Sunday, November 6

More new kits from Trumpeter expected in December...

Just added are two more interesting subjects in smaller scales with simple construction to add to Trumpeter's December new items. We look at the art, sprues & other info in our preview...

More new kits from Trumpeter expected in December...

HMS Exeter
Model:06744
1/700th scale
HMS Exeter was the second and last York-class heavy cruiser built for the Royal Navy during the late 1920s. Aside from a temporary deployment with the Mediterranean Fleet during the Abyssinia Crisis of 1935–36, she spent the bulk of the 1930s assigned to the Atlantic Fleet or the North America and West Indies Station. When World War II began in September 1939, the cruiser was assigned to patrol South American waters against German commerce raiders. Exeter was one of three British cruisers that fought the German pocket battleship, the Admiral Graf Spee, later that year in the Battle of the River Plate. She was severely damaged during the battle, and she was in the shipyard for over a year.

The colour profile included in this kit
After her repairs were completed, the ship spent most of 1941 on convoy escort duties before she was transferred to the Far East after the start of the Pacific War in December. Exeter was generally assigned to escorting convoys to and from Singapore during the Malayan Campaign, and she continued on those duties in early February 1942 as the Japanese prepared to invade the Dutch East Indies. Later that month, she was assigned to the Striking Force of the joint American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDACOM), and she took on a more active role in the defence of the Dutch East Indies. The culmination of this was her engagement in the Battle of the Java Sea later in the month as the Allies attempted to intercept several Imperial Japanese Navy invasion convoys. Exeter was crippled early in the battle, and she did not play much of a role as she withdrew. Two days later, she attempted to escape approaching Japanese forces, but she was intercepted and sunk by Japanese ships at the beginning of March in the Second Battle of the Java Sea.

The decal sheet included in the kit 
Most of her crewmen survived the sinking and were rescued by the Japanese. About a quarter of them died during Japanese captivity. Her wreck was discovered in early 2007, and it was declared a war grave, but by 2016 her remains had been destroyed by illegal salvagers.

Length: 250.4mm   Beam: 25mm
 7 sprues , deck and hull
- hull made from multi-directional slide moulds.
-Deck wood pattern finely rendered
-Contains engraved name plate
-Photo-Etched & clear parts included
The sprues of this kit


German Leopard 2A4 MBT
Model:07190
1:72nd scale
 The successor to the Leopard 1, the Leopard 2, was first produced in 1979. A variety of upgrade programs and options are available for the Leopard 2. These include the Atlas Elektronik Vehicle Integrated Command and Information System (IFIS), a digital command and information system. 
The colour profile included in this kit
The decal sheet included in the kit 
The Leopard 2 has had technical improvements under Upgrading Level I and Level II programs. A new smoothbore gun, the 120 millimetre L55 Gun, has been developed by Rheinmetall GmbH of Ratingen, Germany to replace the shorter 120 millimetre L44 smoothbore tank gun on the Leopard 2. It permits effective use of a new APFSDS-T round, DM53 (LKE II), with a longer rod penetrator, and which is under development. 

Length: 135mm   width: 50mm
2 sprues, upper hull, lower hull, turret and tracks
The kit consists of over 50 parts
   
The sprues of this kit