Reviews

1/350 Doors and Hatches by Tom's Modelworks

Photo etch doors and hatches have long been one of the first add-ons to improve a model. But here is a new twist. Open doors complete with frames, rain gutters, and linkage. These US Navy style doors are provided in left hand and right hand configuration. Please note the doors should should be mounted to open towards the bow. This allows high seas to push an open door shut and prevent uncontrolled flooding as the ship travels forward..

Click to enlarge images

The doors can be mounted in any position and while the instructions suggest blackening the opening inside the frame, I would instead drill out the openings. After all if you are going to use such nice doors on your ship you just have to hollow out the ship a bit. As you can see by the close ups below the relief etching produces a very realistic appearance. Add the linkage and these doors will really stand out.

Close ups of some of the fret details.

There are 11 different door styles, 6 open and 6 closed, for a total of 132 doors.

A single instruction sheet show the assembly for the various types of doors and hatches and gives some tips and information on the operation of them.

Conclusions: This set is an great way to add an even higher level of realism to your ships. After seeing these it will be hard to use the same old flat one sided doors. This is set #3545 priced at only $11.00 on Tom's Modelworks website a great value for 132 doors.