| The HMS Monmouth was the lead ship of
a 9,800 ton amoured cruiser built in 1901. Armed with fourteen 6" guns
she was lightly armed compared to other ships of that era. The Monmouth
served much of her career on China station as part of the 4th Cruiser Squadron
before being placed in reserve in 1914. The first world war brought her
out of retirement and sent into the South Atlantic. It was there that her
light armor and low mounted side armament contributed to her demise
in the battle of Coronel off the coast of Chile on November 1st, 1914.
In a duel with the SMS Gneisenau she was unable to return fire with her
casemate mounted guns and was put out of action. She fell out of line and
was brutally pounded when the SMS Nürnberg showed up. Reduced to a
burning hulk those who were not killed by the gunfire perished in the unforgiving
seas. |
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| HULL |
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| This new kit from Combrig features the same high quality casting as
other recent releases. The hull well cast with plenty of deck detail including
nice bollards and chocks and planking detail. One nice feature is the way
parts like the funnels and gun turrets fit snugly into the mounting holes.
The unique lines of this ship are nicely reproduced here. Many deck items
are left off and mounting holes for the separate parts are included instead. |
click images
to enlarge
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| SUPERSTRUCTURE |
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| The superstructure parts are cast onto a thin resin wafer. Detail is
very much like on the hull. |
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| SMALL DETAIL ITEMS |
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| There are all kinds of fine details to add to the deck. A couple of
nice deck winches are very nice. The anchors are as close to scale size
as you can get with resin. Several other deck details are included to give
the deck a more realistic appearance. |
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| MAIN WEAPONS |
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| The main guns include two twin turrets with several separate 6" gun
barrels for them and the casemate guns. Smaller 10 and 3 pounders are also
included. These are extremely fine for this scale so be careful handling
them. |
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| SHIPS BOATS |
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| The ships boats come in a variety of styles. As with their other kits,
these are very detailed and some like the steam launch feature separate
stacks. |
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| PHOTO ETCH |
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| A photo etch fret is included with some detail parts that are
not suited for resin. Boat cradles, braces, and anchor chain are among
the parts included on the fret. |
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| INSTRUCTIONS |
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| The Instructions are front and back of a single sheet.
A plan and elevation on the front with exploded view and parts list on
the back. Barely adequate for a ship like this.
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| CONCLUSIONS |
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:
Yet another high quality Combrig kit. This one, a unique one of a kind
subject that will give your British fleet some real variety. This kit is
listed on the Pacific
Front Hobbies website for $42.00 (US), a great price for a ship of
this size and detail. |
