Ok guys i really enjoyed this kit so i thought i would do a review on it, so here goes, the kit price was £89.95 this is a little prcey in most peoples books but personally i think it is worth the money.
On first inspection the box is huge at 28"x14"x4" in size, inside the kit contains 322 parts which are molded in light grey styrene, all of which are in protective bags.The kit also contains 1x bag of screws, 1x square of mesh, 2x thicknesses of rope for rigging, 1 photoetched fret, 2x aluminium gun barrels, 1x sheet of pre-cut Acete windows , 1x section of wire , 1x 30 page instruction manual and 1x colour photographic reference book.
I suggest that you sit down with a cuppa and read through the instruction manual as this will allow you to identify parts and where they go. Ok i suggest wash the plastic then once dry prime everything whilst on the spruce, this includes the photo etch sections.
Once the primer is dry the first thing is to mark out exactly where the deck sky lights are to go as certain areas will end up being covered by gun mounting plates. Once this is done attach the deck skylights.
The next stage is to assemble all the deck modules ready for painting. Assemble the stand whilst the modules are drying. Next mask the lower hull area that is to be painted red. Once all these parts are built and masked paint on the main hull colour which is humbrol colour (120 light US green). Unfortunately they don't do this in an aerosol so i had to brush paint.
Once the hull colour has been applied to the modules deck and hull and is dry apply the acetate windows to the deck skylights. Once the main hull colour is dry reove the masking tape and mask the upper section of the hull ready for spraying the anti fouling (or waterline) red. Tamiya XF 7 was used for this. Once the lower hull is dry airbrush in the camouflage on the hull and deck modules. The colours i used for this were XF26 deep green and XF 1 Black camouflage patterns are as shown on page 44 of the colour photographic reference manual.
Once all the paint work is dry it is at this stage i attached the rest of the acetate glass to the module windows. In the instruction manual it says to first attach the deck to the hull then attach the modules. However, i found that it is easier if you lay the deck on a hard flat surface and then attach the modules as you are guaranteed a better fit. Once the modules are attached to the deck you can now glue and screw the deck to the hull. It is at this stage that i attach the exhaust mufflers. After the anti fouling has been painted mask off the mufflers and paint appropriately.
By building each section seperately then test fitting for accuracy this encures a better fit.
The next stage is to build all of the weapons pods and deck hardware whilst on the spruce. For this i used XF67 Nato Green. Once dry, assemble and touch up where necessary and then attach to the deck.
I found that painting and building in this order produced a build free of problems and with no filling required.
Thw wire that is provided in this kit to fit the torpedos to their racks is too thick instead i replaced this with ordinary cooper wire which is just as strong and of a thinner gauge and will not damage the loops on the torpedo racks.
For me there is only two negative points with regards to this kit. the first is that there is no crew supplied. the second is that the lack of deck detail eg wooden planking. as these boats were made solely of wood you would of thought that Italeri would have added this. however, these are the onlt two negative points i have found throughout the whole build. The kit moulds are very precise and fit together extremely well, with very little sanding or filling required. i rate this kit very highly and would recommend it.
This kit did not take as long as the Italeri's Schnellboot in the same scale but it was as enjoyable if not more to build and to paint and in my opinion looks amazing.
Hope this is helpful
Scott
On first inspection the box is huge at 28"x14"x4" in size, inside the kit contains 322 parts which are molded in light grey styrene, all of which are in protective bags.The kit also contains 1x bag of screws, 1x square of mesh, 2x thicknesses of rope for rigging, 1 photoetched fret, 2x aluminium gun barrels, 1x sheet of pre-cut Acete windows , 1x section of wire , 1x 30 page instruction manual and 1x colour photographic reference book.
I suggest that you sit down with a cuppa and read through the instruction manual as this will allow you to identify parts and where they go. Ok i suggest wash the plastic then once dry prime everything whilst on the spruce, this includes the photo etch sections.
Once the primer is dry the first thing is to mark out exactly where the deck sky lights are to go as certain areas will end up being covered by gun mounting plates. Once this is done attach the deck skylights.
The next stage is to assemble all the deck modules ready for painting. Assemble the stand whilst the modules are drying. Next mask the lower hull area that is to be painted red. Once all these parts are built and masked paint on the main hull colour which is humbrol colour (120 light US green). Unfortunately they don't do this in an aerosol so i had to brush paint.
Once the hull colour has been applied to the modules deck and hull and is dry apply the acetate windows to the deck skylights. Once the main hull colour is dry reove the masking tape and mask the upper section of the hull ready for spraying the anti fouling (or waterline) red. Tamiya XF 7 was used for this. Once the lower hull is dry airbrush in the camouflage on the hull and deck modules. The colours i used for this were XF26 deep green and XF 1 Black camouflage patterns are as shown on page 44 of the colour photographic reference manual.
Once all the paint work is dry it is at this stage i attached the rest of the acetate glass to the module windows. In the instruction manual it says to first attach the deck to the hull then attach the modules. However, i found that it is easier if you lay the deck on a hard flat surface and then attach the modules as you are guaranteed a better fit. Once the modules are attached to the deck you can now glue and screw the deck to the hull. It is at this stage that i attach the exhaust mufflers. After the anti fouling has been painted mask off the mufflers and paint appropriately.
By building each section seperately then test fitting for accuracy this encures a better fit.
The next stage is to build all of the weapons pods and deck hardware whilst on the spruce. For this i used XF67 Nato Green. Once dry, assemble and touch up where necessary and then attach to the deck.
I found that painting and building in this order produced a build free of problems and with no filling required.
Thw wire that is provided in this kit to fit the torpedos to their racks is too thick instead i replaced this with ordinary cooper wire which is just as strong and of a thinner gauge and will not damage the loops on the torpedo racks.
For me there is only two negative points with regards to this kit. the first is that there is no crew supplied. the second is that the lack of deck detail eg wooden planking. as these boats were made solely of wood you would of thought that Italeri would have added this. however, these are the onlt two negative points i have found throughout the whole build. The kit moulds are very precise and fit together extremely well, with very little sanding or filling required. i rate this kit very highly and would recommend it.
This kit did not take as long as the Italeri's Schnellboot in the same scale but it was as enjoyable if not more to build and to paint and in my opinion looks amazing.
Hope this is helpful
Scott
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