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Transform your 1/350 scale warship models with precision aftermarket components from Gold Medal Models, the industry leader in photo-etched brass details, 3D-printed weapons systems, and comprehensive detail sets. This specialized collection features replacement gun turrets, fire control directors, anti-aircraft weapons, aircraft carrier deck details, and complete upgrade sets for battleships, carriers, cruisers, and destroyers from American, German, Japanese, and Soviet navies.
Gold Medal Models revolutionized naval ship modeling with precision photo-etched brass components that provide scale-accurate thickness and crisp detail impossible to achieve with injection-molded plastic. The Extra IJN Railing set provides 6,000 feet of railing in five different styles representing the various railing configurations found on Imperial Japanese Navy vessels, including solid plate railings for weather decks, open pipe railings for interior spaces, and specialized configurations for bridge wings and gun platforms. These brass railings feature proper stanchion spacing, accurate height dimensions, and the delicate appearance that characterizes actual ship railings when scaled to 1/350.
Installation of photo-etched railings requires careful removal from the brass fret using sharp hobby knives, bending to conform to hull and deck contours using specialized photo-etch bending tools, and attachment with cyanoacrylate adhesive applied sparingly to avoid visible glue residue. Pre-painting railings before installation eliminates the challenging task of painting installed components without getting paint on surrounding deck surfaces. The dramatic improvement in appearance justifies the additional effort, with scale-accurate railings transforming models from toy-like to museum-quality replicas that accurately represent the delicate structures found on actual warships.
Gold Medal Models produces comprehensive detail sets tailored to specific ship classes and kit manufacturers, ensuring perfect fit and historical accuracy. The Bismarck/Tirpitz Battleship Photo Etch Set includes railings for the entire ship with proper configurations for different deck levels, radar arrays including the distinctive FuMO radar systems, ladder assemblies with individual rungs and side rails, aircraft catapult details, and deck fittings such as cleats, chocks, and ventilators. These components address every area where kit-supplied plastic parts fall short, providing the comprehensive upgrade that serious battleship modelers demand.
The ENTERPRISE set provides complete photo-etched details for the legendary CV-6, including flight deck safety netting with proper mesh pattern, aircraft elevator platform details with accurate framework, island superstructure railings and platforms, and weapons sponson details for the numerous anti-aircraft gun positions added during wartime refits. The ESSEX set covers the prolific Essex-class carriers that formed the backbone of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, with details specific to the various sub-classes and refit configurations that characterized these vessels throughout their long service lives. These ship-specific sets demonstrate Gold Medal's commitment to historical accuracy and comprehensive coverage of popular modeling subjects.
Gold Medal Models pioneered the use of 3D printing technology to produce highly detailed weapons systems that surpass traditional resin casting in both accuracy and detail. The USN Mk.28 5-inch/38 Twin Turret set provides five complete turrets as fitted to fast battleships including Iowa, South Dakota, and North Carolina classes, featuring accurate gun barrel profiles with proper taper and muzzle detail, shield configuration with correct armor plate angles, and base ring details including training gear and ammunition handling equipment. These 3D-printed turrets capture the subtle details of actual gun mounts including weld seams, access hatches, and equipment stowage that bring these weapons systems to life.
The USN Mk.32 5-inch/38 Twin Turret set represents the enclosed turret configuration fitted to modernized battleships during WWII refits, featuring the distinctive fully-enclosed shield that protected gun crews from weather and blast effects. Anti-aircraft weapons receive equally detailed treatment, with the 3D USN 40mm Bofors Twin Mount Mk.1 set providing ten complete mounts featuring accurate gun barrels with proper length and taper, ammunition handling equipment including ready-service lockers, and crew positions with seats and controls. The 3D USN 20mm Oerlikon Mk.4 set includes 36 individual mounts with Type I shields, representing the light anti-aircraft weapons that bristled from every available space on WWII-era warships.
Accurate fire control directors and radar systems are essential for authentic warship models, as these distinctive structures dominated superstructure profiles and enabled the long-range gunnery that characterized naval warfare. The 3D USN Mk.37 MOD 11 Fire Control Director with Mk.12/22 Radar set provides four complete directors as fitted to late-war and post-war U.S. Navy vessels, featuring the characteristic boxy director housing with optical rangefinders, Mk.12/22 radar antenna with proper dish configuration, and mounting pedestals with training gear and cable runs. The Mk.37 MOD 4 variant with Mk.4 Radar represents earlier configurations with the distinctive bedspring radar antenna that characterized pre-war and early-war fire control systems.
These fire control systems transformed naval gunnery from visual ranging and manual calculation to radar-directed automatic fire control, dramatically increasing hit probability at long ranges and in poor visibility. The Mk.37 director could control 5-inch dual-purpose guns against both surface and air targets, providing the fire control capability that made American destroyers and cruisers formidable opponents. Gold Medal's 3D-printed directors capture the complex geometry and fine detail of these sophisticated systems, including the optical ports, radar antennas, and equipment housings that characterized these revolutionary fire control installations.
Aircraft carriers require specialized detailing to capture the complex flight deck operations and aircraft handling systems that defined these revolutionary warships. The 1/4 1930s Air Wing Details Photo Etch Set provides comprehensive components for pre-war and early-war carriers including aircraft propellers with individual blades and proper pitch, landing gear assemblies with wheels and struts, wing fold mechanisms for carrier-capable aircraft, and arresting gear hooks and tail wheels. These delicate brass components allow modelers to create accurate representations of period aircraft including F4F Wildcats, SBD Dauntlesses, and TBD Devastators in proper carrier deck configurations.
The CVN 1/4 Air Wing Details set covers modern carrier aircraft including F/A-18 Hornets, E-2 Hawkeyes, and S-3 Vikings with photo-etched details for modern jet aircraft including intake screens and exhaust nozzles, weapons pylons and stores, radar antennas and sensor fairings, and landing gear with proper oleo strut detail. The Enterprise Elevator Platforms set provides the distinctive aircraft elevator framework that characterized CV-6's three flight deck elevators, with accurate structural members, safety railings, and operating mechanisms that allow display of elevators in raised, lowered, or intermediate positions for dynamic dioramas showing aircraft handling operations.
Gold Medal Models provides comprehensive coverage of destroyer and cruiser classes that formed the backbone of fleet operations. The BUCKLEY/ENGLAND set covers the prolific destroyer escort classes that provided convoy protection and anti-submarine warfare capability, including depth charge racks and projectors, hedgehog anti-submarine mortars, sonar equipment and handling gear, and weapons systems specific to these compact but capable vessels. The EMDEN/DRESDEN set addresses German light cruisers with photo-etched details for German-specific equipment including rangefinders, searchlight platforms, and boat handling equipment that differed from Allied practice.
These destroyer and cruiser sets recognize that smaller warships require equally detailed treatment despite their more modest size compared to battleships and carriers. The compact dimensions of destroyers and cruisers mean that individual details have greater visual impact, with each railing section, ladder, and weapons mount contributing significantly to the overall appearance. Gold Medal's comprehensive approach ensures that modelers building destroyer squadrons or cruiser divisions have access to the same quality aftermarket details available for capital ships, allowing creation of complete task force displays with consistent detail levels across all vessel types.
Gold Medal Models extends beyond American and British subjects to provide comprehensive coverage of Soviet, German, and Japanese naval vessels. The ADMIRAL KUZNETSOV set addresses the Soviet/Russian aircraft carrier with details specific to this unique vessel including ski-jump ramp details and safety netting, SA-N-9 Gauntlet missile launchers, CADS-N-1 Kashtan close-in weapons systems, and phased array radar panels for the distinctive sensor suite. This set allows modelers to build accurate representations of Soviet naval power projection capabilities that emerged during the Cold War.
The Gold Plus Takao Details set provides comprehensive photo-etched and 3D-printed components for the Japanese heavy cruiser, including the distinctive pagoda-style bridge structure, Type 94 fire control directors, Long Lance torpedo launchers with reload rails, and aircraft handling equipment for the embarked floatplanes. Japanese warships featured unique design elements including the characteristic pagoda masts, extensive torpedo armament, and specialized equipment that differed significantly from Western practice. Gold Medal's attention to these details ensures that modelers building Japanese fleet displays have access to historically accurate components that capture the distinctive characteristics of Imperial Japanese Navy vessels.
The Gold Plus series represents Gold Medal Models' most comprehensive upgrade packages, combining photo-etched brass, 3D-printed components, and turned metal parts into complete transformation kits. The Gold Plus Missouri Fine Details set includes complete railing replacement for the entire ship, all weapons systems in 3D-printed format, fire control directors and radar systems, boat details including motor launches and whaleboats, and deck fittings down to individual cleats and chocks. These comprehensive sets provide everything needed to transform a standard plastic kit into a museum-quality replica worthy of competition display or premium collection status.
The investment in Gold Plus sets is substantial but delivers transformative results, with the cumulative effect of hundreds of individual detail improvements creating models that bear little resemblance to out-of-box builds. The combination of scale-accurate railings, properly detailed weapons systems, accurate fire control equipment, and comprehensive deck fittings addresses every area where injection-molded plastic falls short. For modelers committed to building the ultimate representation of iconic battleships like Missouri, these comprehensive sets provide the complete solution in a single package, eliminating the need to source individual detail sets from multiple manufacturers.
Gold Medal Models extends beyond military subjects to provide comprehensive details for famous civilian vessels. The Gold PLUS TITANIC/LUSITANIA DETAIL SET includes deck chairs in multiple styles representing first, second, and third class accommodations, benches and deck furniture for promenade areas, girders and structural details for the distinctive hull construction, and railings specific to passenger liner configurations with proper height and spacing for safety regulations. These details transform basic passenger liner kits into accurate representations of the golden age of ocean travel, capturing the elegance and luxury that characterized these floating palaces.
Passenger liner modeling requires different detail approaches compared to warships, with emphasis on deck furniture, passenger accommodations, and the elegant superstructure details that characterized these vessels. The deck chair details alone can number in the hundreds for a large liner, with different styles for various deck levels and passenger classes. Gold Medal's comprehensive approach ensures that modelers building Titanic, Lusitania, or other famous liners have access to the specialized details these unique subjects require, allowing creation of accurate representations that capture both the technical achievement and social history these vessels represent.
The 40mm (25) & 20mm (60) GUN DETAILS set provides comprehensive anti-aircraft weapons for multiple vessels, including 25 complete 40mm Bofors mounts in various configurations and 60 individual 20mm Oerlikon mounts with shields and ammunition handling equipment. This universal set allows modelers to upgrade multiple ships from a single purchase, providing the numerous light anti-aircraft weapons that characterized WWII-era warships across all navies. The set includes both twin and quad 40mm mounts, single and twin 20mm installations, and the ammunition handling equipment and crew positions that bring these weapons systems to life.
The proliferation of light anti-aircraft weapons during WWII reflected the increasing threat from air attack, with ships adding 20mm and 40mm mounts to every available space as the war progressed. Late-war configurations of battleships and carriers could mount over 100 individual light AA weapons, creating the bristling appearance that characterized these vessels during their final wartime configurations. Gold Medal's comprehensive gun detail sets provide the components necessary to accurately represent these heavily-armed configurations, with sufficient quantities to outfit multiple vessels or create the heavily-armed late-war fits that maximized anti-aircraft firepower.
Working with Gold Medal Models photo-etched brass and 3D-printed components requires specialized techniques and tools for optimal results. Photo-etched parts benefit from dedicated bending tools that create crisp folds without stress marks, sharp hobby knives for clean removal from brass frets, and cyanoacrylate adhesive applied sparingly with fine applicators. Pre-painting brass components before installation avoids the challenging task of painting installed parts without affecting surrounding areas, with careful masking and touch-up addressing any areas where paint is removed during handling and installation.
3D-printed weapons and equipment require minimal cleanup compared to traditional resin castings, with support material removal using flush-cutting sprue nippers and light sanding to remove any remaining attachment points. Priming 3D-printed parts with fine-grain primer fills any visible layer lines and provides excellent paint adhesion, while careful painting with appropriate colors and weathering brings out the fine detail these components provide. The combination of photo-etched brass and 3D-printed components creates a synergistic effect, with each material type providing optimal results for different detail categories and creating the comprehensive upgrade that transforms standard kits into premium display pieces.
Modelers working with Gold Medal Models accessories will find natural connections to our broader 1/350 ship accessories catalog. Those seeking wooden deck upgrades can explore 1/350 Artwox Ship Accessories for laser-cut wooden decking, while builders interested in additional photo-etched options can browse 1/350 Eduard Ship Accessories for complementary detail sets. The comprehensive 1/350 Ship Accessories main collection provides access to the full range of aftermarket components available for this popular scale.
Whether you're building a World War II battleship with comprehensive weapons upgrades, detailing an aircraft carrier with period-correct air wing components, upgrading a destroyer with accurate fire control systems, or creating a passenger liner with elegant deck furniture, these precision Gold Medal Models accessories deliver the detail and accuracy that distinguish exceptional models from ordinary builds, providing the finishing touches that serious naval modelers demand for competition-level results and museum-quality display pieces.