Black Cat Models
1/350 Carley Floats

Reviewed by Christopher Martens
August 2020
A new player has arrived on the scale modeling scene.  Black Cat Models from France bills themselves as "...specialists of CAD design, we use the best available softwares and printers to produce a complete range of kits and accessories of unequaled precision and quality at the present day."

Click to enlarge images
The Carley Floats
The packaging is a plastic clamshell container, with the 3D printed runner containing the Pom Poms, well-secured with double sided tape. The adhesive is strong and parts need to be carefully removed. Still, this adhesive is critically important to keeping this delicate 3D printed accesory safe. 

Carley floats were an American design featured on a number of nation's vessels being only superseded by later rigid or inflatable designs. This particular design is intended for British ships, featuring a real-life size of 14' x 9'. These will likely be most appropriate on larger, capital vessels.

Detail is impressive, even for a relatively simple accessory. The webbing is delicate and in-scale as well as appropriately see-through. The rope along the outer ring is well-molded. A few scratched boxes of food, water, and other provisions would make these absolutely perfect. It's also worth noting that the rafts are remarkably sturdy, given their fine molding. 

Close ups of some of the parts details.


INSTRUCTIONS
There are no instructions in the box, but the packing directs you to the Black Cat Models website, not that these need instructions.   There, on a data page for the particular item, you will find instructions on how to remove the printed supports that are part of the 3D printing process.
CONCLUSIONS
These Carley Floats are brilliantly 3D printed and immensely useful on a number of British (and like other) capital vessels. 

This is Black Cat Models set . They retail for about $ 7.65, and are available directly from Black Cat Models




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