PE review
Reviewed July 2016
by Timothy Choi
Shelf Oddity is a new player in the model ship aftermarket world, run by Modelwarships.com forum member Blacman. This 1/700 Lifebuoy/ring set is an unusual take on an otherwise traditional PE subject. It contains eight lifering racks and four strips of lifering: 24 singles and 24 duals. To assist with painting, there is a fifth strip serving as a paint mask: simply paint the life buoys while they're still on the fret in white, then align the painting mask on top before painting the red. Remove the mask and then remove the rings from the fret This gives you nice sharp demarcations for the little red stripes on the rings. There are holes on the edges of the mask and the main buoy frets to help you align the two parts.
PHOTOETCH
There is only one fret in this set. Relief etching is used to help you fit the masking template over the buoys, as well as on the reverse side to note the bend points for the buoy holders.
INSTRUCTIONS
The instructions are available for download here. The image below is converted from that pdf. There are no paper instructions included with the set itself.
CONCLUSIONS
Need something to spice up that grey-and-linoleum IJN hull? These little white-and-red lifebuoys will add greatly to the model's visual interest. Kudos to Blacman for including the painting guide concept to help with making sharp and consistent stripes.

This is set  #SO70040 - IJN Lifebuoy Set with a list price of 6.80 EUR or about $7.57 USD at July 3, 2016 exchange rates. You can buy their products directly from Shelf Oddity on their website. 



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