The Goalkeeper is a close-in weapon system (CIWS) manufactured by the Dutch company Thales Nederland (formerly Signaal). It is designed to provide ships with short-range defence against missiles, aircraft and fast-moving surface vessels with its seven-barrel Gatling-style GAU-8/A Avenger 30mm autocannon. It has been installed on vessels such as the South Korean Sejong the Great-class destroyers, Dutch Karel Doorman-class and De Zeven Provinciën-class frigates and many more. The system was first introduced in 1979.
The Kit
This kit was released by RPG-Model in 2020. It arrives in a very sturdy roll end tuck top box and is made up of 4 sprues (all grey plastic), one fret of photo-etch, 7 metal barrels, a small sheet of decal and a very nicely printed instruction booklet.
The details provided with this kit are excellent, though there are the occasional visible seam lines and flashes that will need to be cleaned up.
I am slightly curious about the reasons behind the unusual sprue naming sequence with Fa, Fb and Hd (On the part overview section of the instructions, this is mislabelled as Hb, actual part numbers in the instructions are not affected).
The photo-etch fret is also well made and has good details. I am particularly impressed that RPG-Model managed to replicate anti-slip material texture on photo-etch.
The brass barrels should provide for a nice clean look to the finished model and make the construction somewhat easier.
Official test build shot from RPG-Model’s Facebook page. It should be noted that the cannon and sensors can be movable on the built up model.
Markings
Only one marking is provided with the kit, a generic unspecified Goalkeeper CIWS in what appears to be Royal Navy Grey. The decal for this kit is only a small sheet, the detail of which is nice, but the writings on it are not legible.
I have noticed two errors in the instruction booklet, on page 3, part Fa-3 should be Fa-4 and on page 4, part Fa-18 should be Fb-18. Other than that, the instruction is well printed and easy to follow.
Conclusion
RPG-Model has delivered a rather unusual subject with excellent details that should make for an interesting model in what looks to be a relatively quick build with the low part count. The only downside that I can think of is the kit did not provide the canvas covers around the barrel support struts that are typically seen on most Goalkeeper CIWS, but this should be easily remedied with some minor scratch building. Highly recommended.
This kit is available from selected online retailers.
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