The Ship Model Forum

I've been building model ships for most of my life.
In a story that will probably be familiar to many of you, I started with the old 1/600 scale Airfix kits, setting them apart during my teenage and early youth years.
When I took up the hobby many years ago, but already in the age of the Internet, I soon made contact with Juan Bataller, very active in the forums dedicated to all things naval.
He encouraged me to try new techniques and made me share his dream of getting the big manufacturers of naval kits to produce models of Spanish ships. He achieved some success, and, in the last twenty years, we have witnessed a scant, albeit very welcome, line of commercial models of Spanish ships, both historical and modern from different international brands.
Recently, Juan himself decided to become even more actively involved in his own dream, creating a genuinely national label of naval modelling: Iberia Models.
The 1/700 scale Meteor-class offshore patrol vessel (OPV) is its second production, providing us with a model of a very important ship for the Spanish Navy in the 21st century.
The model is offered in the form of a multimedia kit, made of two different types of resin, with a complete specific photo-etch fret. Complete with crisply printed decals. In short, everything we need to get a complete “out of the box” model.

"In box review"
The model is presented in a large and sturdy cardboard box, decorated on its lid with an image of the ship, the description of the model and the company logo.
Inside we find the different construction elements.



The most important piece is a block of resin that represents the hull and the main superstructures of the ship. Its dimensions are perfectly scaled to 1/700 and its profile perfectly captures the lines of the real ship. The quality of the detail is excellent and, only looking very closely under magnification, you can see the typical grooves of the 3D printing with which the master was modelled. The detailed interior of the lateral accommodation hangars of the RHIBs really stands out. I have only found a couple of bubbles at the base of the model, totally invisible with the boat in its natural position and in any case, very easy to fill with putty. A very light sanding allows to take care of any slight irregularity in the waterline.

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Luis Crespo "Sparrow".

Packed into small individual bags we find, modelled in a resin of a paler colour and more flexible consistency, the different additional elements for construction, such as the OTO-Melara 3-inch gun, the RHIBs, the mast, etc.
In these elements we find what is perhaps the main defect of the model: Since the elements mentioned have been modelled on a rigorous scale, they can be somewhat fragile and demanding when working with them. Some modellers may prefer to replace the weaponry supplied by the classic Skywave elements, which are oversized, but more comfortable to treat.




The photoetch fret is protected by a cardboard sleeve and it is obviously designed with care, extensively using relief etching. The railings come, for the most part, prepared to be folded into place with minimal effort, without requiring additional measurements or cuts. Photoetch is perhaps somewhat thick, but that characteristic makes it much easier to work with, resulting in much more robustness and better withstanding “punishment”.
Of course, if the modeller wishes to use thinner railings, their replacement should not involve any difficulty.
Photoetch includes, undoubtedly because the author is, above all, a fellow modeller, an alternative to the upper part of the resin mast, which, as we have said previously, is difficult to work with and can break easily.

The decals are printed with total clarity, and provide the main deck warning marks, the flight deck markings, and the numerals of the entire P-40 series.


In short, a model totally on par with the latest offers in international resin brands, which comes to fill a very important gap in any collection of modern warships.

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Luis Crespo "Sparrow".

That's a beautiful-looking little kit! Love seeing more OPVs being kitted. Thanks for introducing the brand to us!

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De quoi s'agit-il?

Hello,

very intersting new kit, which i nver saw before. The same with the company.

Where and how it is possible to get this kitsany sources ?

Best regards
Chris

Very interesting! I have found a Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Arts---Entertainment/Iberia-Models-Kits-1915979168487321/

But I am not on Facebook. Is there a way to order a kit?

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From a review on a Spanish site (autotranslated):

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De quoi s'agit-il?

Thank you! I could contact Iberia Models via that e-mail address and order the kit.

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