1/700 14" MKI HMS Canada 1917 Guns w. Blast Bags

1/700 Scale HMS Canada 1917 14" BL MKI Guns x5 with Blast Bags and Barrels printed in place. These depict the Guns as seen after the addition of extra armour plating on the Turret Roof and Face, these will also be suitable for anyone wishing to build the Almirante Latorre. These are highly detailed parts modelled from plans and using many reference photographs and details in Norman Friedman's Weapons of WW1 book. These have been created to replace the inaccurately sized and poorly detailed Turrets found in the Combrig 1/700 HMS Canada Kit.


Details include:

• Accurate armour thickness and dimensions from original plans
• Additional Armour Plating on Turret Roof and Face (suitable for Almirante Latorre)
• Hex Nuts, Rivets, Sighting Ports and Hatches
• Barrels and digitally sculpted Blast Bags are printed in place at elevation of 3º,
  other elevations can be requested.

Historial Information
The Chilean government had two battleships building in British yards at the start of World War I, Almirante Latorre and Almirante Cochrane, both armed with Elswick weapons. These ships were taken over by the British in 1915, with Almirante Latorre being completed as the battleship HMS Canada and Almirante Cochrane completed as the aircraft carrier HMS Eagle. At the end of the war, HMS Canada was sold back to Chile, once again named Almirante Cochrane, and served in the Chilean Navy until stricken in 1958.

The Mark I was an Elswick design of wire-wound construction with a three-motion short-arm breech mechanism. Fourteen guns were produced with the four reserve guns, which were never used, differing in having a sharper taper on the inner A tube. These spare guns were scrapped in 1922. Ten additional guns were ordered for Almirante Cochrane and three of these were completed with railway mountings but never used in France. The railway guns had the forward slope of their chambers reduced from 1 in 8 to 1 in 15 in order to prevent the shell from slipping back at high elevations.

The Mark III was the designation given to two guns built by Elswick for the Japanese battleship Yamashiro but not delivered. They are thought to have been the same as other 14-inch (35.6 cm) guns built for the Japanese Navy. These two guns were altered to give a ballistic performance identical to the Mark I. Compared to the Mark I, the main constructional differences were that they were about 1.5 tons (1.6 mt) lighter, had Vickers breech mechanisms, the inner A tube had forward shoulders with cannelured rings - to reduce "steel choke" - and were not tapered. These Mark III guns were not used afloat but were used on railway mountings in France.

The muzzle velocity and shell weight of the 14" (35.6 cm) Mark I did not differ appreciatively from that of the 14" (35.6 cm) Mark VII carried by the King George V class battleships of World War II. If anything, the older guns had slightly better performance considering that they fired shells of poorer aerodynamic qualities than did the newer guns (4crh vs. 6crh).

The data that follows is specifically for the Mark I guns used on HMS Canada although the Mark III should have had similar if not identical performance.

Cleaning Information
Some part cleanup will be necessary. The 3D printing process uses a waxy substance to support certain part features during the printing process. Although the parts are cleaned by Shapeways, some waxy residue may remain.  It can be safely removed with water and a mild aqueous detergent like "Simple Green" using an old, soft toothbrush, Q-tips or pipe cleaners. During the printing process, liquid resin is cured by ultraviolet light.  Microscopic bits of resin may remain uncured.

Let your parts sit in direct sunlight for a few hours to fully cure the resin. 

Water-based acrylic paints meant for plastics is strongly recommended.
Other paints, especially enamels, may not cure on Frosted Detail 3D-printed plastics.

Use dedicated model sprue cutters to remove parts to minimise the risk of damage to parts.
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