Reviewed by Timothy Dike |
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| The Adjutant Class Motor Minesweeper
were built in the United States for coastal minesweeping duties in the
early 50's. Many were transferred to foreign countries including France
where they were used to protect the coast from mines.
L'Arsenal has produced this little ship typical of those French ships in 1/400 scale. It could easily be used to represent ships of other nations such as Italy, Greece, |
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| HULL | |||||||||||||
| The hull is cast in full hull style with all but the funnel in place. The casting is great, and there is lots of detail in all areas of the ship. The fore deck includes foot rails for the 20 mm mount, a seldom seen detail. The closed chocks around the hull even have the correct shape and just need drilled out. |
to enlarge |
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| FITTINGS, AND SMALL PARTS | |||||||||||||
| The various fittings are well cast and have some really great detailing. Most have a bit of flash but it is very easy to remove and the cleanup is minimal. I was extremely impressed by the cable reels and winch details, very sharp and well done. You are given a choice of a rubber raft and wooden boat. Also included as some nice life rafts. The latter are cast with open bottoms with photo etch net bottoms. |  |
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| A couple of resin blocks are included to display your ship. |  |
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| PHOTO ETCH | |||||||||||||
| A photo etch fret is included with plenty of extra details. I really like the way the 20 mm guns are done. You should be able to mount these at any angle. Anchors, platforms, ladders, and rails are among the other parts on the fret. |  |
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| DECALS | |||||||||||||
| A decal sheet is include with the ships numbers that should allow you to model any ship in the class. |  |
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| INSTRUCTIONS | |||||||||||||
The instructions are five pages with a bill of materials
and several assembly drawings. These are pretty good and do a good job
of showing where all the parts go. I would like to see more 3D views of
the ship assembly.
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| CONCLUSIONS | |||||||||||||
A highly detailed kit of these cold war minesweepers and a must have for 400 scale enthusiasts. This would make a great first resin kit for anyone with at least some photo etch experience. Priced at 47,95 € (about $63 US) a pretty fair price for a ship of this much detail with photo etch. You can order it direct from L'Arsenal or wherever high quality ship kits are sold. |
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