Master from Poland has added to their impressive line of Sea Master Series detailed ship gun barrels with this set of main and secondary guns for the Fujimi battleship Fuso. Included in this set are twelve 14” (360 mm) turned stainless steel barrels, and fourteen 6” (150mm) turned brass barrels. Both the brass and steel barrels are precisely tapered, with petite segmentations along the barrel length and at the ends. Each of the barrels has an ever so slightly flared open end.
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These two armament sets from Master Model provide a full range of replacement brass gun barrels for the new Dragon German Destroyer kits. Set contents include:
- Z-25: Four 150 mm (5.9”); Twelve 37mm; Eighteen 20mm
- Z-39: Four 150mm (5.9”); Fourteen 37mm; Twelve 20mm
Each of the brass barrels is slightly tapered with very finely defined segmentations. Additionally, all of the 20mm barrels and some of the 37mm barrels in each set (four for the Z-25 and ten for Z-39) have barely discernable (but yet, in scale) flash suppressors at the open ends of the barrels. The very high level of manufacturing craftsmanship is readily visible in all the Master Model products, and these sets are certainly no exception.
My thanks to Master Model for providing IPMS with these review sets.
This is a superb set of replacement nozzles for the very crude kit parts provided by Hasegawa. The Aires Hobby Models parts are drop fit replacements and are quite easy to use. Other than cutting them off the casting blocks (a five minute task), they require no more effort than the kit parts to use. The photos show the kit parts and their Aires replacement side by side and truly speak for themselves. The interiors have depth that is non-existent on the kit parts and the edges are really thin and sharp. The detail is super on the replacement parts. Another advantage over the kit parts is that they are one piece whereas the nozzles provided in the kit are in two halves which leaves a seam for cleaning; really not a good thing when they are to be finished with a metal color. Using this set actually saves time and adds detail which is most often two mutually exclusive concepts in this hobby.
I don't know how many models I have snapped pitot tubes off of- dozens? They seem to always be in the way. Put them on early to make sure they fit and risk breaking them completely or put them on late and they don't seem to blend in well.
One trend lately is for manufacturers and the aftermarket companies to make these fragile parts out of metal- either turned brass or aluminum. For this set, the pitot tube is aluminum and the AOA probe is brass. Both are exquisite in their detail as compared to the kit parts.
They are both drops in parts and will resist breaking for a long period of time.
For those of us with growing collections or having moved several times, parts like this are a godsend as they prevent breaking.
The parts are accurate, well made and very reasonably priced and a snap to use. Recommended with no reservations!
My thanks to IPMS/USA and the fine people at Master.
A while back I built the Zvezda 1/72 Mi-24 Hind. I got the opportunity to do this review and grabbed it, as I wouldn’t have to build the entire kit just to add the nose guns
The package contains two guns. The kit gives options of two different guns in the nose turret. The one I used is the Yak-B 4 barrel Gatling-type gun, 12.7 mm. The other is a twin-barrel gun the G-Sh-30, a 30 mm weapon. The 12.7mm has been phased out, and the 30 mm is preferred, as it has more punch, particularly on light armored targets.
The G-Sh-30 is definitely superior to the kit parts, as the kit gun comes in 2 parts, so you have to deal with a seam. The QB part has slightly finer detail, which is still hard to see in 1/72.
The Yak-B looked quite a bit like the kit part, and fit into the turret nicely. The only outstanding difference was that the hump on the kit part is a recess on the resin part.