When Bronco first announced a 1/35^th scale Type XXIII U-boat, I was fired up. I love U-boats and this scale was only previously available in very, very expensive resin. When it became available for review, I jumped on it. Upon opening the large box, you have lots of plastic to contend with as the finished sub will be as large as the 1/72 Revell Type VII’s. Inside are 113 gray parts with nice detail that make up the sub itself. The hull is split in half and also in front and rear sections. There are 52 parts to build two torpedoes and 21 to build a raft that can be attached to the front. Also included are 9 clear parts, a sheet of photoetch, two magnets and a nice sheet of decals. Being this large, you will notice that the sprue attachment points are pretty thick. Cutting with a razor saw is the way to go.

This is one of three photoetch sets provided by Eduard for the Meng 1/35 scale D9R Armored Bulldozer kit. The Meng D9R kit itself has previously been reviewed [Meng D9R Review]. The Eduard Cooling Slats set has also been reviewed [D9R Cooling Slats Review], as well as the Eduard Exterior Photoetch set [D9R Exterior Photoetch Review].

One of the things I find fascinating about Masterbox’s approach to figure modeling is the technique they use to arrive at a given product. For most companies, sculptors make the desired figures, then illustrators create the box art to match the sculpts. Masterbox reverses the process by permitting illustrators to paint scenarios (quite beautifully, I may add) then sculptors do their best to reproduce the illustrations within the limitations of injection molding. What this means is that Masterbox is indisputably the top of the industry in creating imaginative, innovative plastic figures. This set is no exception.