Kenny Loup and Gator Masks and More have been around for a while supplying masking sets for ships and planes as well as Gator Grip Glues. For this review, we are looking at a masking set for U-453 in 1/72 scale for Revell’s excellent U-boat kit. U-453 was on active duty from 1941 to 1944 when it was sunk. The boat served in the Mediterranean Sea and carried a unique camouflage scheme that went with that locations. The ship had splotches of darker gray (Dunkelgrau52) which were hard edged along with an inverted V on the conning tower.

Inside the package you’ll find a long (over 3 feet) of precut vinyl masks, a picture of U-453 and instructions. The vinyl material is yellow and cut precisely to the blotches needed and the inverted “V” on the tower. There are masks for both sides. The profile drawing exactly matches the cut outs and the instructions give all the needed guidance plus contact info if there are questions. You can see by the pictures the size of the masks.

Eduard has come out with several photo etch sets for the 1/200 Scale, Merit, USS Hornet CV-8 (kit# 62001) and this is one of them. Part 4 provides detail parts to upgrade the 20 mm Oerlikon AA Guns.

The set includes a large sheet of photo etch with a lot of little parts. You get new gun shields and brackets, sights, forward and aft ammo drum covers with handles, elevation wheels and a harness for the gunner. Also included is a new deck (nice looking non-skid) that the guns sit on. You get two options one with the expended ammo canister and one without.

Assembly is straight forward but extremely fiddly. There are a bunch of very tiny parts that need to be bent and shaped. Most of the small parts are hard to hold and glue at the same time. This makes for a time consuming and sometimes aggravating assembly. Thank you Eduard for providing extra parts. There are only 30 of these mounts so pace yourself accordingly.

Eduard has come out with several photo etch sets for the 1/200 Scale, Merit, USS Hornet CV-8 (kit# 62001). This is Part 2 and includes several radar antennas to replace the kit parts. These new antennas simply step in and replace the undersize and under-detailed kit parts.

There are two sets to replace the forward- and aft-gun director antennas, one to replace the main search radar, and another to replace the main air search radar. You also get new doors, ladders and windows for the directors.

Assembly is straight forward but a tad fiddly. There are a bunch of tiny parts that need to be bent and shaped. The antennas for the directors require several complex bends that took a while to get the correct shape. Some of the small parts are hard to hold and glue at the same time.

Background

The 10.5cm SK C/32 (SK - Schnelladekanone (quick loading cannon) C - Construktionsjahr (year of design) was a German naval gun used in World War II. This was the standard unshielded low-angle deck gun mounted forward of the conning tower in Type I, Type IX and Type X U-boats. The guns were also used in shielded high-angle mountings aboard type 35 and type 43 minesweepers, Elbing class torpedo boats, cruiser Emden, and old battleships Schlesien and Schleswig-Holstein. The LC/32 mounting used in Type I and early Type IX U-boats weighed about 5 tons and could be elevated from -10° to +35°. Later Type IX and Type XB U-boats used the LC/36 mounting reducing weight by 10 percent by restricting elevation from -10° to +30°. During the early war years, these guns were used to encourage surrender of independently routed merchant ships or to sink ships damaged by torpedoes. The rate of fire with a good crew was 15 to 18 rounds per minute.

This Master Model set provides10 barrels: Two machined aluminum 15”/42 Mark I barrels, eight machined brass 4”/45 Mark XVI barrels, and a single page instruction sheet.

You will need to cut the styrene barrel off and drill a hole in the plastic breach. The directions call out a 1.5 mm bit (~#53) for the 15”/42 Mark I barrels and a 0.5mm bit (~#76) for the 4”/45 Mark XVI barrels. Be careful to center the drill bit on both x-axis and y-axis.

Be sure to use your favorite CA (super glue) or epoxy, as the normal plastic glues or solvents will not react with the aluminum or brass. Be careful painting the barrels, especially the brass ones since paint can easily foul the hollowed out muzzles.

Of note is the re-sealable packaging that Master Model uses making the parts easy to review and stuff back into the package securely. That being said, you will want to be careful handling the brass barrels as their small makes them quite easy to disappear.