Combrig Models
1/350 HMS Banshee


 
 
 
Reviewed October 2018
by Martin J Quinn
HISTORY
First of a class of three “27 knot” destroyers built for the Royal Navy by Laird at Birkenhead, Banshee was launched on November 17, 1894 and served primarily in the Mediterranean. In 1910, she was almost lost during during a gale in the Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of Sicily.   She was scrapped in 1912. 

For further information, check out the Wikipedia page for her class here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banshee-class_destroyer, or consult Norman Friedman's "British Destroyers, From the Earliest Days to the Second World War". 
The Combrig Banshee

Banshee is packaged in a thin, white cardboard box, with a photo of the real vessel on the box top.  Inside the box is the upper and lower hull, a bag of over 80 parts and a photo-etch fret wrapped in plastic, all secured with packaging peanuts.   This was one of the better packaged kits I've received from Combrig.  The upper and lower hulls are package separately in a split plastic bag, with each hull halve taking up one half of the bag.  However, the small parts were all still jammed into a single bag, and did suffer from some breakage. 
THE HULL 
The hull is a two piece affair.   According to the measurements I found for Banshee, the hull scales out pretty much perfectly in both beam and length.   The upper hull is very well cast with lots and lots of good detail. There a wee bit of over pour on the bottom of this part, but if you are building waterline, that won't be a problem. 

The casting captures the unique shape of the turtleback, while the deck appears to have camber.   There are delicate bollards, nicely done portholes, and coaling scuttles.  The bulkheads aft of the break of the turtleback are thinly cast, and look in scale.  The lower hull has no casting defects.  There is some flash you will have to remove where it joins the upper hull. 
SMALLER PARTS
There are eight resin runners in the box. This is where you will find the funnels, guns, torpedo tubes, vents, boats and anchors, along with other small parts.     All these smaller parts are excellent, the casting is terrific.   The funnels and vents are crisply done, as are the boats and the torpedo tubes. 

The guns, davits and anchors are especially well done - the latter two items are thin and delicately cast.   The only negative is that all these small and delicately cast smaller parts are once again shoved into once bag. 
PHOTOETCH
There is a decent sized photo etch set with the kit.   It has common parts for both of Combrig's early British destroyers - Banshee and Earnest - as well some parts dedicated to each ship.  The parts include gun platforms, ladders, props, rudder, thwarts for the boats, anchor chain and railing.  The railing is the individual stanchion type. 

There are no masts included with the kit, but, as per usual Combrig practice, there are drawings showing dimensions of the masts, yards and propeller shafts. 
INSTRUCTIONS
The instructions are typical Combrig fare. There are three sheets of paper, with instructions on every side. There is one page cataloguing the parts, the rest of the pages have exploded views showing where to place the parts.  There is no plan and profile view of Banshee included, nor do the instructions show where to place the railings. 

There are no color callouts or painting instructions, but the box would seem to indicate a white hull with black upper works.   Instructions continue to be one of the weaker parts of Combrig's kits. 
CONCLUSIONS
This is an excellent little kit of one of the earliest British attempts at a Torpedo Boat Destroyer, which were the fore runners of the modern destroyer.  It's small size and smaller part count may make this a good candidate for those who want a change of pace from larger kits.   This kit is highly recommended, especially for fans of small combatants, and/or fans of the 19th century British warships. 

This is Combrig’s 1/350 USS Banshee, kit number 35113.  The model lists for $61.95 and is available from many of our fine sponsors. This is an in-box review.  While the model seems to compare nicely to photos and drawings found in books and online, your mileage may vary once you commence construction.  Thanks to Combrig Models for the review sample.