I am currently building the Dragon USS Buchanan and I’m rather disappointed that with all the details included, (I even got the extra PE) a radar screen was not even included. It even looked worse when you compare it to the extra Mk 12 PE screen. Is there anything available in the market to replace this?
A MK12 should have been in the extra PE from Dragon/Cyberhobby. it comes pre-folded and you apply the backing braces.
I know that the major manufacturers: Gold Medal, Toms, White Ensign; each have the MK12 antenna fir the MK37 director. GMM even has the MK4 orange-peel antenna to go alongside the main antenna…
I am not familar with the offerings of LionRoar, but they make some fine PE accessories
Hi Ed. Thanks for your reply. I’m sorry I was not referring to the Mk-12 but instead I was talking about the large screen on the main mast. I do not know the code name but it is the plastic one with no PE replacement in the kit and in the extra PE. I instead should have said that they should have included the big screen in the set as well. Is it an SK?
This was one of my few gripes about the kit. Of all the parts that could have been supplied in the form of etched metal, this one surely is the most conspicuous on the finished model.
I found one on an old Tom’s Modelworks sheet, and there are several options on the set designed for the kit by Gold Medal Models ( http://www.goldmm.com/ships/gms350-45.htm ). I strongly suspect at least one of the White Ensign sets also has it. The Gold Medal set isn’t cheap, but it sure does contain lots of interesting stuff - and everything I’ve ever bought from that company has been of absolutely first-rate quality.
I remember that I have the Fletcher PE. Can I use the SC-12 included with it for the Buchanan?
Well, I got out my kit (it’s in my “not to be built anytime soon” stack - but that’s another story best not brought up again) and took a look. The Tom’s Modelworks photo-etched set that I bought for it (#364, “Destroyer and Escort,” probably not currently available) contains SA, SC, SR, and SC-2 radar screens, all of which, as I understand it, were carried on the masts of American destroyers at one time or another during WWII. The plastic part included with the kit (and shown on the instruction sheet) appears to represent the SC screen. The same sprue also includes a part that looks like it’s intended to represent the SC-2 screen, but that one isn’t shown on the instructions.
There are several potential sources of miscommunication here. I’m assuming we’re talking about 1/350 scale. (Dragon also offers a Gleaves-class destroyer in 1/700.) The Buchanan kit I have is the 1/350, 1942 version - kit #1021. Dragon also sells a 1945 version of the same ship. I imagine the SC-2 screen is intended for that one. (The Gold Medal set also includes SC and SC-2 screens - as does the Gold Medal set for *Fletcher-*class destroyers.)
Constructor - is it possible that “SC-12” in your last post is a typo for SC-2? If so, it looks to me like the etched part you’ve got would be appropriate for the 1945 version of the Buchanan, but not for the 1942 version.
This is pretty picky stuff. On the other hand, it’s such a superbly detailed kit that the finished product will invite close examination; I can’t blame anybody for wanting to make sure it’s right.
Thanks jtilley. I have the 1942 version of the Buchanan which has both the SC-2 and and the SC screen. I was just disappointed that they did not include this as a PE because of the details that they included in the kit. I am looking for a PE version of this screen just so it does not spoil the super detail of the other parts.
Another missing item is the truncated cone-shaped railing basket around the mid-ships searchlight station. It is only in plastic. I believe that the railing basket was also missed by GMM