Internet Modeler : First Look : Ships



advanced search
 

Trumpeter 1/350 Zerstörer Z30 1942

By Chris Banyai-Riepl

Overview

The last of the Zerstörer 1936A "Narvik" class destroyers, the Z30 was laid down in April 1940 and commissioned in November 1941. The 1936A-class destroyers were more heavily armed than typical destroyers of the period, being fitted with 15cm guns, and held themselves well in naval battles. Of the original eight 1936A ships, four survived the war, including Z30. Two were employed in the French navy post-war, one was scuttled due to poor condition, and the Z30 was used as a target ship and eventually scrapped in 1949.

The Kit

Trumpeter's kit of the Z30 Zerstörer is quite nice, molded in the usual light gray plastic and featuring a fret of photoetch for extra detailing, including railings. The kit comes as a full hull tooling, with no waterline option. The Zerstörer ships had very little in the way of markings, so the decal sheet provides little more than flags.

IMG_2069.JPG
Construction begins with the hull, and the one-piece lower hull looks quite nice. It has the bilge keels molded in place, while the prop shafts, mounts, and rudders are separate. The main deck is split into two pieces, with the fore deck separate. The deck detailing is superb, and will look excellent under a wash. Right off the bat you will get to choose between photoetch and plastic parts, too, as there are ladders, pulleys, and cranes provided in both formats. The anchors are separate, allowing for greater detail. The downside, indeed an issue for many parts in this kit, is that removing these small anchors from the sprues will be challenging to do without breaking them. It might be better to use a fine razor saw such as the JLC saw, and then carefully clean the parts up afterwards.

IMG_2075.JPG
IMG_2074.JPG

The superstructure is built up from separate sides, as we have come to expect from Trumpeter. This allows for excellent molded-in detail, but it also presents the potential for problem seams. Slow and steady here will definitely pay off. The funnels gets a nice photoetch grill on the top, and the various antenna arrays look much better in the photoetch version over the plastic.

IMG_2070.JPG
IMG_2073.JPG

Moving on to the guns and other armament, these are quite nice as well. I'm particularly struck by the detail present in the torpedo tube mounts. Those will look quite nice when finished. The guns look good, although they are not hollowed out as have been seen on other kits. The motor launches are good looking as well, and should look nice hanging from the davits. Finally, the photoetch railings are very welcome in this kit, making this a great model to build out of the box, without any need for aftermarket sets.

IMG_2071.JPG
IMG_2076.JPG

IMG_2077.JPG
For painting, the kit comes with a three-view color drawing, complete with callouts for Mr. Hobby, Vallejo, Model Master, Tamiya, and Humbrol paints. The Z30 is finished in an attractive three-color splinter camouflage scheme, with the lower hull in red separated by a black boot line. The upper deck is mostly dark gray, with a small section of wood deck on the superstructure. As noted, the only decals are for the flag, and these come complete with the multi-part swastika for the center of the Kriegsmarine flag.

Conclusion

This is a very nice kit from Trumpeter that should build up into a good replica of the Zerstörer ship. With its good detailing in plastic and fairly comprehensive photoetch in the box, this is one that will be a great out of the box build. My thanks to Stevens International for the review sample.

Digg this story!

Printable page