1/350 Scale Type 148 Tiger-Class/La Combattante IIA Fast Attack Missile Craft
| Reviewed
July 2024
by Felix Bustelo |
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| HISTORY | |||||||||||||
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The Type 148
Tiger-class fast attack missile craft had what you could say a bit of a
complicated history. The vessels began as a joint Franco-German project,
combining a fast attack craft design by Lürssen of Germany and fitted
with Aerospatiale of France Exocet missiles. They were initially intended
to be built for Israel, however the French government insisted on using
a design from Constructions Mécaniques de Normandie (CMN) in Cherbourg
and for half the boats in the order to be built in France. A total of 12
boats were built and completed at CMN with another 8 laid down at CMN but
completed at Lürssen. In the end, the boats were not exported to Israel
for political reasons, and all 20 were commissioned into the Bundesmarine
in the mid-1970s as the Type 148 Tiger-class. They were armed with an OTO
Melara 76mm gun forward, a single Breda Bofors 40mm gun aft and four MM38
Exocet launchers. The Tiger-class served for approximately 30 years and
received major updates in the early 1980s and 1990s. The Tiger-class were
eventually decommissioned and were either scrapped or sold to other navies.
A total of six were sold to the Hellenic (Greek) Navy and are known as
La Combattante IIA. Others were sold to Chile and Egypt. Two of the Hellenic
Navy boats had their Exocets replaced with RGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles
after the transfer from Germany. Three remain commissioned in the Hellenic
Navy and one with the Egyptian Navy.
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| Hellenic Ship Model Type 148 Tiger-Class/La Combattante IIA Fast Attack Missile Craft | |||||||||||||
| About 8 months
or so ago, I somehow came across the Hellenic Ship Model website that features,
naturally, Hellenic or Greek Navy subjects in various scales. All of the
model kits are 3D printed and include both modern vessels as well as some
older WW2 vintage ex-USN ships that were sold or transferred to the Hellenic
Navy. 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.
The Type 148 Tiger-Class/La Combattante IIA Fast Attack Missile Craft is comprised of a 3D printed hull and smaller parts, base with pedestals, photoetch railings and two decal sheets. 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 three small pieces of sandpaper. |
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| HULL | |||||||||||||
| 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, small housing aft, bases for the guns, hatches, numerous mushroom vents, chocks and mooring bitts along with some other deck details. Underneath, though difficult to see behind the raft supports, are four propeller shafts. The open bridge is nicely detailed with a captain’s chair and a console. The print lines are barely there and should easily disappear under a coat of paint. The bridge superstructure has some railings and ladder grab handles incorporated into it. Unfortunately, some are warped or were broken during shipping. I would replace these with PE from another source. | |||||||||||||
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| SMALL 3D PRINTED PARTS | |||||||||||||
| A total of nine 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. Close examination of these parts when
comparing it to the assembly instructions indicates to me that some of
the parts maybe used with the other fast attack craft kits that Hellenic
Ship Models produces and not used with this specific variant.
The weapons come on three of the rafts. The first raft has the OTO Melara 76mm and single Breda Bofors 40mm gun with the turrets and gun barrels separate. That raft also base ring for the Breda as well as some fittings for the open bridge. The kit provides both the Exocet missile cannisters (x4) and a pair of Harpoon missile launchers on separate rafts. This is a nice touch as it allows you to build your model as originally fitted or as one of the Hellenic ships upgraded with the Harpoon launchers. The lattice mast, complete with yardarms, comes on its own raft. This is one of the parts that will require a lot of care removing it from the raft even with the very thin attachment points. The mast is nicely reproduced but the top mast jutting from the top platform is slightly warped and should maybe have been done as PE instead. The radars for the mast as well as a dish and its base that is fitted to the bridge roof come on its own raft. It appears that a couple of parts on this raft are not used with this model. The sixth raft contains three watertight doors, though one broke off but was loose inside the bag. The raft also contains some storage lockers, jack and ensign staffs, davit for the Zodiac raft and what should have been vertical ladders for the forward face of the bridge superstructure. Unfortunately, those did not print at all, but some ladders from spare PE will do the trick. The seventh raft contains a number of fittings, including a Zodiac raft, anchor, life raft cannisters, small and large cable reels, small and large signal lamps and a flag bag. The last two rafts contain a number of life rings and fire hoses, as well as the propellers and rudders (again those broke off the raft but were loose inside the bag) and another davit. 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. |
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| PHOTO-ETCH | |||||||||||||
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A
single small photoetch fret 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.
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| EXTRAS | |||||||||||||
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Three 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 two which feel 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.
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| DECALS | |||||||||||||
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Two decal sheets
are provided and I must compliment Mr. Kokkinos in that they provide markings
and flags for all nations that had these craft in their navies. One sheet
provides hull numbers and flags for Hellenic Navy ships, including a NATO
flag and Jolly Roger. Yellow Greek alphabet ship names with hull numbers
are also provide and I assume that they are meant to be used as a nameplate
on the base included with the kit. The other decal sheet has hull numbers
and flags for German, Chilean and Egyptian ships, though research on the
Internet will be needed to help with the proper placement. The decals appear
to be well printed and are individual items.
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| INSTRUCTIONS | |||||||||||||
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The assembly
instructions could honestly be better and are rather sparse in my opinion.
There is one double-sided sheet with specs and a brief history in both
Greek and English. A single sheet with profile views of the craft and blow-up
parts placement diagrams helps somewhat with the assembly but would have
benefitted greatly with some overhead and a few focused views on certain
sections of the boat. However, if you go to the Hellenic Ship Models website
and view the page for this model kit, there are some 3D renders with multiple
views and angles that supplement the printed guide. At the bottom, a painting
guide for a Hellenic Navy version is provided with generic color references.
No decal placement instructions are given expect for the flags. The modeler
will need to use the Internet for information about hull number placement
as well as for images and information on the ships used in the other navies.
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| FINAL THOUGHTS | |||||||||||||
| Overall,
this is a good kit of a subject not available in 1:350 scale before. Having
the option to model a vessel serving one of the navies that utilized this
fast attack craft is a very nice touch and not one that I have usually
seen with most other model kit producers. While I did point out some issues
with the kit, these are not insurmountable and should not deter someone
from purchasing this model if the subject matter appeals to you. 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. |
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