M o d e l W a r s h i p s . c o m Shelf Oddity’s 1/700 IJN Hawser Reels

Shelf Oddity’s 1/700 IJN Hawser Reels
Shelf Oddity IJN Reels for Rope, SKU# SO700119

by Dan Kaplan

Hawser reels are common shipboard equipment for storing the thick rope or wire cable lines used to moor ships to docks, or to use as tow lines. Reels typically consist of a drum wrapped with the rope or cable and a mounting frame.

For many years, hawser reels in 1/700 were typically molded onto the deck of a ship kit with minimum detail or shape. In the early 1990s, Pit-Road began issuing kits that included stand alone, molded reel parts in their kits to be glued in place on the deck. This was a welcome development, but often the reels were overscale and showed seam lines from the injection process. They also were molded as a drum without a frame. Within the last decade, improved reels that are better scaled and configured with a frame became available from Pit-Road and other companies like Yamashita Hobby.

Around the same time that Pit-Road first introduced individual reels, photo etch manufactures like Gold Metal Models, Joe World and WEM issued photoetch versions of the frames. This enabled a variety of reels types and sizes, as would typically be utilized by different sized ships. The drawback here was that the modeler would have to either modify one of the stand-alone styrene drums or create their own reel (typically by wrapping thin copper wire around a core) and gluing into place between the frame halves. The latter option is generally more accurate, but is a very labor-intensive process, particularly in 1/700 scale.

In recent years, a handful of aftermarket suppliers have begun to offer hawser reel sets that consisted of both frames and drums molded with wrapped rope/cable. The drums are made of resin, brass, or 3D printed resin. Of course, the cost is considerably more than just a set of metal frames or styrene reels, but the result is far simpler to construct.

Shelf Oddity of Poland has joined this last trend with the issuance of its own 1/700 hawser reel set for Imperial Japanese Navy ships. The set is composed of two pieces: a relief etched brass fret holding six different sized frames, and a wafer containing fifty-four 3D printed resin reels split among ten or more sizes. Together, one can mix and match reels and frames for the proper mix of reels aboard any 1/700 IJN ship kit. The frames are finely detailed, and the reels have individual lines surrounding the drum. All details are sharply defined and wonderfully scaled.

The set arrives packaged within a clear acrylic box, with the brass fret backed by cardboard, and the resin wafer sitting within a clear plastic tube. While there are no instructions enclosed, one merely has to go to the Shelf Oddity website and find the item and then download the instruction sheet.

These reels are extremely well done and a welcome addition to any 1/700 IJN kit. The 3D printed reels provide a significant amount of savings in terms of time and effort. One also gets more reels than the few other similar type sets currently available. Highly recommended.
At the current exchange rate, the set costs approximately US$19.21. The item # is SO700119. This item can be purchased directly from the Shelf Oddity website.Many thanks to Shelf Oddity for providing a review set.