26' Personnel
Boat (x2)

AC350095a

Black Cat Models, 1/350 Scale, Printed Resin

Reviewed by Devin Poore, October 2021
Title image above from the Black Cat Models website

The 26' personnel boat has been carried on the ships of the United States Navy, and other navies, for decades. While these boats are generally used to transfer officers and enlisted men during inclement weather, many ships carry upgraded versions with nicer fittings as the Captain's or Admiral's gigs.

This set comes from Black Cat Models with two identical boats on a single printing raft. Printed as a single piece, each boat is exquisitely detailed. Props, rudders, and even hand-holds and railings come as a part of the print. The piping detail on items such as lifelines and the bow flagstaff coming in at a thickness of .007", or .19mm, which is insanely thin for a 3D print. Fortunately the resin Black Cat uses has a decent amount of flex to it, so accidentally bumping the fine details won't result in breakage. The forward windscreen is made up of only the frame, which means they can be filled with Kristal Klear to replicate the clear glass. A nice touch.

I wasn't able to find any information on the actual length of the 26' boat in any of my references; while 26' is in the proper name, having served in the Navy myself, I know not to take that as a literal statement of the vessel's size. But, going off of that, the boats come in at .866", or 22mm, which would be 25.3' in full-scale. That's pretty close in my opinion.

These are very cool little boats. I've been using high-end 3D resin printing in my day-job and as part of the hobby for over 5 years now, and the fine railing detail on these is the most delicate I have ever seen. There are artifacts from the 3D printing, however, as under magnification, as in my macro lens photos above, print layer lines are visible. These are minor, however, when viewed with the naked eye, and should mostly disappear under primer and paint.

Highly Recommended. Thank you to Black Cat Models for the review sample.