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.

Meng has released a second version of their excellent T-90A, this one with newly designed track and two optional front ends: a self-entrenching device, or a TBS-86 Tank Dozer blade. The twin electro-optical/IR ‘dazzler’ lights come complete with all electronic bits to make them light up, and a layer of nylon turret (composite armor) ‘skin’ add to an already interesting build.

The T-90 tank is protected by both conventional armor-plating and explosive reactive armor, and fitted with the Shtora-1 defensive-aids suite which includes an infrared jammer, a laser warning system with four laser warning receivers, a grenade discharging system which produces an aerosol screen and a computerized control system. It is also fitted with NBC (nuclear, biological and chemical) protection equipment. Altogether, the T-90 represents state-of-the-art Russian armor, and Meng has produced a masterpiece representing it in scale.

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.

What you get in the package is a full gear replacement in white metal for both main gear legs and the tail gear. In many cases SAC will assemble some of the kit parts prior to casting. In this case the replacement parts number is the same as the kit parts. They have cleaned up the gear and filled any imperfections that were present on the original plastic parts. They also have enhanced the level of detail on the gear well above that of the plastic parts

The gear in the kit consists of five plastic parts. The metal replacement parts make up five pieces, two for each main gear and a single piece for the tail gear.

Detail is crisper on the metal gear than on the kit’s plastic parts. One can also tell from the photos that the SAC gear is much beefier, especially on the main gear retraction arms. The replacement parts are a drop fit with no issues what so ever. The overall appearance of the replacement gear is vastly superior to the kit parts.

Thank you to MRC and Gallery Models for providing another example of an iconic USN helicopter, this time in the distinctive Operation Deep Freeze color scheme. The kit was a very pleasant and enjoyable build. Thank you also to the IPMS Reviewer Corps staff members who do the hard work behind the scenes, getting us kits to review and publishing our work.

This kit is the latest in a series of H-34 variants by Gallery. Excellent reviews of the H-34 Choctaw (by William Nichols), the H-34 U. S. Navy Rescue version (by Rod Lees), and the HH-34J (by Dave Morrissette) may be found on the IPMS site. I suggest consulting these reviews as there are many great ideas and suggestions that are pertinent to the UH-34D reviewed here. All three of these reviewers found items I would’ve missed.