Now that Essex and Hancock made their shakedown cruise at SMC Veldhoven, it's time to get to something else. I liked the idea of a double build, so that will now be repeated with a new subject. The French battlecruisers Dunkerque and Strasbourg are both produced by Hobbyboss in my favorite ship scale 1/350. Before that, Heller had done them in 1/400, so part of the aftermarket is dedicated to this scale. Only Shipyard and Bigblueboy have a comprehensive set for the new models, and by the time I realised this I owned or had bought components from other brands that are included in their sets. Some of the stuff I have two or three times by now. Let's check it out.
Dunkerque:
Strasbourg
Most of the sprues will be common, but it's clear that the bridge components differ. Compare the boxart of the ships to see the extra bridge level of Strasbourg:
Apart from the wooden deck sets (also superfluous because these are present in the larger sets) I ordered turrets from Micromaster. Of these I will remove the printed barrels and use brass turned ones. The upgrades of PE, wood and resin parts are described in an article I made earlier in the review section: http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewtopic.php?f=85&p=1027734#p1027734.
As a reference for these two ships I only have the Jordan and Dumas book of French battleships, divulging about the Normandie, Dunkerque and Richelieu classes.
There seems to be no such thing as a NavSource for French ships, so I have an array of pictures without captions. Both ships had a short career before the outbreak of the war but were damaged at Mers El-Kebir and later bombed and scuttled at Toulon.
Dunkerque:
Strasbourg:
To replace the default plastic nameplates from the kits I ordered two naval medals on Ebay, about 5 centimeter in diameter. These are still en route to Belgium. I might do the same when I get to Richelieu.
