Hellenic Models Mk. 141 Harpoon Launcher Set

Reviewed September 2025 by Felix Bustelo
HISTORY
SIn the mid-1960s, the United States Navy began preliminary studies towards the development of a missile that could be used against surfaced submarines. Since the naval slang for submarines is “whales”, the project was given the name Harpoon. On October 21, 1967, the Israeli destroyer Eilat (ex-HMS Zealous) was sunk by three Soviet-made Styx missiles launched by Egyptian Komar-class missile boats. This incident shocked senior United States Navy officers, who until then had not been conscious of the threat posed by anti-ship missiles. In response to this new threat, Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, the Chief of Naval Operations, accelerated the development of the Harpoon anti-ship missile system. The shipborne Harpoon, RGM-84, is fitted with a solid-fuel rocket booster that detaches when expended to allow the missile's main turbojet to maintain flight. The missiles are stored in ceramic armored canister launchers and four of these are fitted on the Mk. 141 launcher. The missiles were stored and fired from the canisters at a fixed angle. While the Harpoon and its Mk. 141 launcher was developed for use on US Navy warships, such as the Ticonderoga class cruiser, as their principal anti-ship weapon system, it is used by many allied navies around the world.
Hellenic Mk. 141 Harpoon Launcher Set
Hellenic Ship Model has produced a 1:350 scale 3D printed Mk. 141 Harpoon launcher set which contains 12, yes that number is correct, individual quad canister units. Each launcher is fully assembled and very nicely detailed. All you have to do is to remove it from the print raft, maybe cleanup the spots where the supports were, paint and attach to your model. It really cannot be easier than that. However, I did notice that the launchers do not have the solid wall on the front that some Harpoon launchers have. Instead, the base is fully open, which is common on launchers fitted to smaller combatants as a weight saving measure. One such example are the launchers fitted to US Navy Pegasus class hydrofoils as well as on smaller vessels of various foreign navies. Because of this wrinkle, the modeling applications of this set is somewhat limited. Specifically, these wouldn’t be the correct version to be utilized as upgrades for larger modern US Navy ship models available in both injection-molded plastic and resin.


CONCLUSIONS
This upgrade set from Hellenic Ship Model is very well done and easy to use. The set provides a dozen launchers, which is quite generous for the price of €8.00 or about $9.30 US. This is a bargain as this breaks down to about €0.67 or 78¢ each. It will greatly enhance any 1:350 scale ship model that is fitted with this specific style Harpoon missile launchers. Hopefully Kostas Kokkinos will apply his 3D design skills to produce a set of the launchers with the solid wall as the opportunities for use are greater. I would like to thank Kostas of Hellenic Ship Model for the review sample.

Reviewed September 2025
by Felix Bustelo

HISTORY

SIn the mid-1960s, the United States Navy began preliminary studies towards the development of a missile that could be used against surfaced submarines. Since the naval slang for submarines is “whales”, the project was given the name Harpoon. On October 21, 1967, the Israeli destroyer Eilat (ex-HMS Zealous) was sunk by three Soviet-made Styx missiles launched by Egyptian Komar-class missile boats. This incident shocked senior United States Navy officers, who until then had not been conscious of the threat posed by anti-ship missiles. In response to this new threat, Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, the Chief of Naval Operations, accelerated the development of the Harpoon anti-ship missile system.

The shipborne Harpoon, RGM-84, is fitted with a solid-fuel rocket booster that detaches when expended to allow the missile's main turbojet to maintain flight. The missiles are stored in ceramic armored canister launchers and four of these are fitted on the Mk. 141 launcher. The missiles were stored and fired from the canisters at a fixed angle. While the Harpoon and its Mk. 141 launcher was developed for use on US Navy warships, such as the Ticonderoga class cruiser, as their principal anti-ship weapon system, it is used by many allied navies around the world.

Hellenic Mk. 141 Harpoon Launcher Set

Hellenic Ship Model has produced a 1:350 scale 3D printed Mk. 141 Harpoon launcher set which contains 12, yes that number is correct, individual quad canister units. Each launcher is fully assembled and very nicely detailed. All you have to do is to remove it from the print raft, maybe cleanup the spots where the supports were, paint and attach to your model. It really cannot be easier than that. However, I did notice that the launchers do not have the solid wall on the front that some Harpoon launchers have. Instead, the base is fully open, which is common on launchers fitted to smaller combatants as a weight saving measure. One such example are the launchers fitted to US Navy Pegasus class hydrofoils as well as on smaller vessels of various foreign navies. Because of this wrinkle, the modeling applications of this set is somewhat limited. Specifically, these wouldn’t be the correct version to be utilized as upgrades for larger modern US Navy ship models available in both injection-molded plastic and resin.

CONCLUSIONS

This upgrade set from Hellenic Ship Model is very well done and easy to use. The set provides a dozen launchers, which is quite generous for the price of €8.00 or about $9.30 US. This is a bargain as this breaks down to about €0.67 or 78¢ each. It will greatly enhance any 1:350 scale ship model that is fitted with this specific style Harpoon missile launchers. Hopefully Kostas Kokkinos will apply his 3D design skills to produce a set of the launchers with the solid wall as the opportunities for use are greater. I would like to thank Kostas of Hellenic Ship Model for the review sample.