Bottom Line: New molding for 1/700 scale IJN Nagato as she appeared at the beginning of WW2 (1941). Excellent detail, excellent fit, accurate appearance.
IJN Nagato
For any modeler, but especially ship modelers, it is hard to achieve a realistic effect when gun barrels are out of round, warped or fail to have the right taper and shape; which is often the case with styrene injected or resin barrels. With smaller caliber guns and in smaller scales the barrels are often too fragile to handle. For these reasons turned metal barrels are an attractive alternative. Master Models continues to release well-priced brass barrels for the discriminating ship modeler.
For any modeler, but especially ship modelers, it is hard to achieve a realistic effect when gun barrels are out of round, warped or fail to have the right taper and shape; which is often the case with styrene injected or resin barrels. With smaller caliber guns and in smaller scales the barrels are often too fragile to handle. For these reasons turned metal barrels are an attractive alternative. Master Models continues to release well-priced brass barrels for the discriminating ship modeler.
Without a doubt, Dragon’s Smartkit of the Scharnhorst is a real gem with a superb level of detail thanks to its CAD designer. The gun mounts are very detailed and the molded barrels, with the slide mold technology, are quite nice in this scale, including bored muzzles. Dragon has packed the kit with a significant amount of aftermarket detail including injection molded blast bags; a nice touch given how difficult they are to make from scratch.
For any modeler, but especially ship modelers, it is hard to achieve a realistic effect when gun barrels are out of round, warped or fail to have the right taper and shape; which is often the case with styrene injected or resin barrels. With smaller caliber guns and in smaller scales the barrels are often too fragile to handle. For these reasons turned metal barrels are an attractive alternative. Master Models continues to release well-priced brass barrels for the discriminating ship modeler.
After producing several 1/400th U-boats, Mirage is now offering U-boats in the increasingly popular 1/350th scale. The U-511 was a Kriegsmarine long-range IX-C type submarine. The Turm-I variant included trial installation of a six tube Wurfkörper 42 artillery rocket launcher rack and improved 37mm and 20mm anti-aircraft armament. The kit features a 2-piece full hull, detailed exterior surfaces, conning tower with 2 periscopes and wintergarten, 10.5cm deck gun, display base, photo-etch parts (railings for all deck levels, anchor, cable cutter, WGr42 launcher base, ladders, screw blades and nameplate), and decals (U-511 bow placards and ensign). The completed model is approximately 8.6" long.
While the aircraft carriers of Imperial Japan may have captured the glory of the navy’s early victories in the Pacific, by and large it was her cruisers that did the slugging, round after round, with the U.S. and Allied navies during the initial stages of the war. This latest New Vanguard edition by Osprey Publishing chronicles the development and use of Japan’s heavy cruiser force. All 18 of the heavy cruisers (designated “Class A cruisers” in the IJN) that fought in the Pacific War were completed before the outbreak of the war. No Japanese heavy cruisers were built during the war.
US Coast Guard Cutter Roger B. Taney retains the claim to fame as the last surviving vessel of the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Its keel laid in 1935 and commissioned in 1936, Taney served for over 50 years, seeing combat action during World War II and Vietnam, as well as performing weather station, search-and-rescue, and drug interdiction duties. Taney was decommissioned on December 7, 1986, and presented to the City of Baltimore, and now serves as a museum ship.
This new Pen & Sword book from Casemate Publishing is about all of the British submarine losses from 1904 – 1971. Starting from the A1 (1904) to the Artemis (1971). Having been a submarine sailor myself for 14 years, I’m always looking for new and informative books on the subject. When I saw that there was a new Casemate book coming out I knew that I had to have it because I have very little on the British side and because of the high quality of Casemates books. Their books are very well bound and have high quality glossy pictures.
The book is divided up into 5 parts and 2 appendices. They are:
History: (taken from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
The USS Chevalier was a Gearing Class Destroyer, the second ship to be named after Lcdr. Godfrey De Chevalier (1889-1922), a pioneer of Naval Aviation. She was launched 29 October 1944 at Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine. She was commissioned 9 January 1945 with Cdr. F. Wolsieffer in Command.
She cleared her trials in June 1945 and reached Pearl Harbor on 9 July 1945. On the 24th she sailed to join the bombardment of Wake Island which occurred on 1 August 1945. Arriving in Eniwetok the next day she joined Task Force 38 (TF38). She sailed the next day for Honshu and arrived on 18 Aug 1945. TF38 entered Tokyo Bay on 26 Aug 1945 to take part in the Surrender of Japan and the end of WWII.
Growing up near the beach, I saw plenty of double and triple-hull sailboats. I always thought that they were so cool and fast. So then I saw photos of the triple hull USS Independence, I knew I had to have a model of this ship. It looks so cool and fast, rumors are speed capability of 50+ knots.
The kit is modeled in typical Trumpeter gray and clear and consists of seven sprues (two clear), an upper hull, lower hull and three photo-etched frets. Also included with the kit are typical twelve page Trumpeter instruction booklet, a decal sheet, and a five-view color painting and marking guide.
Looking at each of the sprues, I found that the detail was crisp with no flash. However, I did find some ejector pin markings that need to be addressed, specifically in the hanger bulkheads. If you plan to keep the hanger door closed, as I plan to, you won’t have to deal with these.
