1:48 MK 52 US Mine

Mk 52, an American air-dropped naval mine in 1:48 scale

This item from the brand GAS HANS is a resin set of ordnance in 1:48 scale. It is not a model of an aircraft but an accessory with which a model is fitted out with an external store. It is an accessory for models of aircraft, that is an add-on rather than a kit. This is the form without a fairing; the manufacturer also makes a variant with a fairing.

The real subject

The Mk 52 is an American naval mine intended to be dropped from an aircraft. From a modeling point of view mines of this kind behave like an external store comparable to a bomb: they are carried on fuselage or wing racks and on a model they tell mainly through the shape of the body and the tail section. For builders of American carrier and naval aircraft it is a typical accessory, one that turns a model in clean configuration into a model in armed configuration.

Building and painting tips

First wash the resin parts in lukewarm soapy water to rid them of mold release residue, and let them dry. Cut the casting blocks off with a fine-toothed saw, level the surface with a file and sand wet with respiratory protection. It is glued with cyanoacrylate glue. Apply a base coat before painting, otherwise the shade holds less well on resin. Cylindrical bodies look best sprayed with an airbrush in one pass with the edges then gently picked out; when seating them on a rack, watch that all the pieces hang on the same axis.

Who the set is for

• builders of American naval and carrier aircraft in 1:48 scale
• modelers who want to fit out a model with an external store
• dioramas and display cases with the armament laid out under an aircraft
• more experienced modelers used to working with resin

This is an accessory, not a kit. The base model, glue and paints are not included in the package, unless stated otherwise.