Master-Models

1/700 German 10.5 cm SKC/33 Barrels Late Type German Heavy AA Gun For any 1/700 Bismarck or Tirpitz.

Stock Number: SM-700-004

Reviewed By  Luke Bucci, IPMS# 33549

MSRP: $9.00 Website: www.master-model.pl Bottom Line: Perfect scale barrels for 1/700 German heavy AA guns - none better. BRASS BARRELS SET REVIEW Master-Models from Poland has just released a large line of Sea Master Series 1/700 and 1/350 brass barrel sets for all the major navies from battleship guns to heavy AA guns (4in and above) from WW2 and modern eras. This review will look at their SM-700-004, or WW2 German 10.5 cm SKC/33 Barrels - Late Type (16 pcs) German Heavy AA Gun set. Each set comes with 16 barrels - enough to fit out two Bismarcks or one Tirpitz. Each set comes in a small Ziploc bag with cardboard for rigidity, another plastic pouch with 16 brass barrels, an instruction sheet and a header card stapled to the Ziploc (Figure 1). Price in Europe (converted from euros and UK pounds - could not find these for sale in US yet) is $US 6-7. This works out to $0.38-0.43 per barrel. The Set The precision of these barrels needs magnification to appreciate. The muzzles are bored out, and the different barrel sleeves makes for a lot of detail (Figure 3). The brass barrels have more rings, compared to John Lambert's drawing of SKC33 barrels on an LC/31 mount (in Campbell, page 247 listed in References). Photographs in my possession of rear 105mm mounts on Bismarck and any mounts on Tirpitz were not clear enough to identify rings on the barrels. Nevertheless, these barrels blow away anything existing in the market for German 105mm heavy AA gun barrels (Figure 4).

The scale accuracy is difficult to analyze, but from the looks of the barrels on the mounts, they appear very close to 1/700 scale. The appearance compared to plastic barrels is dramatic. Being close to scale, these brass barrels will look smaller and perhaps less impressive than chunky plastic barrels to novices or casual observers, but serious modelers will know and see the obvious differences. In fact, these barrels are so good they demand that the rest of the model will need photoetch light AA guns and brass barrels for medium and heavy caliber guns, along with photoetch pieces and railings. Otherwise, these barrels will look out of place. These barrels represent the state of the art in realistic detail for 1/700 scale warships. The Build The instruction sheet is in English and lists the exact ships that used these barrels (in this case, the after four heavy AA gun mounts on Bismarck and all eight heavy AA gun mounts on Tirpitz) (Figure 2). I assume the early style set (SM-700-003) of 105mm barrels will fit out the LC/31 mounts on front of Bismarck, and Scharnhorst, Deutschland and Admiral Hipper classes. The instructions simply say to cut off the original barrels, drill new holes with a 0.3 mm drill, and use cyanoacrylate glue to attach the brass barrel. Easier said than done in this scale. I had Aoshima's Bismarck and Tirpitz, Tamiya's Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, Fujimi's Deutschland, and AMT/Matchbox's Graf Spee kits. I cleaned up examples of 105mm AA mounts from each company (not AMT though since they are long out of production). I chose the Aoshima Bismarck/Tirpitz mounts to modify with the new brass barrels since these ships used the late type of mount (LC/37). I do not yet have the newer Trumpeter and Dragon Bismarck/Tirpitz kits, but these barrels should look fine with them also. To modify the Aoshima 105mm mounts, first cut off the very thick barrels, then sand down the top of the mount, leaving two stumps a the rear of the mount to attach the new barrels. Instead of drilling holes, I opted to heat a pin in a candle flame and poke (melt) two holes (Figure 5). In hindsight, it would be better to use a mildly hot pin to start hole guides and then drill them out - a pin too hot melts and distorts the hole, which happened in my example. If desired, the holes can be drilled at an angle to elevate the brass barrels. I then compared the brass barrel mounts with its original mount (Figure 6) and other mounts from other companies' kits (Figure 7). Brass barrels transform the featureless, clunky Aoshima mounts into something resembling the real thing. I then placed the mounts on the Tirpitz gun deck so one can get an idea of how they look (Figure 8). Clearly, Master-Models barrels are superior to any plastic options.

Summary Master-Model has put out the ultimate set of WW2 gun barrels for German navy heavy AA guns. In fact, they are so good, the rest of the model will need the other Master-Model brass barrels. Knowing these barrels are available means that one cannot go back to plastic or brass rod barrels. At around 40 cents per barrel (80 cents per mount), they are affordable. The value is excellent since these brass barrels are so superior to plastic kit barrels, the visual appearance will make the ship look real. So real you need to consider the scale effect and keep the entire model consistently detailed. Very highly recommended for advanced modelers that can work carefully with very small pieces. References: Campbell J. Naval Weapons of World War Two. Conway Maritime Press, London, UK, 1985, pp.247-248. 0-85177-329-X