Gold Medal Models 1/350 scale USS Arizona photoetched details

Manufacturer: Gold Medal Models, 1412 Fisherman Bay Rd., Lopez, WA 98261
www.GoldMM.com
Kit: No. 350-25
Scale: 1/350
Price: $40
Comments: Photoetched brass, 245 parts
Pros: Relief-etched, excellent production and fit
Cons: Costs more than the Banner kit

Gold Medal Models has produced photoetched detail sets for ship modelers since 1985. This latest set, designed to fit the Banner Models 1/350 scale Arizona is etched in .005" brass and measures 6.5" x 9.75". It contains door and deck hatches, superb inclined and accommodation ladders, vertical ladder stock, struts, and bracing and propellers for both OS2U Kingfishers and O3U Corsair biplanes. Also included are underbracing details for the main fighting top platforms, relief-etched windows for all three levels of both the forward and main fighting tops, splinter shields for the 5" 25-caliber guns, boat and aircraft cranes, catapults, railings for all superstructure levels, small boat details, and range clocks. Additional detail parts for a late 1930s Arizona and a 1941 USS Pennsylvania are included (gun shields and radars). Gold Medal provides ample supplies of hatches, ladders and 2-, 3-, and 4-bar railings.


The instructions are clear, and the relief etching is first-rate. Many of the parts are replacements for plastic renditions in the Banner kit. Sometimes that means carving plastic from the kit parts, and in other instances, just simple substitutions.


I replaced the aircraft crane and the two catapults with the GMM photoetched assemblies. I also used the girder and frame details for the boat cranes and the yards at the back of the forward fighting top. All these photoetched parts went together well and attached to the kit without any problems.


I used the hatches to cover the door openings on the sides of the main superstructure, as well as adding doors where needed. I laminated some hatches onto .02" x .1" Evergreen strips to cover the openings in the aft main deck where hatch covers should be.


The main deck railings are designed specifically for the Banner kit, and there are railing stanchions where bend points are needed along the deck. The main deck railings are in two pieces.


The instructions for assembling the crane and catapults are clear, but study them carefully. All the parts that need to be folded have fine etched-in fold lines that produce tight corners.


If you intend to install the photoetched underside bracing to the main fighting top's platforms, remove the plastic bracing detail prior to assembly. The forward fighting top masts are angled out from the backside of the fighting top and are easy to fold and attach. Be sure to glue them with the seam line of the mast facing up so they will sit at the correct angle.


In order to install the aft photoetched detail for the whale boats, sand off the whale boats' aft keel sections.


GMM's photoetched detail set is well designed, and the parts fit well.