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The Mirabello class consisted of three ships, the Carlo
Mirabello, Carlo Alberto Racchia, and Augusto Riboty. Built during the
first world war as destroyer leaders, they were modernized and reclassified
as destroyers during the inter war years. The Racchia was lost in 1920
in a mine accident. The Mirabello and Riboty served as part of the 6th
Destroyer Squadron in the Mediterranean during the second world war. The
Mirabello was engaged in supply operations when she ran into a mine field
laid by the HMS Abdiel off Akra Dhoukaton near Greece and was sunk. The
Riboty survived the war and was scrapped in 1951.
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| Dimensions |
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| Length |
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103.75 m |
| Width |
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9.74 m |
| Draft |
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3.6 m |
| Displacement |
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1820 tons normal load |
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2040 tons full load |
| Speed |
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34 knots Mx |
| Range |
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2800 miles @ 12 knots |
| Engines |
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4 Yarrow boilers, 2 Parsons geared turbines, 2 shafts |
| Power |
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44000 HP |
| Armament |
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8 x 4" single guns |
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2 x 3" AA guns |
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4 x 18" torpedo tubes |
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100 mines |
| Crew |
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161 men 9 officers |
This kit by Regia Marina will allow you to build the ships in this class
at any point in their careers. |
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| HULL |
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| The hull is nicely cast in waterline mode. The hull is cast in a manner
similar to plastic injection kits with small resin feeder sprues on the
bottom. These are the only areas that will need cleanup. The top side is
nicely detailed with plenty of surface detailing. The funnels are cast
on and include nice cast on detail and a slightly hollowed out appearance. |
click images
to enlarge
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| SUPERSTRUCTURE AND DETAILS |
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| The superstructure parts are few in number, but all well cast just
the same. A variety of ships boat and a Macchi L3 float plane body. The
wings are included on the photo etch fret shown below. There are two different
bridge configurations included to correctly model any of the three ships
in the class. |
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| More boats, and some really nice life rafts are included here. The
weapons are pretty good, and the searchlights are nicely detailed. The
ships boats are extreamly well done with some very fine planking detail
inside. |
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| PHOTO ETCH |
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| A relief etch stainless steel fret provides the railings and other
detail parts. The anti aircraft guns are nicely etched as are the boat
cradles and canvas covered railings. |
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| INSTRUCTIONS |
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| The instructions could be better. The text is in Italian
so it is difficult for me to read them. The illustrations do however answer
most of my questions. Page three includes a nice exploded view that is
very helpful in location the parts. I still feel that there is room for
improvement here.
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| BUILT UP KIT PHOTOS |
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These built up photos were provided by the manufacturer
that show the kit built up in two different versions.
| Mirabello 1925 |
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| Racchia 1917 |
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| CONCLUSIONS |
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 Conclusions:
While not a kit for the beginner, this is an impressive kit of a unique
subject that you will not find anywher-e else. If your a fan of the Italian
Navy, then you will enjoy this accurate, well cast kit. It can represent
a WW I destroyer leader, or a WW II destroyer. It is listed as kit #RM
30 for $42.00 US making it a bargain when you consider that it includes
a really nice photo etch fret. |
