ModelWarships review

Reviewed by Timothy Dike

A new line of accessories for 1/700 scale modelers is now available from Paper Lab. Designed using Computer Aided Design (CAD), these parts existed virtually on computer, fine tuned and refined until being used to create masters for the white metal miniature parts. The result is that the parts are almost perfect copies of the original. The main image above is a rendered image of the 3D model. Note that some of the shapes are slightly exaggerated. The final part comes out with more subtle edges as the casting process has a way of rounding off some of the sharp edges.

Mk-51 gun directors were companions to the 40 mm gun mounts. These directors were found on everything from tin cans to battleships. These parts are cast in soft metal with incredible detail that is even hard to show due to their small size. Comparable in size to a 20 mm gun mount they are very small. But after seeing all the attempts to produce a realistic gun director in plastic, these just simply blow those away. I really need a better camera to really show the detail like it really is. These parts are cast in Germany by Neptun, renown for their highly detailed 1/1250 ships. The casting is extremely well done, and the only cleanup will be to trim the mount pin off. No sanding, filing, or other cleanup is needed. They are solid and can stand up to big thumbs without breaking, just glue in place and paint.

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CONCLUSIONS

If you want realistic parts on your 1/700 scale ships, skip the old Skywave weapons sets and go with parts that are true to scale and even more detailed. Paper Lab detail parts are currently available from 4 dealers: Pacific Front Hobbies, Morning Sunshine Models, White Ensign Models and L'Arsenal. Stay tuned for more from Paper Lab, this is but one of many accessories now available with much more planned.

This is set #FT70/007 US Navy MK51 Director 10 per package and should carry a retail price of around $10.95. These are awesome little parts, that are will make your 700 scale ships look more realistic. Highly recommended. You can find out more about Paper-Lab by clicking their logo below.