¹⁄400

Heller has brought out their Strasbourg kit again and while their moldings may not be up to par with those of Trumper and Dragon, they do offer kits of subjects no one else does. Today's after-market options can go a long way in making the older Heller molds into fine display pieces.

The battleship Strasbourg was built as part of the 1930 shipbuilding program. She was commissioned into active service in 1939 and in July 1940, she escaped the British attack on Mers-el-Kébir and returned to port in Toulon where she was scuttled in November 1942 following the German invasion of the French free zone.

The Strasbourg was armed with two main quadruple 330 mm turrets with a range of over 41 km. Each turret weighed nearly 1500 tonnes. The secondary armament was comprised of 130 mm, 47 mm and 32 mm pieces. A Loire 130 seaplane could be catapulted from the vessel's quarterdeck that could house two seaplanes (folded) in a hangar, or even a fourth one on the roof of the hangar, in addition to the one in place on the catapult.

This kit (No 81082) is comprised of 321 pieces and could be of the same molds as the Heller kit of her sister ship the Dunkerque though I can not positively confirm that with the limited experience I've had with Heller kits.

This kit can be purchased direct from Heller's website for € 52,99 ($57.52 US) plus shipping.