete replacement for the aft Pom Pom tub. The searchlights are provided with new support brackets and the numerous liferafts have new inserts that represent the wooden tread boards.

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The smaller of the two sheets also has additional hatches and ammunition lockers for the aft Pom Pom tub. In addition there are replacement aerial arrays for the Type 282 radar, new Type 273 radar lantern and the large 281B radar arrays. The Walrus aircraft are supplied with new propellers, struts and the launching and handling cradles. Apart from other smaller items such as the Pom Pom ammunition cradles, davits, searchlight fronts and their hand wheels, the rest of the sheet contains replacement structural items. These include the supports for the foredeck breakwater, new platforms for the bridge wings, and funnels, plus new funnel caps. The main mast has a new starfish platform with its respective supports, whilst the yardarms are provided with new ropewalks and there is a new support platform for the topmast.

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Lifeboats – (53-092). This single sheet set is exactly what it says on the packet. In that it contains parts to detail the ships boats, ranging from new decks, both upper and internal, deckhouses, windshields, propellers and rudders for the larger motor boats and Admirals barge. To new internal decking, gunwhales, thwarts, rudders and oars for the cutters, whalers and dinghies. Each boat is also provided with a pair of new cradles for them to sit on.

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Railings and Cranes (53-089). With the title of this fret being so very descriptive, it’s not difficult to see that this provides ships railing which cover all sections of the ship from the main deck upwards, including the turret tops. There is a selection of three bar and two bar rails the majority of which are shaped to fit their specific positions. The two main ships cranes have replacement jibs, cables, rollers and hooks, along with railings and access ladders. Also included in the set is a pair of accommodation ladders and platforms, and what look like fifty eight liferings, but these aren’t mentioned in the instructions.

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Conclusion
Whilst these sets do provide some lovely extra detail for the venerable Prince of Wales kit I feel that Eduard have arrived at the party a little too late. Still that probably won’t mean that modellers new to the genre won’t buy them. Eduard should also look at sorting out their instructions which aren’t the easiest to use. But with the standard of etch that we are used to seeing from them I can recommend them highly as the kit does really need at least some etch to bring it alive.

Review sample courtesy of logo.gif

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