| The HMS Naiad was a Dido-class anti aircraft
light cruiser commissioned in July 1940. She was one of the few completed
with her intended armament of five 5"25 cal dual purpose twin guns turrets.
Shortages caused other ships in the class to be built with only four turrets.
Upon joining the Home Fleet of the Royal Navy she was assigned to convoy
protection with the 15th Cruiser Squadron sailing up and down the Atlantic.
Naiad was among the ships trying to prevent the German battleships Scharnhorst
and Gneisenau from breaking out into the Atlantic in May 1941 during Operation
Berlin.
Later on Naiad was sent to the Mediterranean to operate with Force H
as flagship of the 15th Cruiser Squadron. Naiad was damaged by German aircraft
off of Crete but returned with the cruiser Leander, to take on the French
destroyer Guépard a Vichy French ship operating off Syria. Naiad
made many trips escorting convoys keeping Malta supplied.
In March 1942 she was torpedoed off Crete and sunk by the German submarine
U-565 losing 77 of her crew.
FlyHawk has released this new kit, much to the delight of Royal Navy
fans. The kit depicts the Naiad as built, but with a little work could
be modified to represent other ships in the Dido class. Let's take a look
at what's in the box.
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| SPRUE A |
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| A thinly molded tripod mast is the first sprue. This
part was well packed and protected from damage as it is some really fine
molding. |
Click images
to enlarge |
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| SPRUE B |
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| The aft tripod mast is equally fine and also well packed and protected. |
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| SPRUE C |
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| The lower hull is nicely molded and test fitting shows a nice fit with
the upper hull. |
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| SPRUE D |
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| The upper hull features nice open portholes with eyebrows (gutters),
hull plating and degaussing cable. Open chocks are molded to the hull edges. |
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| SPRUE E |
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| A flat base is included for a waterline version with a pocket for the
metal weight.. |
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| SPRUE F |
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| The foredeck is nicely molded with camber and nice surface detail.
The bracing on the bow is a little exaggerated. Anchorways are clean with
holes for the separate capstans. |
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| SPRUE G |
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| The aft deck is also cambered and has nice planking detail. The bitts
along the edge look a little plain to me. |
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| SPRUE GB01 |
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| Light anti aircraft guns are molded on the little modular sprues where
the thin gun barrels are protected. Notice the open grate appearance of
the gun deck. |
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| SPRUE GB02 |
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| Large and small searchlights, very finely molded for 700 scale. |
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| SPRUE GB03 |
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| Paravanes and nicely molded deck winches. |
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| SPRUE GB04 |
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| Range finders, binoculars, and other fine equipment not usually seen
in plastic in this scale. |
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| SPRUE GB06 |
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| Life rafts also nicely molded. |
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| SPRUE GB07 |
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| 5"25 cal twin gun turrets, slide molded with exceptional detail and
thin gun barrels. |
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| SPRUE GB08 |
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| Ships boats, and torpedo launchers. |
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| SPRUE GB09 |
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| Equipment boxes and vents. |
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| SPRUE GB10 |
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| More boxes and storage cabinets. |
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| SPRUE GB11 |
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| Davits for the ships boats. |
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| SPRUE GB12 |
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| Equipment and ammo boxes. |
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| SPRUE GB13 |
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| Directors and stands. |
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| SPRUE GB14 |
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| Davit poles. |
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| SPRUE GB15 |
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| Propellers with some pretty fine blades. |
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| SPRUE J |
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| Funnels use slide molding for maximum detail. Piping and top are separate.
The vents are molded with open ends and the other parts are well done. |
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| SPRUE I-T |
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| These parts are packed loose and benefit from slide molding
allowing for seamless structures and multi-sided surface detailing. |
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| Note the molded on doors, and handrails. |
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| Equally impressive wall detailing. |
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| Impressive open windows and fantastic
detailing. |
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| Nice doors, cable reels could have been
separate. |
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| Nice surface detail. |
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| Relatively thin splinter shields. |
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| Directors and vents with nice surface
detail. |
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| PHOTOETCH |
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| Photoetched railings, inclined ladders, anchor chains and bracing allow
for even finer detailing on your ship. |
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| DECALS |
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| Regular and wind-blown flags in two styles are well registered. |
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| BOX |
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| The box can be folded up to display your ship on a printed water base. |
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| INSTRUCTIONS |
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| Instructions are four extra long pages printed in color. These include
sub-assembly views and color guides for painting. |
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| Conclusions: |
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| I am pleased to see another neglected British ship come to market in
plastic. Especially one featuring such fine molding and smartly engineered
parts. I highly recommend this kit for WW2 Royal Navy fans. Bravo FlyHawk
Models.
This is kit #FHM-1112 Flyhawk 1/700 HMS Naiad Light Cruiser with a list
price of $79.95 US. |
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