Sunday, February 25

Preview: Trumpeter's two newest kits of April

A British light cruiser & a USAF armoured car are the subjects of Trumpeter's two releases of April. We look at the info, art, colours & built-up test kits in our preview...

Preview: Trumpeter's two newest kits of April

HMS Naiad 
by Trumpeter
Model: # 05366
1/350th scale
HMS Naiad was a Dido-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy which served in the Second World War. She was sunk in action on 11 March 1942 south of Crete in the Mediterranean Sea. She initially joined the Home Fleet and was used for ocean trade protection duties. As part of the 15th Cruiser Squadron she took part in operations against German raiders following the sinking of the armed merchant cruiser Jervis Bay in November 1940. During that month she was involved in the destruction of the German weather ship Hinrich Freese off Jan Mayen. In December and January she escorted convoys to Freetown in Sierra Leone, but at the end of January 1941 was back in northern waters where she briefly sighted the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau south of Iceland as they were about to break out into the Atlantic (Operation Berlin). By May 1941 Naiad was with Force H in the Mediterranean on Malta convoy operations, and flagship of the 15th Cruiser Squadron. 

The colour profiles included in this kit
The decals that come with this kit
Naiad participated in the Crete operations, where she was badly damaged by German aircraft. She subsequently operated against Vichy French forces in Syria, where, together with the cruiser Leander, she engaged the French destroyer Guépard. For the remainder of her service, she was in the Mediterranean, mostly connected with the continual attempts to resupply Malta. 

Model Length: 455mm / Beam: 53.6mm  
Metal anchor chain 
Total of 12 sprues , hull and decks
-  The kit contains over 600 parts
-  The hull made from two-directional slide molds
-  Deck wood pattern finely rendered
-  Contains display stand
- Photo etched parts included

The test kit built up...


USAF XM706E2 
by Trumpeter
Model: #07444
1/72nd scale
The XM706E2, was supplied to the U.S. Air Force for base protection purposes, post-attack reconnaissance against munitions and EOD use. The XM706E2 featured no turret and an open-topped center parapet. In practice a variety of weapons were mounted on USAF XM706E2s, but the most common configuration was one .50 BMG-caliber M2HB machine gun and one 7.62mm NATO M60 machine gun. 

The colour profile included in this kit
The decal sheet included in the kit
Other equipment included the XM174 40 mm grenade launcher and searchlights. The 3rd Security Police Group of the United States Air Force at Clark Air Base Republic of the Philippines was still operating the "Duck" as a Fire-Team vehicle until it received M1026 HMMWVs in the fall of 1988.

Trumpeter's in house modellers test shot build....

These kits will soon be on sale through Trumpeter's distributors Worldwide...