Japanese Battleship Mikasa (1905) Armament

Published on
June 4, 2018
Review Author(s)
Scale
1/200
MSRP
$25.00
Product / Stock #
SM-200-009
Base Kit
Merit International
Company: Master Model - Website: Visit Site
Provided by: Master Model - Website: Visit Site
Kit contents

This set of replacement barrels for the 1/200 scale Mikasa. It includes 4 305mm (12”), 14 152mm (6”), 20 76mm (3”) and 12 47mm (1.85” Hotchkiss Guns). The 305mm and 152mm barrels are machined from aluminum and the other 2 are machined from brass. The 305mm barrels include brass trunnions.

These are designed for Merit International IJN Pre-Dreadnought Battleship Mikasa.

The 305mm is a straight replacement. The machining is quite good, and the only difference is that the plastic piece has what appears to be a cover on the end of the barrel while the metal barrel is bored out to depict the barrel in action.

The rest of the barrels requires surgery to remove part of the old barrel and drilling out a locating hole for the replacement barrel to slip into.

Here it becomes a little more difficult. There are no instructions as to where to cut the old barrel off so you have to just decide for yourself where you want the barrels to sit. I decided to cut the old barrel off so that the replacement barrel when in place would be the same length as the plastic barrel. The 152mm replacement barrel is machined with a taper and at the end of the barrel is flared. It is also bored out to show the barrel in use.

The 76mm barrel cut is fairly easy as it matches the plastic barrel at a joint. The machining again has a taper with a flared end with the bored-out barrel. This barrel looks quite good on the plastic mount.

The 47mm barrel presents a problem as it appears to be somewhat longer than the plastic barrel it is to replace, or it was intended to be cut much further back. Since there are not any instructions showing where to cut, I just cut is as close to the mount as possible. The barrel is tapered but does not have any flare at the end, and has the end bored-out, where the plastic part is solid.

Conclusion: This set is a good replacement for the plastic parts and is highly recommended.

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