L'Arsenal

1/700 40mm Bofors Quad For all major US WW2 warships

Stock Number: AC 700 14

Reviewed By  Charles Landrum, IPMS# 26328

MSRP: $8 Available directly from L'Arsenal USA or L'Arsenal France Website: www.modelships.info/larsenal-usa I would like to thank Tony Bunch of L'Arsenal USA for this review sample Good small caliber weapons are hard to find in any scale. Generally they are out of scale, lacking detail or misshaped due to the limitations of the molding process. If you are a 1/700 scale ship modeler, this can be especially true for the quad 40mm gun mount. A complex piece of machinery which is ubiquitous on all major US warships during WWII it is too noticeable not to want to get right on your model. The wizard of Normandy, Jacques Druel, again has answered the call with some extremely petite and detailed replacement 40mm guns. A multi-media kit, the mount and barrels are cast in resin and the splinter shield, back railing and sights from PE. These are delicate parts, as close to scale as the resin casting allows; but L'Arsenal excels at pushing the envelope in casting petite details. Unfortunately, my example set had damaged 40 mm barrels, something I attribute primarily to the US postal service, but also because the blister pack is too cavernous in this case such small details. A small piece of flat foam inserted in the pack would solve the problem. The good news is that L'Arsenal has a good replacement policy. The assembly steps are straight forward. The only trick is folding the PE shield evenly. Fortunately, the PE is double relief etched with fold lines present to ease the bends. Assembly will require good magnification, a steady hand and judicious application of CA. But if you are a 1/700 ship modeler, this is nothing new and small details do not deter you. On most 1/700 ship models, injection molded plastic or cast resin, this detail set will visibly improve the detail and appearance of your model. At only $8 for a package of 6, they are an affordable enhancement for even a battleship modeler. Highly recommended.