Shelf Oddity Review - USN Quadruple 21in torpedo tubes

Shelf Oddity
1/700 USN Quadruple 21-inch Torpedo Tube Mounts

Reviewed by Martin J Quinn
February 2023

Shelf Oddity of Poland has sent us some upgrade sets for review. These are sets SO700198, USN Quadruple 21-inch Torpedo Tube Mount and SO700199, USN Quadruple 21-inch Torpedo Tube Mount - Advanced Set. Per the Shelf Oddity website, these weapons were "Widely used on various US Navy combat vessels of WW2". These mounts were found on the Fletcher-class destroyers, and others. For more on these mounts, you check out this document on the website martime.org

THE PARTS

The parts arrive in a plastic flip top container. Set SO700198 sits in the container, while set set SO700199 is tucked into a small plastic bag inside the container.

Set SO700198 includes two print rafts, with two resin quadruple 21-inch mounts, along with a blast shield, one per raft. The detail is quite nice, especially the director on top of the mount, and the piping along the sides of the mount.

There are no instructions or photo-etch included.

Set SO700199 has two rafts in the container. The difference between the regular set and this advanced set is that this gives you the opportunity to "pose" your torpedo tubes in different ways. As the Shelf Oddity website says, "The advanced version of this set allows different configurations of launcher tubes. Great when planning a maintenance scene on your model vessel or simply allowing more display variations of this standard device." The detail on these is as nice as the basic set, not only the director on top of the mount, but the "flaps" that cover the head of the torpedo and flipped back as well. I like that you have the multiple options when flipping the covers back, depending on which part you choose. Blast shields are also included.

There are no instructions or photo-etch included. You just select the "pose" you want, which is the front half of the mount, and attach that to the back half of the mount.

CONCLUSIONS

Another nicely detailed and handy accessory from Shelf Oddity. These torpedo tube mounts should be an upgrade to any kit supplied version, whether injection molded or resin. Recommended.

This is Shelf Oddity set SO700198, USN Quadruple 21-inch Torpedo Tube Mount and SO700199, USN Quadruple 21-inch Torpedo Tube Mount - Advanced Set. Set SO700198 retails for about $6.00 USD, while set SO700199 retails for about $ 9.00 USD. Both are available directly from Shelf Oddity's website, whom I'd like to thank for the review sample.