Introduction

Lion Roar is a Chinese company that produces aftermarket detail sets for plastic model kits. This dedicated German Navy set features radars, ladders, anchor chains, anchors, oars (both stowed away and not) and lifeboat rudders, all in 1/700 scale.

looking closer...

This set from Lion Roar features enhancements for your German WWII ships, with instructions specifically for the Bismarck and Prinz Eugen. It is packaged in a flat plastic sleeve, with the photo-etch fret taped at the top to a black and blue cardboard backing. Be careful putting the set back into the plastic sleeve to avoid accidentally getting the sticky plastic flap stuck to the fret which might damage the delicate parts.

There are four different types of radars in the set. You’ll have to do some research if you want to use these radar antennas for other ships to ensure that they are the appropriate type and in the right framing configuration for your build. The radar antennas designated for the Bismarck (part #4) appear to be the antenna for the FuMO 23. German radars of the time generally had a mattress shaped wire framed antenna of 2m x 4m (and 2m x 6m for some later variants) and the individual designations can be very difficult to pin down. To add to the confusion many of the various antennas and radar gear could be used interchangeably.

The antennas for the Prinz Eugen appear to be for radar types FuMO 25 and FuMO 27. Twelve FuMB 4 Sumatra passive receiver antennas are provided with specific instructions to mount them facing out on all four sides of the fore-top platform. These antennas certainly look accurate for their specific applications on the Bismarck and Prinz Eugen. You will want to have either a photo etch folding tool (like the etch-mate) or have some experience with using razor blades for folding the delicate PE parts. As an added bonus there are twelve 7 rung ladders with specific instructions on where to attach them to the gun directors and three 17 rung ladders with no mention of where they are to be placed so you will have to rely on other resources and original ship plans or images for exact placement of these items.

The set has two anchor assemblies, each with two identical halves that fold over to increase the overall thickness of the anchor. This is then slid into a cutout in the middle of two flat pieces. Anchor chains with hardware are is included and can be attached to the forecastle deck in place of the molded-on plastic kit chains.

A pleasant surprise was in store for me when I opened the box to check out the set for the first time. There are oars and rudders for the lifeboats. There are nine individual oars that you can position any way you like and eleven sets of four oars that are arranged for stowage within the lifeboats. And finally there are nine rudders for the lifeboats which include the tiller handle for steering.

Conclusion

Overall this is a great PE set with some really nice components which will add some very nice detail to your builds. I had to do some research to figure out which German radar antennas these represent. If you’re building a Bismarck or Prinz Eugen, then this is the set for you. If you want to use the radars for other German vessels, you’ll need to do some homework to figure out which, if any, of these are appropriate. I would have liked to have seen a little more information in the instructions regarding the radars and their designations.