Eduard's Brassin cannons are packed in a strong clear plastic blister with plenty of foam padding to protect the resin parts. A small etched brass fret sits in it's own compartment and everything in the sample set arrived in perfect condition.

The set comprises:

12 x grey resin parts
10 x etched brass parts (including 4 x spares)

The casting is essentially perfect in the review set, with no flash or other flaws to worry about. There's inevitably a little preparation to do before you can start construction, removing the parts from their casting blocks as you'd expect.

Whereas the Tamiya kit's gondolas are firmly closed, Eduard's are designed to be displayed open, revealing detailed cannon breaches inside. The way Eduard have designed the gondolas is quite novel, because they've included a section of solid resin "mesh" to provide rigidity and make casting more straightforward for the main sections. This stands out clearly from the actual parts to be used and should be straightforward to remove.

Each gondola features a main body with a separate door and an etched lip/hinge to join them. You probably could build the gondolas closed, but that seems pretty pointless - you might just as well use the original Tamiya parts.

The interior of the gondolas is detailed with resin and etched parts, and the multi-part cannon beaches themselves are beautifully depicted. The separate barrels are shallowly hollowed-out, but will benefit from being drilled deeper.

Backing everything up is a very clear set of instructions, with full A5 diagrams showing each cannon pack separately. I think that's a nice touch where many manufactures would have simply shown one gondola with a note to "repeat for the other side".

Colour matches are provided for Gunze Sangyo paints.

Conclusion

Eduard's Brassin cannons appear to be pretty straightforward to assemble and fit, and will give a major boost compared with the original kit parts. They are little kits in themselves and should look real gems when finished.

Experienced modellers will have no problems with them and I'm tempted to say they'd make a good introduction to anyone wanting to step up from basic resin upgrades, although some of the components are very small. However, the excellent design and casting, accompanied by clear instructions should see you home safely if you take your time and work carefully.

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