Scale: 1/350

Set includes 4 mounts (turrets).  No barrels.  
 
3 mounts are "steel-top" type, 1 mount is "canvas-topped".

Recommended for:
Blue Water Navy 1/350 scale USS Aaron Ward DD-483 (1942)
Blue Water Navy 1/350 scale USS Aaron Ward DD-483 (1942) 
Blue Water Navy 1/350 scale USS Gwin DD-433 (1943)
Blue Water Navy 1/350 scale USS Tillman DD-641 (1943)
Blue Water Navy 1/350 scale USS Farenholt DD-491 (1942)
Cyber Hobby 1/350 scale USS Buchanan DD-484 Tokyo Bay 1945 
Dragon 1/350 scale USS Laffey DD-459 1942 
Dragon 1/350 scale USS Benson DD-421 1945 
Dragon 1/350 scale USS Benson DD-421 1940 
Dragon 1/350 scale USS Buchanan DD-484 1942
Dragon 1/350 scale USS Livermore DD-429
Iron Shipwrights 1/350 scale USS Russell DD-414 (1943)
 
This set of early-style, 5"/38 cal. Mk.30 single-gun mounts (turrets) represents the main battery of Sims class, Benson class and Gleaves class US Navy destroyers of World War Two.  This set includes 2 "double knuckle" mounts, one "single knuckle" mount, and one "canvas-topped" mount, all of which had differently shaped gunhouses.  These 3D-printed acrylic mounts are better detailed than the mounts found in plastic and resin kits and accurately shaped.

The "double knuckle" mounts were fit to the main deck fore and aft and had additional roof reinforcement to protect the mount from the blast of other mounts firing overhead.  The additional roof reinforcment gave the mount an additional "bump" on the turret roof, known as a "knuckle".  The "single knuckle" mount did not have the additional "bump" and was fit in a superfiring position forward on top of the deckhouse.   

The "canvas-topped" mount had a steel shield and canvas top as fit in a superfiring position aft to some Sims class, Benson class and Gleaves class destroyers circa 1941.  The Benson class destroyers USS Mayo DD-422 and USS Madison DD-425, for example, carried this "canvas-topped" mount (see photos in carousel).  These 3D-printed mounts offer the modeler the ability to accurately build many other ships of the Benson and Gleaves classes.  

Noted naval historian Rick E. Davis reports that this mount set is correct for USS Benson, USS Livermore, USS Gwin, USS Mayo, USS Madison, basically any of the original BENSON-GLEAVES class destroyers  DD-421 through DD-444.

A set of four "steel-top" mounts is available separately.

Features: 
fully assembled
features accurate for early Mk.30 mounts
overall dimensions scaled from official US Navy drawings
details confirmed from careful study of National Archives photographs provided by noted naval historian Rick E. Davis
accurately shaped asymmetrical gunhouse (turret)
accurately offset gun opening
detailed turret bottom supporting structure with bolt detail
accurately sized and located, early-style access hatches and viewfinder ports with hinge, clasp ("dog") and bolt detail
accurately sized and located gunhouse bolt detail
accurately shaped shell casing ejection trunk on gunhouse rear
gunhouse vent detail
​
These 3D-printed mounts are designed to match the overall dimensions of features of the real mounts as recorded in official Navy drawings.  They are not copies of any injection molded plastic or resin kits' parts and therefore may be differently shaped and sized.  Some adjustment to your kit, or other aftermarket products such as photoetch, may be necessary for best fit.

© Model Monkey LLC.  This 3D-printed item may not be copied or recast.