PC-472 Kit by Ed Grune  I've just finished the PC, done as PC472 in a US Naval Historical Center photo of her in the late summer 1942. She's Measure 21 - Navy Blue overall. She's sitting on the top of my monitor right now.  She's a tad over 5 3/4 inches long. The inspiriation:  The kit is 1-piece, full hull and superstructure/stack. Typical ISW detail -- the gun tubs tend to be a little heavy compared to some of the other manufacturers.  The bulkheads have nicely formed hathes and draped fire hoses. Brass wire is supplied for the mast. There is a fret of etched brass rails, 20mm shields, depth charge roll-off racks and K-gun racks, plus some other detail parts.. Typical of ISW, the 20mm guns had some resin flash from the molding. It was no problem to clean it up with a knife. The 3-inch gun forward was well done, the 40mm mid-ships needed some work. The worst problem I had was with the prop shaft supports - they're uneven. The cast resin prop blades were asymetrical - they could have been built-up with some styrene stock and refiled, but I found a set of 3-bladed props in my spares box.    After I painted the ship I applied the brass railings. There was a round bend for which an x-acto #2 handle worked well. There were 2 other round bends and a half a dozen square bends. The rest of the railing were straight runs. The length of the railing pieces were not long enough to go the length of the ship -- but the breaks fell ajacent to some of the ready lockers on the deck and I was able to disquise them well. I rigged it with halyards, and mast fore/back stays with some fine stainless wire, painted black. I cut come depth charges from Evergreen rod and filled the depth charge racks. Overall I probably have less that 20 hours invested in it.     My overall impression is that it is an excellent ship model for someone who has built styrene ship kits and wants to try their hand at a resin and brass ship kit.  1) It is not expensive, it was less than 40 dollars. You can learn on it without fear of screwing up a large [expensive] kit.  2) All the parts you need are included. You don't need to buy additional parts to fit it out.  3) The bends on the etched brass are simple and for the most part the rails are applied in long runs.  4) ISW has a reputation for excellent customer service.  If there is something wrong with the kit -- something mis-cast or a part missing, ISW will make it right.  Just call or write.  5) At 5 3/4 inches its smaller than a 1/700th destroyer, but the parts are bigger and easier to handle with hands that are equiped with all thumbs.  On the con side -- the instructions leave something to be desired. There is no parts list. It is basically a 2-view drawing. There is a painting guide/drawing for Measure 22 and a dark half tone photocopy of a photo of a PC in that measure. ISW could stand to spend a little more time on that facet of their kits. You will need to be prepared to do some research. BTW the Naval Historical Center has some photos of some PCs which were transfered to the Korean navy which are excellent sources of deck & superstructure detail.  Overall -- its a B. I enjoyed it.   back to other stuff