One of the under recognized armaments for after market has been the depth charge. It is fairly simple to find missiles, bombs and other under wing things all very well done and in most scales but not so much depth charges. Brengun has issued a set (which looks like a rerelease of the Attack Hobby set) of the Mk. 54 Depth Charge in 1/72^nd scale.

Looking at the set, you get two gray resin blocks which contain the depth charge body and the nose pin for the front arming propeller. There is also a photoetch fret containing 18 pieces, a set of decals and the instructions for assembly, painting and decaling the set.

Assembly starts with cutting the depth charges free- make sure the front is flat. You will need to drill a hole here for the front arming pole. Don’t forget to trim the sprue on each fin. Cut the arming pole free and be careful. They are about 1mm and I managed to lose one. The photoetch comes next. The rear ring is cut free and bent into a circle and glues in place. The rear arming propeller is added. The front arming pole is added and then the propeller and the depth charge is finished except for painting.

The rest of the construction involves the pylons which are each constructed of 6 parts. I suggest having a photoetch bender available as there are bends involved. The top of the pylon is bent and then glued over the bent bottom of the pylon. Attachment feet are added to the top where it meets the plane and lastly, the shackles are added.

The depth charge is listed as either olive drab or light gull gray. The fuses are natural metal. The pylon is the bottom color of the aircraft. I went all gray in my painting followed by adding the decals which went on without any issues, Lastly, I added a wash to bring out the details and then a flat coat and finished.

This is a great little set but due to the bending required and the size of the pieces, I do suggest some experience. Definitely recommended

My thanks to Brengun for the review sample and IPMS/USA for the change to review it