| The HMS Duncan was laid down at the Thames
Ironworks in 1899 and completed in October 1903. She was the class leader
of a new design that was built to counter the ships that the Russian and
French fleets were building. Duncan was faster than her predesessors and
only slightly less armored. Ships like this and the later HMS
Triumph were the fastest of the British battleships until the Dreadnought
came along. By the time World War One rolled around, she was nearly obsolete
and joined other pre-dreadnoughts in secondary roles. She ended her careeer
as an accomidations ship before being scrapped around 1920. |
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|
| HULL |
|
| The Hull on this kit is very well done, the casting is very sharp and
well defined. The hull has several open areas cast in to reduce the amount
of resin that needs to be poured. These hole serve as mounting locations
for the main guns and superstructure. Planking is well done on the deck
as is the overall level of detail. |
click images
to enlarge
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| SUPERSTRUCTURE |
|
| Superstructure parts are also nicely cast. Some are molded on a thin
resin wafer and will need a little flat sanding to free them. The splinter
shields are thin and |
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|
The funnels are hollowed out a bit for a more realistic appearance. The
tripod legs are cast in resin too, but I would use these for templates
to make brass replacements from. |
| MAIN WEAPONS |
|
| The main guns are nicely shaped and have plenty of detail included.
The casting gate is on the base and doesn't have to be removed due to the
way the turrets fit into the openings. The gun barrels are pretty nice
for resin with a realistic flared end. |
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|
|
| SHIPS BOATS |
|
| The ships boats are the best I've seen in this scale. The main launch
has rudder detail cast on. A separate stack is included for the large launch.
The whaleboats feature nice bottom wood planking. The only way to improve
upon these would be to leave the seats out and add them in as a separate
photo etch piece. |
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|
| SMALL DETAIL ITEMS |
|
| The small parts are stunning and it is amazing that they can be cast
so finely in this scale. The light machine guns are so tiny that they rival
photo etch. The cable reels and search lights are well done too. The anchors
are finely cast as are all the small parts. |
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| INSTRUCTIONS |
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| The Instructions are four pages done in the typical Combrig
style. A plan and elevation with specifications and Historical info is
on page one. A bill of materials and pictures of the kit parts is on page
two. Page three and four are exploded assembly views showing parts placement.
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| CONCLUSIONS |
|
:
Yet another high quality Combrig kit. This one features state of the
art casting, and relief etch photo etch with improved instructions. I wouldn't
recommend this kit for a beginner, but any one who has tacked a resin kit
and worked with photo etch will really enjoy this one. This kit is listed
on the Pacific Front
Hobbies website for $45.00 (US), a fantastic price for a ship of this
size and detail. It will make a fine addition to your Grand Fleet. |
