Many, many thanks to Mr. Richard Harden of Tom’s Modelworks for providing this beautiful ship model enhancement set for review. I am also deeply appreciative of the IPMS Reviewer staff who tirelessly support a very large group of reviewers. I am delighted to report on my experience with this neat product.

Description and Use

The set consists of a single 7.8 x 2.8 inch photo-etched and polished brass fret with more than 1000 scale feet of railing and about 300 feet of ladders. The railings are mostly the 3-bar variety with several stanchion spacings represented. Canvas dodgers or screens are represented well on a row of 2-bar rails. The ladders have densely-spaced tabs that are designed to be bent for standoffs, holding the ladder off its attachment surface. The brass has a nice balance of strength and malleability. The parts are strong enough; the brass did not break too easily with repeated folding. I was able to form shapes and bends easily without too much over-bending. This is important to me, with the 100 scale-ton fingers I have.

The most striking part of this set is the variable relief. The railings are thinner than the stanchions, which makes for a very pleasing and realistic visual effect. The really nice thing about the relief is that it is mirrored front and back. The process to make this two-sided relief is not trivial, consisting of varying photoresist and carefully timed etching. I did not try a black wash on the rails, but I believe this treatment might really make the relief stand out.

This is a very well-done set for generic applications. Having this set laid out dockside in your shipyard will provide you with a ready set of materials to replace lesser or absent kit parts. The rails are all straight, so adapting them to upward sweeping deck lines might be a little tricky, but the character of the metal should give you one or two second chances to reform the parts. Putting these parts in a conspicuous area of a ship should really set off the overall appearance.

Conclusion

The MSRP cost of this fret seems a little high, but I do not think that cost reduces the value of the set. Considering how many ships are “commissioned” in my collection that are wanting for a small stunning detail or two, I cannot help but wish this set was available years ago. I recommend it for your “warehouse.”

Again, my sincerest gratitude to both Tom’s Modelworks and IPMS/USA for providing me this product for review. It is a great privilege, thank you!