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Eduard LCM 3 Landing Craft in 1/35-scale
photo-etched brass for Italeri kit (35739)
by Frank De Sisto
Price: $22.95 USD.
This very simple set is designed to fit the Italeri kit, but since none
of the parts are for specifically-sized areas such as grills, I suppose
it could be used on the Trumpeter kit as well. There are two frets, a
piece of paper and a piece of film for a choice of instrument panel representations,
and three pages of instructions.
The oddest thing about this set is that there are actually very few parts
devoted to the vessel itself. The main parts consist of the four perforated
hoist points (two on each side of the hull) with a few other small brackets
and circular plates for the bow ramp. The remaining parts for the boat
are devoted to such things as storage brackets for the bilge pump extension,
the boat hooks, life rings and fire extinguisher. The pilot house gets
a new instrument panel using an etched plate and film or paper dial faces,
as well as parts to dress up the control handles. There are handles for
both sides of the door, and that’s about it.
There are new shields for the two .50 cal MGs as well as full details
for each gun. There are 16 parts per gun including: grips (to which plastic
rod handles must be added), fore and aft sights, barrel jacket and carrying
handle, pintle and gun cradle, tiny chains, ammo box with cradle and attachment
mount, belted ammo and straps to keep the gunners attached to their mount
in rough seas. The six infantry figures that are included in the Italeri
kit (courtesy of DML) are given slings for their M1 rifles, M1 carbines
and BAR. Chin straps for their helmets as well as three sets of camouflage
netting complete the upgrade. These last items are really very coarse
and perhaps should not be used, although they may look fine on larger
scale figures. For further comments on the helmet netting, see my upcoming
review, on this site, regarding set 35759.
Recommended.
Eduard products are available at retail and mail order shops and directly
from the manufacturer at: www.eduard.cz.
Visit their web site for images of reviewed items.
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