A new-comer to the aftermarket upgrade scene, Orange Hobby is quickly becoming a prolific producer of brass photo-etched detail parts for popular new kits. These sets contain high-quality brass machined and PE parts.
The quality of these all-metal ungrade sets from Orange Hobby is always excellent.
Contents
These 5-piece brass horns will fit a number of WW2 soviet vehicles, including the BT-7, T-34, IS tanks, and JSU self-propelled guns. Includes one early and one late-style turned-brass horns with photo-etched mounting brackets.
The two turned-brass horn bodies, with their machined caps, are of superb quality.
Construction
On a "fiddliness" scale of one to ten, I rate these as a five: anyone with some experience building photo-etch will have little difficulty with this set. A horn assembly can be built within minutes, even without a fancy PE parts-bending machine. I found the trick is to leave the smallest parts attached to their fret for as long as possible, only removing them after the cement is fully-dried. No, I am absolutely useless at soldering, thanks for asking! For me, instructions are never obvious enough...but I found these to be straight-forward, after careful reading.
Parting Shots
A very affordable and not overly-frustrating addition to an already great kit. The only tools needed were a trusty set of duck-bill tweezers, a toothpick, and a ball-point pen (for indenting raised-detail). Of course, keen eyesight and a firm grasp of the tweezers will be crucial - but I found this set easier to manage than some other recent PE upgrades.
SUMMARY
Highs: Superb craftsmanship. Can be used on a number of vehicles, from the BT-7, to the JSU-152. Affordable!Lows: May be challenging for the beginner.Verdict: Beautiful! Very high quality.
Our Thanks to Orange Hobby! 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 Ted Hayward (ted_hayward) FROM: TAIPEI, TAIWAN / 台灣
From B.C., Canada. Living in Taiwan for past several years. I've been building kits for as long as memory serves -armor, aircraft, cars. Big fan of 1/16th scale armor kits. Currently serving as poster boy for working with CA adhesives in a well-ventilated area. My first kit was the positively awful ...
These look very promising, Ted, nice review. My only concern would be price and availability. Orange Hobby hasn't seemed to develop much of a dealer network here or even in Asia. Luckymodel, for example, doesn't seem to carry them (or at least not many of their products), though I know Hobbyeasy does have some of the line. Do you know what the sets will retail for?
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