Combrig Models
1/350 Dupuy De Lôme


 
 
 
Reviewed September 2018
by Martin J Quinn
HISTORY
Considered by some to be the world’s first armored cruiser, Dupuy de Lôme was laid down in July 1888, launched in October 1890, but not commissioned until May, 1895, after problems with her boilers were discovered. A boiler tube burst during trials in 1892, wounding over a dozen men. Subsequent repairs were followed by more tests in October 1893. Those trials revealed that the boilers were structurally unsound, and needed to be replaced. As a result, the ship was not ready for further trials until November, 1894. 

Dupuy de Lôme spent the majority of her career operating out of the naval base at Brest. Highlights of her early career included representing France at the opening of the Kiel Canal, escorting Nicholas II of Russia’s yacht into Cherbourg, during a state visit in 1896, and sailing to Spithead to represent France during Queen Victoria’s funeral, in 1901.

She underwent an extensive refit between 1902 and 1906, which included upgraded boilers and the addition of a third funnel. When she emerged from this refit, she was found to be in poor shape, deemed to be obsolescent, and placed in reserve (you think they might have discovered all this BEFORE the refit?).  Sold to the Peruvian Navy in 1912, she was renamed Commandante Aguirre, but never served, after the Peruvians defaulted on their payments. Instead, she was sold to a Belgian shipping company in 1918, to be used as a freighter. 

Now named Péruvier, she was extensively altered for commercial use, with the removal of her two outboard engines, along with the boilers and propeller shafts for those engines, as well as her two forward funnels. On her maiden commercial voyage in January, 1920, her engines broke down several times. She was placed under tow, finally arriving in Pernambuco, Brazil, in June, 1920. It was here that a coal fire was discovered. The damage was extensive enough that the ship was deemed beyond economical repair. Towed to the Netherlands, she was scrapped beginning in 1923. 

For further information, check out her Wikipedia page here.

The Combrig Dupuy de Lôme

Dupuy de Lôme is packaged in a stiff, white cardboard box, with a photo of the real vessel on the box top.  Inside the box is the upper and lower hull, two bags with over 150 parts, two photo-etch frets in a plastic bag (separated by cardboard) and instructions, all kept in place by packaging peanuts.   The upper and lower hulls were each shrink wrapped into thin bubble wrap for extra protection - a very nice touch.  This was the best packaged kit I've received from Combrig.   However, the small parts were still jammed into two smaller bag, and did suffer from some minor breakage. 

Even thought this isn't a particularly large ship, there are plenty of parts in the box.  The model appears to depict Dupuy de Lôme before her 1902 refit, with only two funnels. 

THE HULL 
The hull - cast in Combrig's familiar grey resin - is a two piece affair.   Unlike some of the larger Combrig hulls, the upper and lower hulls are solid, and not hollowed out.  According to the measurements I found for Dupuy de Lôme, the hull scales out pretty much perfectly in both beam and length.   The upper hull is very well cast with good detail. There is just a little bit of flash on the bottom of the hull.   There is a small "well deck" amidships, which is the only portion of the deck with wood planking (the rest of the decks were either steel or linoleum).  The planking in this area looks sharp.  You'll find lots of other detail on the upper hull - hatches, doors, bollards, chocks, hawse pipe openings, portholes and skylights.  Everything looks really good. 

The lower hull doesn't have much detail, but it's well cast.  I'll cover the props, rudder, etc. further on in this review. 

FUNNELS, MASTS, VENTS AND PLATFORMS
There are two funnels, two military masts, and several wafers with vents or platforms on them.   The tops of the military masts have a raised square, which fits into a raised lip on the bottom of the platforms, to ensure the correct alignment.    All the parts are cleanly cast. 

TURRETS AND SUPERSTRUCTURE PARTS
The model comes with a resin wafer, where you'll find Dupuy de Lôme's eight turrets, along with some superstructure parts.   The turrets have well define openings for the resin barrels, are well cast with nice details like sighting hoods.   There is cast details, like doors and windows, on the superstructure parts.  The wafer is paper thin, it shouldn't take much effort to remove the parts. 

SHIPS BOATS 
Outside of the motor launches, the boats are just thinly cast hulls - the rest of the parts are found on the photo-etch set.   The motor launches are more substantial, and include separately cast engines.

WEAPONS AND GUN BARRELS
There is resin wafer with all the gun barrels for Dupuy de Lôme's eight turrets.  They look good for resin barrels, and have open muzzles.   The smaller weapons are some of the nicest parts in the kit, and are very delicately cast.    These are multi-part assemblies, consisting of both resin and photo-etch. 

ANCHORS, PROPS AND RUDDERS
The anchors are beautiful cast - very thin and delicate.   There is a little bit of flash on these parts, but a gentle swipe of a hobby knife should remove it.   The props are outstanding - they are also thin and very delicate.  The rudder and struts for the shafts (which have to be made out of brass rod) look good.

OTHER SMALL PARTS
Other small parts include capstans, searchlights, assorted small vents and other bits and bobs.   Everything is really nicely cast, even if I'm not sure what it all is. 

PHOTOETCH
There are two photo-etch frets with this kit.  Sheet 1, which is the larger of the two, includes railings (yes, railings), parts of the ships boats (floors w/planking, decking, rudders), ladders, boat cradles, the ship's wheel, and many other little parts.   While I'm happy Combrig has included railings with this kit, they are the style of railing with no waterway, but with individual stanchions.  This may present a problem for some, when they try to attach these to the model.   However, it does appear that the model has either a small raise lip or channel running around the edges of the hull and platforms, which should help with the placement of the railings. 

Sheet 2, which appears to be a slightly thicker brass than Sheet 1, has platforms, bracing, cranes and davits.  The relief etching on the cranes is especially nice. 

There are no masts included with the kit, but, as per usual Combrig practice, there are drawings showing dimensions of the masts and yards. 

INSTRUCTIONS
The instructions are typical Combrig fare. There are five sheets of paper, with instructions on all but one side. Along with a plan and profile view of Dupuy de Lôme, there is a page cataloguing the parts.  The rest of the pages are dedicated to the placement of the parts and photo-etch.  These instructions seem a bit more detailed than I've seen from Combrig in the past, and are definitely an improvement over previous kits.

There are no color callouts or painting instructions, so check your references. 

CONCLUSIONS  
This is an excellent kit of a historically significant vessel - the world's first armored cruiser.  The details and the casting are superb.  The photo-etch set is extensive.   The instructions are better than previous Combrig kits, and the packaging is much improved (but the packaging of the small parts still needs improvement).   If you are into funky (dare I say ugly?) looking French cruisers, this kit is for you.  Highly recommended. 

This is Combrig’s 1/350 Dupuy de Lôme, kit number 3581.  The model lists for $299.99 and is available from many of our fine sponsors. This is an in-box review, your mileage may vary once you commence construction.  Thanks to Combrig Models for the review sample.