https://atlanticmodels.net/
The subject of this review is Peter's amazing rendition of the Leander Class Frigate HMS Cleopatra. Kit no ATK 35006; part of the "Cold War" range.
The kit arrives in a sturdy high quality cardboard box with parts bagged and bubble-wrapped and the box filled with polystyrene beans to protect it from the worst ministrations of any delivery service.
The kit is, as stated, multi-media; consisting of 19 parts in cream coloured resin including the upper hull, lower hull and superstructure; 42 parts in white metal including gun barrels and life raft containers; an extremely comprehensive, and frankly quite stunning, etched brass sheet; waterslide decals and a couple of short lengths of styrene rod.
So, let's take a look in more detail:
The upper and lower hulls.
These are superb, blemish free castings that fit together very well with absolutely no sign of warping.
The main superstructure.
Incredibly crisply cast although this does exhibit a slight unevenness on the lower face that prevents it from sitting flush to the deck. That said, the resin is soft and easy to sand/carve so I don't see any major issues.
One thing that I absolutely love about this part is...
...a detailed helicopter hangar; how cool is that
. It's even easy to attach the door fully or partly open to display this.Other parts in resin...
The 4.5" gun turret, ships boats and Limbo anti-submarine mortar plus a couple of other parts. The mouldings are exceptional. As are the funnel, masts and hangar roof.
Probably my favourite resin part is the Wasp helicopter.
The etched sheet contains detail parts for this; main/tail rotors, undercarriage and floatation racks.
The white metal parts are pretty good too; certainly as good as anybody is likely to get in white metal.
And then there's the incredible etch; Mr Hall's forte in my opinion.
Not just your usual handrails in here, no siree. Amongst other things you get a generous amount of chain stock, nameplates for all ships in the class, missiles, davits, AA guns; it's utterly stunning.
In addition to the nameplates, Atlantic Models also provide suitable decals for all the ships in the class.
So if you have accurate info about a particular ship, this will make it that little bit easier to build it.
And finally, the instructions.
Again, these are really nicely and thoughtfully produced.
Construction emphasis is placed upon substructures. In truth any modeller who buys this type of kit isn't going to have any issues with how the major sub-assemblies go together so this approach makes perfect sense. Colour call outs are for Humbrol numbers so no difficulty cross referencing with your favourite paint manufacturer if you so desire. There's even info on helicopter markings for the different vessels in the class.
I've just put a sample of the instructions on here but, for anybody who is curious about building one of these kits, Atlantic Models have their instruction sheets available to download from their website.
Conclusion:
It has to be said that this isn't a cheap kit but given the quality of the parts, the obvious expertise and, dare I say it, love that's gone into producing this kit I do think that it's excellent value for money. It's certainly not for the inexperienced modeller but if you have a couple of larger ship projects under your belt then this or one of Atlantic's smaller ships could be an ideal introduction into this type of kit. I, for one, am very much looking forward to starting this kit and I'm sure it'll provide a good springboard to tackle the much larger HMS Glamorgan I have in my stash.
I have recently received the 1/600 etch sheet for Fearless from Peter; a very nice looking set indeed and excellent service from Peter during ordering.
Not for this ship, but the Atlantic ships do look good. Must resist !
