For awhile now, one of the big upgrades folks have been doing on 1/350 IJN warships is upgrading the double & triple 25mm mounts with the Veteran Models 25mms.
I noticed when I was on the Alliance Model Works web site awhile back that they were also offering 25mms in 1/350 in single, double & triple mounts, so I purchased some to see how they compared to the Veterans 25mms, since those have been in such short supply lately.
I just put one together, so I thought I'd throw out a quick review for everyone, in case you want to try these instead.
You get parts for 6 mounts, and they come in a little plastic box. The first thing you notice is that only the guns are resin. The mounts are PE, unlike the resin mounts that come with the Veterans set.
- Guns and brass.
The resin is a very dark gray, and is very brittle. I assume this is to keep the guns from bending out of shape, but the barrels and magazines can be easily broken if not handled carefully. The casting block on the back is easily removed with some sharp sprue cutters.
- Resin 25mm Guns
- Trip 25 2.JPG (7.56 KiB) Viewed 1268 times
The brass is .10 thick and is relief etched, and comes between two thin sheets of plastic. There are 2 frets, each with parts for 3 guns. The etching is very well done with nice fold lines on the mount and gun base. The traveler, trainer, and accompanying foot pedals are etched as part of the main mount, and can detach if bent too much.
- Brass
There are 2 different kinds of bases: one with gun shields and one without. There are also two different types of gunsights: One with the round crosshair type (part 1) and one with front & rear sights (part 9).
Interestingly, the instructions distinguish between the 2 different types of bases and tell you to choose one or the other in text, but not the sights. They just put the two types of sights in one picture, with a question mark between them. Why they would add text to the base but not the sights is beyond me, but whatever.
The instructions are mostly picture based and get the point across, but could be better. In addition to the two sights, there is a part 5 that isn't indicated anywhere on the instructions. From the pictures you can figure out it goes in the front of the mount under the guns, but nowhere in the instructions is it listed.
- Instructions Page 1
- Instructions Page 2
Here are a couple shots of a completed mount. Please note that any flaws in construction are solely the result of the modeler's skill set, and not a reflection on the product!
- Completed Triple 25mm
- Completed Triple 25mm
All in all, these are great little replacement guns for the Fujimi, Hasegawa, and Aoshima kit parts. If you're totally intimidated by tiny PE parts, these are definitely not for you. But with some patience and careful handling, they will look great on any 1/350 IJN ship.
They are $13.00 and are available directly from Alliance Model Works.
http://www.am-works.com/store/index.php
EDIT:
I just discovered on Alliance's web site that Battle Fleet Models and Freetime Hobbies are both distributors for Alliance, so you can also order from a couple site sponsors as well:
http://www.freetimehobbies.com/index.aspx
http://battlefleetmodels.com/
Bob
For awhile now, one of the big upgrades folks have been doing on 1/350 IJN warships is upgrading the double & triple 25mm mounts with the Veteran Models 25mms.
I noticed when I was on the Alliance Model Works web site awhile back that they were also offering 25mms in 1/350 in single, double & triple mounts, so I purchased some to see how they compared to the Veterans 25mms, since those have been in such short supply lately.
I just put one together, so I thought I'd throw out a quick review for everyone, in case you want to try these instead.
You get parts for 6 mounts, and they come in a little plastic box. The first thing you notice is that only the guns are resin. The mounts are PE, unlike the resin mounts that come with the Veterans set.
[attachment=6]Trip 25 3.JPG[/attachment]
The resin is a very dark gray, and is very brittle. I assume this is to keep the guns from bending out of shape, but the barrels and magazines can be easily broken if not handled carefully. The casting block on the back is easily removed with some sharp sprue cutters.
[attachment=5]Trip 25 2.JPG[/attachment]
The brass is .10 thick and is relief etched, and comes between two thin sheets of plastic. There are 2 frets, each with parts for 3 guns. The etching is very well done with nice fold lines on the mount and gun base. The traveler, trainer, and accompanying foot pedals are etched as part of the main mount, and can detach if bent too much.
[attachment=0]Trip 25 4.JPG[/attachment]
There are 2 different kinds of bases: one with gun shields and one without. There are also two different types of gunsights: One with the round crosshair type (part 1) and one with front & rear sights (part 9).
Interestingly, the instructions distinguish between the 2 different types of bases and tell you to choose one or the other in text, but not the sights. They just put the two types of sights in one picture, with a question mark between them. Why they would add text to the base but not the sights is beyond me, but whatever.
The instructions are mostly picture based and get the point across, but could be better. In addition to the two sights, there is a part 5 that isn't indicated anywhere on the instructions. From the pictures you can figure out it goes in the front of the mount under the guns, but nowhere in the instructions is it listed.
[attachment=4]Trip 25 5.JPG[/attachment][attachment=3]Trip 25 6.JPG[/attachment]
Here are a couple shots of a completed mount. Please note that any flaws in construction are solely the result of the modeler's skill set, and not a reflection on the product!
[attachment=2]Trip 25 1.JPG[/attachment][attachment=1]Trip 25 7.JPG[/attachment]
All in all, these are great little replacement guns for the Fujimi, Hasegawa, and Aoshima kit parts. If you're totally intimidated by tiny PE parts, these are definitely not for you. But with some patience and careful handling, they will look great on any 1/350 IJN ship.
They are $13.00 and are available directly from Alliance Model Works.
[url]http://www.am-works.com/store/index.php[/url]
EDIT:
I just discovered on Alliance's web site that Battle Fleet Models and Freetime Hobbies are both distributors for Alliance, so you can also order from a couple site sponsors as well:
[url]http://www.freetimehobbies.com/index.aspx[/url]
[url]http://battlefleetmodels.com/[/url]
Bob