1/350 Scale Coastal Minesweeper (MSC)
| Reviewed
October 2024
by Felix Bustelo |
|||||||||||||||||||||
| HISTORY | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
The Adjutant
class of coastal minesweepers (MSC) were constructed in the United States
during the 1950s and 1960s. They were wooden ships with brass and stainless-steel
fittings to minimize magnetic attraction, which is a good thing to achieve
for minesweepers. There were a number of subclasses and while they were
overall similar, there were some minor differences among them. The vast
majority of these ships were loaned to foreign navies under the Military
Defense Assistance Pact. The ships measured 144 ft (44 m) long overall,
with a beam of 27 ft (8.2 m) and a draft of 8ft 6 in (2.6 m), though the
draft varied slightly among the subclasses as well as the displacement.
A total of 15 MSCs were commissioned with the Hellenic Navy, with several
serving until the early 2000s.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
| Hellenic Ship Model MSC | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
Hellenic
Ship Model offers kits of Hellenic (Greek) Navy subjects in various scales.
All of the model kits are 3D printed and include some older WW2 vintage
ex-USN and post-war ships that were sold or transferred to the Hellenic
Navy as well as modern vessels currently in service. I was intrigued by
the selection of ships and reached out to Kostas Kokkinos, the owner, about
obtaining some kits and he agreed to provide with a few samples to review
on Modelwarships.com.
According to Mr. Kokkinos, six of the 15 ships under Hellenic Navy service could be built with this kit, due to slight differences with the other 9 ships. The ships that could be modeled are listed in the table below and please forgive me if I misspelled some names as they may have been lost in translation from Greek to English:
Aigli
became a training vessel and ultimately an auxiliary ship, hence the pennant
number A449.
The MSC kit is comprised of a 3D printed hull and smaller parts, a base with pedestals, photoetch railings, one decal sheet and a paper flag sheet. The contents come in a sturdy flip-top box, with the hull cushioned inside bubble wrap and the 3D printed parts, PE and decals inside a zip-lock bags. Assembly instructions are provided in the box as well as two small pieces of sandpaper. |
|||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||
| HULL AND FUNNELS | |||||||||||||||||||||
| The 3D printed hull is very nicely done and sits on a printing raft with numerous thin attachment points at the end of the supports holding it to the raft. The hull has just about everything included on it, such as the bridge/forward superstructure, well for the minesweeping winch, smaller winches, hatches, lockers, chocks and mooring bitts. Watertight doors, windows for the pilothouse and inclined ladders with handrails are also printed into the hull. Underneath, and they are hard to see through the printing supports, are the propeller shafts and struts. In 1/350 scale, the hull would be approximately 4.9 inches and the kit hull measures just under 5 inches so it is spot on for scale. The print lines are just about invisible and whatever are there should easily disappear under a coat of paint. Here and there, some thin “threads” appear along the deck and details that are a product of 3D printing and are to be removed. | |||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
|||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
|||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
|||||||||||||||||||
| The funnel does not come on a print raft and it is well detailed with vertical ladders, grab rails and vents included in the part. I would drill out the vent openings a little more, but otherwise the part is fine as it is. | |||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
|||||||||||||||||||
| SMALL 3D PRINTED PARTS | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
A
total of 10 print rafts with smaller parts are provided with the kit. All
of the rafts have thin attachment points that should make removing the
parts fairly easy but care must be taken with the more delicate items.
Some parts broke off during shipping and I would suggest that the smaller
part rafts should be packed in plastic clamshell packets or something sturdier
to help minimize breakage.
The first raft has several parts, including the mast complete with radar and other sensors on the yardarm, minesweeping paravane cranes, minesweeping winch drum, jack and ensign staffs, Zodiac raft, small radome and a twin 20mm gun. The 20mm gun comes in two parts, tripod base and shield and separate barrels. The mast on this raft is not well printed and clunky, but fret not! Realizing this, another mast is provided on its own raft which is much better as the rungs in the ladder are more defined. Unfortunately, the yardarm is slightly damaged. However, using the yardarm from the first mast can be used to replace the one on the other. The second raft has another pair of the paravane cranes that appear a little more refined than those on the fret described above. Also on this fret are a pair of rudders and propellers, a pair of lockers and another small radome. The latter appears to also be a better print of the one on the first fret. A couple of parts are missing from this fret and I am guessing they were another set of lockers. The third and fourth rafts are identical and contain large and small cable reels, another set of rudders and propellers, large and small minesweeping paravanes and anchors with anchor chains. One of the anchors broke off and is damaged, but should be able to be repaired. Another pair of identical rafts contain large and small signal lamps, life raft cannisters, floats, more lockers and mooring bumpers in two sizes. A lot of the parts broke off the raft but where loose in the zip lock bag. Finally, three nicely done twin 20mm Oerlikon guns are provided that are printed as one piece and much better than the one of the first fret. Only one is needed so you have extras in case of breakage or an addition to the spares box. An interesting addition are three rafts with printed railings. These are reminiscent of the old Heller kits which came with plastic railings that were overscale. These are not overscale and more 3D in appearance than flat photoetch versions. The railings have individual stanchions, which are not my favorite, but these may be easier to work with. If you prefer, photoetch railings are also provided and covered below. As mentioned above, a nice base with two pedestals that are also 3D printed are provided to display the full hull model if you so wish. |
|||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||||||||||||||||
| PHOTO-ETCH | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
Three
lengths of photoetch frets with the main deck railings is provided. The
railings have individual stanchion ends and not a bottom gutter. As you
may or may not know from my prior reviews, I am not a fan of railings with
individual stanchion ends as I find them a pain to cleanly glue to the
deck, but that is my personal taste and will be ok with other modelers.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||
| EXTRAS | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
Two small strips
of sandpaper are included in the box. The grit of the sandpaper is not
written on the back of the strips but by touch, the darker strip is a tad
rougher than the other one which feels finer. These are an interesting
addition to a kit and while I don’t believe the print lines are so pronounced
of any of the parts that some sanding is needed, it is still a thoughtful
gesture.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||
| DECALS | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
One decal sheet
and a sheet of paper flags are provided. The decal sheet provides hull
numbers for the six ships listed in the table above as well as Greek flags
and Hellenic Naval and NATO ensigns. Yellow Greek alphabet ship names with
hull numbers are also on the sheet and I assume that they are meant to
be used as a nameplate on the base included with the kit. The paper sheet
also has Hellenic Naval flags as well as set of signal flags.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
|||||||||||||||||||
| INSTRUCTIONS | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
The assembly
instructions come of a single double-sided sheet and could honestly be
much better and are very sparse in my opinion. The first page contains
a brief history in Greek along with a color photo of one of the ships in
Hellenic naval service. The flip side has images of the parts superimposed
over a photo of an actual minesweeper attempting to point out the location
of the parts, which is not really that effective. On the bottom of the
page there is a color profile used as a painting guide with no color references.
The profile view does not show the placement of the hull number decals
nor the flags. A more complete set of illustrations would be been beneficial
to make assembly clearer. I also think that an inventory of the kit parts
should be included with the instructions and would be a great help to identify
the parts.
However, if you go to the Hellenic Ship Models website and view the page for this model kit, there is several views of a nicely done built-up MSC model. These photos provide a lot of help in building the model. |
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
| CONCLUSIONS | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Overall,
this is a good kit and while I did point out some issues with the kit,
these are not insurmountable and should not deter someone from purchasing
this model. The hull is really well done as are most of the smaller parts.
With research and some aftermarket decals and possibly alternate parts,
you would very likely be able to build an MSC serving in one of the many
navies that used them. I would recommend this kit to someone who has experience
working with 3D printed kits with some delicate parts.
This kit is only available directly from Hellenic Ship Models, and this subject is also available in 1:144, 1:200 and 1:700 scales. My thanks to Kostas Kokkinos for providing the review sample. |
|||||||||||||||||||||
