Next in my continuing series of built reviews of ship kits I’ve never heard of, by model companies I’ve never heard of, I present the following, Dream Models Type 052B destroyer.

The Kit:

Again my worldly patron sends me another unique kit to build, and thus for me to report on. This time it’s Dream Model’s Type 052(b) guided missile destroyer Guangzhou. The kit is typical of most resin kits - that is, being molded largely in a single large block encompassing the hull and first level of superstructure.

The molding is crisp and generally well done. Not fantastic, but not bad either. No deck details, but larger details such as some watertight doors helo-hanger doors etc. There are perhaps only 50 or so actual resin parts to be assembled on this kit which appears typical for modern ships of this type and era. No major molding flaws or omissions, but nothing to write home about either. A nice feature of the kit is that there are a number of parts like the central "harpoon" type launchers which are provided both in resin and PE depending on the level of skill (and insanity) of the modeler.

The Instructions:
The picture is indeed worth the thousand words (far more than contained in the instructions anyway). A simple two page pictograph. Simple but sufficient.

The Decals:
I really like the decals for this kit as they are sharp and clear and most importantly easy to apply. The hull numbers are all one decal as is the entire helo-deck and all of the lines on it.

Once the main square and circle decal is dry all I needed to do was put on the "168" on the helo-pad. (A lot easier than lining up and placing all of the lines and circle individually)

The PE:
This is where this kit shines. The PE is one fret. However, the PE is so fine that until I used my 3x opti-visor, I didn’t realize that the PE fret was numbered. Even with my 20/20 vision and my 3x opti-visor goggles, I still preferred to additionally use a large magnifying glass and strong direct light in order to comfortably see the numbers on the PE Fret.

The PE details are fantastic. As small and as detailed as I have ever seen PE done. There were PE parts to be used on the underside of the rocket launchers which would never be seen! And even if they were seen, the parts were far to small to be seen with the naked eye once painted and installed on the ship.

The PE includes all the radar screens, platforms and supports, helo-deck netting and all railings of each type for each deck level. I very much enjoy when a kit provides the railing pre-cut to the right lengths for me. The downside to this, however, is that there is no room for error in the installation. If a piece gets lost or damaged, there are no spares.

The Build:

OOB except for some small scratch building on the radar mast assembly. Molding is adequate, but the PE makes this kit. Great effort went into providing both resin parts and PE replacements allowing modelers of differing skill levels to comfortably build this kit.

While the PE is great, and they allowed for the multiple levels of platforms up the main radar tower, no parts were included for the various radars and sensors which belong on those 6 platforms. (Seems a large oversight in a kit which provides dozens of PE parts too small to be seen with the naked eye once applied to the ship).