Kit review AFV-Club Einheitsmine Typ C in 135 scale
Einheitsmine Typ C, AFV-Club, 1/35 scale, kit review Hi everyone and welcome to the kit review of the Einheitsmine Typ C (standard mine type C) by AFV-Club in 1/35 scale. It is a kit of a German type C sea mine, a so called "anchor-rope mine". The navy introduced it in the mid 20s and it remained in service throughout WW2. Even today the North Sea and the Baltic Sea are a bit dangerous here and there due to these mines.
Every year some of these old mines show up and get defused. These sea mines were pretty big and heavy, the total weight was a bit over 1 ton with about 250kg of explosive charge. Not shabby at all. The kit by AFV-Club contains four of these mines, which is quite extensive.
The possibilities for using them are greater than you may think. Before we take a closer look at the instructions and the kit parts id like to explain a few terms with regard to the sea mine, so you know what i am talking about. The sphere up there is the actual mine, that is logic. Down here we have the so called "mine chair".
The mine gets transported with it and also goes into the water. The mine chair sits on the sea floor and the mine is swimming above it. Of course they are connected. You can see that here on the side of the box.
There is a cable in between them. I assume thats how the depth gets adjusted to keep the mine just below the water surface. I think all of this explains the the term "anchor-rope mine" pretty well. There is a cable between the actual mine and the mine chair, which sits on the sea floor like an anchor.
On the back of the box we have the instructions. It is not very clearly arranged. You have to spend some time with it to figure it out. The assembly of the mine chair is pretty complex.
The actual mine is fairly simple to build. A few photo-etched parts are used here, as well as a cable, which gets reeled up on drum. You have an option here to depict the mine locked up for transport or in use (like you can see on the side of the box). It all depends on what you have in mind for the diorama.
Only if you are building a sea floor diorama you can depict it fully deployed, in all other cases you will build it locked up. Down here is a paint chart refering to Hobby Color, Mr. Color, Mr. Color Spray, Humbrol, Revell and Lifecolor.
Quite a big selection for only one color that is needed, which is named "German grey". The box is actually quite crammed with parts. There is a small bag with the photo-etched parts, the cable material and decals. The four plastic sprues are bagged individually.
They are all identical, all the four sea mines in this kit are the same. The big sprue gates are typical for AFV-Club. Not so nice in my opinion, but it can be managed. The quality of the molding is quite nice.
Some small parts show a little bit of flash, but that is nothing terrible. These fat sprue gates on the grab handles here are quite nasty. You have to be careful here with the cleaning of the parts. The bolt detail is nicely replicated here.
Quite an extensive kit actually. Just four sea mines, but there is a lot to assemble. Of course the photo-etch fret comes four times as well. It contains more parts than you would assume.
They are mainly for the mine chair. It will enhance the level of detail considerably. The kit features also plenty of thread material. It is not an ordinary thread, it feels more like plastic.
Rather solid and tenacious. It should hold paint well. Not much of it will be visible in the end, because it is all wound up on the winches. Seeing such a mine model with the unwinded cable in the water is quite unlikely.
There is also a decal sheet in this kit, which is quite interesting. The red numbers on top will go on the actual mine, they all had red numbering. There is also a German war flag on the sheet, with a certain symbol split apart in a very clever way to make it legal to sell the kit here. It is a nice addition, if you have a ship model in your stash you can use it for that.
The kit is quite big, i did not expect that when i bought it. You get four complete sea mines, which are quite complex to assemble due to high part count. You also get photo-etched parts and decals. Nothing to complain there at all.
The possibilities to use these mines for a diorama are greater than you may think. You could depict the mines even fully deployed in the water, but id say that is tricky to get right. Besides that you can depict the mines during transportation on a S100 boat. Italeri makes a very nice kit of these boats.
I have in mind to use the mines as cargo for a truck model. The kit costs about 20, which is fair for what you get. The high part count and the details should keep you busy for a while. Very nice kit all in all.
Thats it for this kit review video, i hope you enjoyed it. See you again in the next video, your Hamilkar Barkas..
Every year some of these old mines show up and get defused. These sea mines were pretty big and heavy, the total weight was a bit over 1 ton with about 250kg of explosive charge. Not shabby at all. The kit by AFV-Club contains four of these mines, which is quite extensive.
The possibilities for using them are greater than you may think. Before we take a closer look at the instructions and the kit parts id like to explain a few terms with regard to the sea mine, so you know what i am talking about. The sphere up there is the actual mine, that is logic. Down here we have the so called "mine chair".
The mine gets transported with it and also goes into the water. The mine chair sits on the sea floor and the mine is swimming above it. Of course they are connected. You can see that here on the side of the box.
There is a cable in between them. I assume thats how the depth gets adjusted to keep the mine just below the water surface. I think all of this explains the the term "anchor-rope mine" pretty well. There is a cable between the actual mine and the mine chair, which sits on the sea floor like an anchor.
On the back of the box we have the instructions. It is not very clearly arranged. You have to spend some time with it to figure it out. The assembly of the mine chair is pretty complex.
The actual mine is fairly simple to build. A few photo-etched parts are used here, as well as a cable, which gets reeled up on drum. You have an option here to depict the mine locked up for transport or in use (like you can see on the side of the box). It all depends on what you have in mind for the diorama.
Only if you are building a sea floor diorama you can depict it fully deployed, in all other cases you will build it locked up. Down here is a paint chart refering to Hobby Color, Mr. Color, Mr. Color Spray, Humbrol, Revell and Lifecolor.
Quite a big selection for only one color that is needed, which is named "German grey". The box is actually quite crammed with parts. There is a small bag with the photo-etched parts, the cable material and decals. The four plastic sprues are bagged individually.
They are all identical, all the four sea mines in this kit are the same. The big sprue gates are typical for AFV-Club. Not so nice in my opinion, but it can be managed. The quality of the molding is quite nice.
Some small parts show a little bit of flash, but that is nothing terrible. These fat sprue gates on the grab handles here are quite nasty. You have to be careful here with the cleaning of the parts. The bolt detail is nicely replicated here.
Quite an extensive kit actually. Just four sea mines, but there is a lot to assemble. Of course the photo-etch fret comes four times as well. It contains more parts than you would assume.
They are mainly for the mine chair. It will enhance the level of detail considerably. The kit features also plenty of thread material. It is not an ordinary thread, it feels more like plastic.
Rather solid and tenacious. It should hold paint well. Not much of it will be visible in the end, because it is all wound up on the winches. Seeing such a mine model with the unwinded cable in the water is quite unlikely.
There is also a decal sheet in this kit, which is quite interesting. The red numbers on top will go on the actual mine, they all had red numbering. There is also a German war flag on the sheet, with a certain symbol split apart in a very clever way to make it legal to sell the kit here. It is a nice addition, if you have a ship model in your stash you can use it for that.
The kit is quite big, i did not expect that when i bought it. You get four complete sea mines, which are quite complex to assemble due to high part count. You also get photo-etched parts and decals. Nothing to complain there at all.
The possibilities to use these mines for a diorama are greater than you may think. You could depict the mines even fully deployed in the water, but id say that is tricky to get right. Besides that you can depict the mines during transportation on a S100 boat. Italeri makes a very nice kit of these boats.
I have in mind to use the mines as cargo for a truck model. The kit costs about 20, which is fair for what you get. The high part count and the details should keep you busy for a while. Very nice kit all in all.
Thats it for this kit review video, i hope you enjoyed it. See you again in the next video, your Hamilkar Barkas..
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