ModelWarships reveiw

PIT-ROAD Skywave series

1/700 NEW US Weapons set #E-6
Reviewed by Timothy Dike

For years we have been upgrading our 1/700 scale plastic and resin kits with the Skywave weapons sets. The old E6 US Navy weapons set was the best option for getting reasonably accurate 5" 38 cal turrets for your Destroyers. The original E6 weapons set went out of production and rather just re-release it Pit-road redesigned it to make it more accurate. Much of the research was done in preparation of the new Benson and Gleaves Class Destroyers now coming on the market.

There are two identical sprues included with this set. Each one is molded with very thin parts and sharp detailing. Most of the parts are familiar to us, but there are some new surprises that will save you some scratch building time such as the new open 5" 38 cal mounts. A canvas top is not included

The 5" 38 enclosed gun mounts look a lot better than the original ones in the old set. It appears as though the mount is a little offset as the real ones were but in 1/700 that 5" offset translates to .007" so I'm nut sure it matters too much. The turret in the set represents the upper mount carried on most destroyers. The lower ones had an extra plate on the roof to reinforce it from the blast effect of the upper mount. Again barely noticeable in this scale. The barrels are much finer than the previous ones and have a more too scale appearance.

Miscellaneous close-ups


5" 38 Cal turrets and barrels. The flat rectangular shaped part is a boat cradle.	3" 50 Cal, 5" 25 Cal, and 5' 38" open guns and bases.	torpedo crane 20 mm twin mount, quad and twin 40 mm, and 1.1" quad mount	Early and late war K-gun holders and launchers.

The open mounts are pretty nice and the gun assembly is pretty detailed especially when one considers how tiny these parts are. Modelers will appreciate the inclusion of the 5" 25 cal open mount typically found on the older prewar ships such as the New Orleans and Brooklyn class heavy and light cruisers. 3" 50 cal mounts are also included. The 40 mm quad and twin mounts are improved and the quad mount has an open and unshielded base. The 1.1 inch mount is pretty fine and has some really delicate gun barrels. There is a 20 mm twin gun that looks more like half of a quad 1.1. The mark 37 director has a separate base and fine sighting tubes. We finally have a decent looking torpedo crane to load and unload those torpedoes on our ships now.

Some of the parts included in this set are:

5" 38 cal Mk 30 single enclosed mounts (8)
5" 38 cal Mk 30 single open top mount (4)
5" 25 cal Mk 19 open gun mount (4)
3" 50 cal Mk 21 gun mount (4)
40 mm Mk 4 twin anti aircraft gun (4)
40 mm Mk 4 quad anti aircraft gun (4) with two base options
21" quad torpedo launchers w/ option enclosed director (4)
1.1" quad anti aircraft mount (4)
20 mm twin mount (4)
Mk 51 gun director w/ tub (8)
26' whaleboat (with and without mounting holes) (8)
boat cradle and crane for 26' wale boat
20 mm Mk 4 single gun mounts (20)
Depth charge thrower assembly (early) on flat base (12)
Depth charge thrower assembly and rack (late) on flat base (8)
Depth charge racks (stern mount) (4)
Practice loading machine (2)
Torpedo loading crane (4)
Mk 37 director W/ Mk 12 or Mk 25 radar and bracket (2 ea.)
SC-1 radar (2)
SPS-6C and OPS-3a radar (2 ea.)
SC-2, SC-4, and SA radar (2 ea.)
large and small hose reels (4 and 2)
anchors (4)
Life rafts square (8) and oval (16)
24" searchlight and base (4)
18" search light (4)

I'm a little disappointed with the way the K-gun depth charge launchers came out as these are a pain to scratch build. These are represented by a square insert with all part molded in place Unfortunately when reduced down to 1/700 scale these part are nothing more than bumps on a plastic base as the tiny size makes them all but impossible to reproduce in an injection molding process.

If you work with US Navy ships, this set will help you detail them out properly. This set retails for about $11.00 and is available wherever Pit-road products are sold.