Scale: 1/125
 
Recommended for the Lindberg 1/125 scale “Blue Devil Destroyer” USS Melvin DD-680, Fletcher class.
 
Note: this model is intended for advanced modelers; supporting sprue removal from this model is difficult.  A very sharp cutting instrument such as a new cuticle clipper or sprue cutter is recommended.  Cut the base "printing raft" away first, then remove the sprues.  The phrase "slow and steady wins the race" applies.
 
This accurate and highly detailed model kit represents the US Navy's Mk.14 Quintuple Torpedo Mount.  The Mark 15 mount can be built from this design with the simple addition of the drum-shaped blast hood (available separately).

Features:
overall dimensions accurately scaled from official US Navy drawings
details confirmed from careful study of surviving mounts aboard USS Kidd and USS Cassin Young
separate base ring stand permitting full rotation
hex-head bolts and rivets properly sized and accurately located
mount is fully loaded with five 21-inch Mk.15 torpedoes
detailed torpedo stops, and trainer's and gyro setter's instruments
rear loading door is the later "single lever, quick-acting" type (no dogs)
trainer's and gyro setter's bench seat, and hand rails omitted (too thin to print)
 
These torpedo mounts were the standard World War II-era US Navy torpedo mounts first fit to destroyers of the Benson/Gleaves class beginning in 1937.  They continued to be the standard torpedo mount for the following Fletcher DD-445 class, Allen M. Sumner DD-692 class, and Gearing DD-710 class and served with many allied navies.  
Fletcher class destroyers were fit with either one or two mounts.  Check your references to know how many mounts your model needs.

The Mk.14 and Mk.15 torpedo mounts launched 21-inch diameter Mk.15 torpedoes. The Mk.15 Mount carried a drum-shaped blast shield installed to protect the operating crew from the gun blasts of a nearby 5"/38 caliber gun and twin 40mm Bofors.  Other than the blast shield, the Mk.14 and Mk.15 Mounts were identical.

These 3D-printed acrylic parts are designed to accurately represent features of the actual ship based on official Navy blueprints.  These are not 3D-printed copies of and plastic, wood or resin kit's parts and therefore are not the same size and shape.  Some adjustment to your kit's parts or other aftermarket parts such as photoetch may be necessary for best fit.

© Model Monkey LLC.  This 3D-printed product may not be copied or recast.
 
From Microworks.com: "In the battles of Vella Gulf and Cape St. George, destroyer attacks using torpedoes [launched from this mount] sank six enemy destroyers without losing a single man, with a [seventh] (the legendary Shigure) escaping only because a torpedo hitting her rudder failed to explode.

"U.S. destroyer torpedoes also accounted for the only "dreadnought"-type battleship ever sunk in action by surface launched torpedoes, the Fuso, during the Battle of Surigao Strait."