Tamiya 12642 - 1:350 PE Handrail Set A

Photo-etched railing stanchion set for Tamiya 1:350 scale ship models

Railings run the length of the deck, which is why they so often decide whether a ship model looks refined or heavy-handed. Tamiya 12642 is a set of railing stanchions made from photo-etched parts, intended for Tamiya's 1:350 scale Imperial Japanese Navy ship models.

The set covers eight different stanchion types, allowing the railings to be matched to different sections of deck and superstructure. The railing lines are made by the modeller: fine 0.1 mm wire is threaded through the holes in the stanchions, so the whole assembly keeps correct scale proportions. The ship model is sold separately and is not included in this set.

What's in the box:

• Photo-etched parts — eight different types of railing stanchions

Set specifications:

• Scale: 1:350
• Product code: 12642
• Manufacturer: Tamiya
• Type: photo-etched railing stanchions
• Material: photo-etched parts
• Intended for: Tamiya 1:350 Imperial Japanese Navy ship models
• Railing lines: made by the modeller from fine 0.1 mm wire
• Ship model sold separately — not included in this set

Photo-etched railings – one of the most striking ways to raise the realism of a ship model

Plastic-moulded railings have to be thick enough for the mould to fill, which in 1:350 scale makes them look disproportionately heavy — in reality we are talking about thin tubes and lines a few centimetres across, which are barely visible once scaled down. Photo-etched parts, chemically etched from thin metal sheet, allow a thinness that injection moulding simply cannot reach.

In this set the stanchions are photo-etched, while the railing lines are made from fine 0.1 mm wire threaded through the holes in each stanchion. The result is far closer to the original than any moulded part: you can see the deck through the railing, and the lines are thin and even. Cyanoacrylate glue applied sparingly — for instance with a sharpened piece of wire — together with precision modelling tweezers works well here. It is worth working in sections, dry-fitting the stanchions before gluing, and painting the railings once they are in place so that their colour blends with the deck.

About the ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy:

In the 1930s and 1940s the Imperial Japanese Navy was one of the most powerful fleets in the world, with battleships, aircraft carriers, heavy cruisers and destroyers that shaped the history of the Pacific war. These vessels form the core of Tamiya's 1:350 ship model line, headed by the battleship Yamato and her sister ship Musashi.

The decks of these ships were densely lined with railings — along the sides, around the superstructures, on the bridges and the anti-aircraft positions. Reproducing them in photo-etched parts gives even a large model several dozen centimetres long a lightness and finesse that plastic parts cannot achieve.

About the manufacturer – Tamiya:

Tamiya is a Japanese company from Shizuoka, in business since 1946 — originally as a timber works, and from the 1960s as one of the most recognisable plastic model manufacturers in the world. The brand built its position on precise tooling, clear instructions and predictable parts fit. Alongside its kits, Tamiya develops a range of detail-up accessories for its own models: photo-etched parts, metal parts, wooden decks, figures, and modelling chemicals and tools. The 1:350 ship accessories are designed as a complement to the company's line of ship models.