Here is another piece of heavy ordnance from Her Majesty's Royal Ordnance and Arms Factory, otherwise known as White Ensign Models. WEM has produced an extensive range of white metal and brass guns in 1:144 scale for the Trumpeter Gato and among them is this five-inch/25 deck gun. The 5-inch/25 was the DP secondary gun on USN battleships and cruisers at the start of World War Two. This was supplanted by the 5-inch/38 as the war progressed but the 5-inch/25 was still a viable weapons system. It was a perfect weapons system for submarine deck guns. Lighter than other five-inch guns, the weapon still had a heavy punch for use against surface targets and was also capable of anti-aircraft fire. It is generally an unhealthy practice for submarines to mix it up with aircraft but in a pinch you sure could use the additional fire power. Now you can add that punch with WEM PE 14404.

The set comes with four white metal parts, the barrel, mount and two handrails. The brass photo-etch set comes with eleven brass relief-etched parts. These include gunners' seats, elevation mechanism, gunners' foot pedals, gun sights, and gunners' hand cranks. Of course  with a one page sheet of instructions, the placement of all parts is clearly indicated.

With fifteen parts supplied for one gun by White Ensign Models, any modeler can be assured of an extremely detailed 5-inch/25 deck gun for their 1:144 scale Gato fleet submarine. WEM PE set 14404 is just one of a series of ordnance manufactured by WEM in this scale, which allows a number of fittings for the Gato. 

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