Model Monkey 3D printing is a company that specialized in high quality 3D printed parts of various scales. Model Monkey does have a presence on Shapeways however they appear to be moving more and more of their products in-house and using their own much higher quality 3D printers using a fine grey resin. After purchasing a set of 1/350 scale 5"/38 Mk.28 Mounts from Shapeways I was contacted by the owner, Stephen Larsen, and offered a set of mounts printed using their in-house printers.
Contents
10 x 5"/38 Mk.28 Dual Turret Mounts with fixed trunnions.
Review
The mounts arrived bubble-wrapped in a sturdy box. There were 10 turret mounts mounted to a single resin sprue. All mounts were still attached. I was not able to find any flaws in the mounts. The detail on the mounts is superb with the tiniest of bolts being present. Hatches and vision ports are well defined and appear to be in scale. There are no ladders molded onto the turrets so you will need to add your own with PE/Brass wire.
Locator holes for after-market barrels were all present and clear of obstruction. The turned brass barrels I had on hand fit into the holes perfectly with no additional drilling required.
There are still striations on the mounts caused by the printing process however they are almost negligible, especially in comparison to offerings from Shapeways. I did notice some very small burrs on the surface but a single pass of the sanding stick removed these.
For the purposes of this review I removed one of the turrets and gave it a basecoat of Vallejo Grey surface primer to highlight the detail. I then applied a quick wash of Citadel Nuln oil which really made the detail pop. I also found the addition of paint further reduced the appearance of the printing striations.
Conclusion
I have not had the chance to try any of the traditional resin alternatives for these turrets but I am highly impressed with these turrets. They look great and looking at the cost of the traditional resin turrets, are very affordable. I was so impressed I have also purchased several sets of Fire Control Directors from Model Monkeys web-store.
SUMMARY
Highs: Great detail present. Cost effective alternative.Lows: Minor striations present from the printing process. No ladders molded.Verdict: See text above
Our Thanks to Model Monkey! This item was provided by them for the purpose of having it reviewed on this KitMaker Network site. If you would like your kit, book, or product reviewed, please contact us.
About Rory Snell (McRunty) FROM: MISSOURI, UNITED STATES
Primary interest is 1/35 scale Armour, 1/350 ships, a smattering of 1/48 aircraft and anything else that takes my interest i.e sci-fi kits etc. I have no real preference in subject or nation, just what takes my interest.
I purchased a set of these for my North Carolina build and found them superior over the kit supplied turrets. Glad to hear a second opinion on these.
Mark
I bought some other 3D printed resin fittings from Model Monkey and I too can affirm that they are FAR superior to even the best of the Shapeways model fittings I've tried.
The 3D printed resin parts are outstanding!
-Tim
A lot of Shapeways' stuff really sucks and is actually sometimes worse than the part it's replacing. The texturing from the wax, as well as printing striations make some figures totally useless. A lot of Model Monkey brand gray resin items are almost as smooth as cast resin.
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