Globaltoy IJN heavy cruiser Furutaka (1:350)
Posted by Robert Apfelzweig on February 28, 2024, 23:00:51
After finding this interesting 3D-printed kit on the usual online auction site last month, I ordered this kit from China on Feb. 6; it arrived today, two weeks before the expected date (via US Mail). The full-hull model is extraordinarily detailed; the hull is in two sections that fit evenly together (and includes the deck railing), and will require much careful painting (it is cast in a dull orange-pink color). The separate superstructure parts, small boats, floatplane, torpedo tubes, catapult, cranes, gun mounts, masts, etc. are supplied mostly in groups attached to the printing sprues, so careful cutting them free will be required. The superstructure parts have holes beneath them that align with short pegs on the main deck to simplify assembly, but there are no assembly instructions -- the buyer is presumably left to his own online resources to complete the kit. Some minor cleanup of the hull and a few other parts will be needed to remove printing stubs, and I expect to drill out the porthholes to make them a little bit larger. The 8-in. gun barrels (cast with the turrets) have hollow muzzles but the single 4.7-in. secondary guns (4 are needed, 6 are supplied) do not. These accessories were carefully wrapped in small sized bubblewrap and loose cotton fluff, and virtually nothing arrived broken aside from a couple of very short railing segments. I expect to have a very good time building this kit (and a tedious time painting it) as I research which parts go where. Fortunately, I have spare photoetch for the railing and parallel brass strips that cover the lineoleum-covered main deck. Meanwhile, the French battleship Bretagne by SSGlobal, which I ordered before the Furutaka (also on the auction site) still has not been shipped from China.
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