Tiny Tim Rocket Set

True Details, 1/72 scale

Reviewed by Mark Davies

True Details'  1/72 Tiny Tim Rocket set is available online from Squadron.com

In early 1944, the U.S. Navy was in need of a powerful anti-ship weapon with some stand-off range to keep the attacking aircraft outside the range of heavy air defences. The new fast fighter-bombers of that time couldn't drop torpedoes, and the existing rockets were not large enough to be useful against heavy shipping. In March, CalTech showed that a large calibre air-launched rocket was feasible, and the Navy subsequently ordered to develop such a weapon with the highest priority. The result was a rocket of 11.75 inches diameter, which eventually gained the nickname Tiny Tim (obviously an ironic pun on its size). The apparently odd dimension was chosen because it matched the diameter of the standard 500 lb SAP (Semi-Armour Piercing) bomb, which was used as the warhead, as well as the diameter of standard oil well steel tubing, which was used as the casing.

By December 1944, the Tiny Tim was ready for deployment and pilots had been trained. The rocket could be fired from F4U Corsair, F6F Hellcat, TBF/TBM Avenger and SB2C Helldiver aircraft. However, the weapon came effectively too late for use in World War 2, and was reportedly only used at Okinawa in small numbers (with unknown results). Tiny Tim was later used with some success during the Korean War.

Source: Phil Parsons’ review of Attack Squadron’s 1/72 Tiny Tim here on HyperScale in January 2013 

Previous 1/72 Tiny Tims

I am only aware of the Attack Squadron resin Tiny Tim’s reviewed by Phil Parsons, but I should think that they have been offered before by other brands too. After all, they seem to me a rather irresistible piece of meaty ordnance to hang off quite a range of subjects. Now that True Details has stepped up to the plate in the blessed scale of six feet to the inch, as well offering Tiny Tims in quarter-scale (I gather some people build in 1/48). This means that they should be readily available as the True Details range of accessories is widely stocked globally.    

The Contents

The set comes in a small card-backed blister-pack with foam cushioning. Under the foam is a tightly folded and stapled wad of paper, that once unpicked and folded out, reveals the simple but quite adequate assembly and painting instructions.  The packaging is non-resealable; a packaging approach that may help the product achieve its attractive price-point, but is less appealing than the resealable style used by, for example, Eduard’s Brassin range. If this is the case, it is a minor inconvenience most will accept in favour of their wallets I think.

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The Rockets

Two rocket bodies with integral standard warheads are supplied, along with eight fins; four for each Tiny Tim. Alternate blunt-nosed warheads as carried by F84G’s are also supplied. If these are to be used the modeller must remove the standard warhead from the rocket motor at the point indicated by the instructions. Obviously, some care in cutting is needed to ensure square joins can be achieved to avoid a banana-shaped payload for your model Thunderjet. The instructions also state that warhead colour for the F-84G variant is unknown.

The quality of casting is superb, with easily detached casting stubs. I am concerned that a rather significant detail is missing, in that the 25 rocket motor blast tubes seen here are absent. This is because the resin pour stub covers this area. A suitable PE disc, or resin end-cap could have compensated for this tooling approach, or the pour plug could have been located in the manner Attack Squadron used to ensure that this detail was included. As such I think it is a substantive failing, as drilling your own 25 holes in the resin base will be problematical for all but the most skilled. A simpler compromise may be to produce suitable digital artwork to make your own decals featuring 25 black dots arranged the right order.

It occurred to me that maybe the blast tubes were covered by a frangible covering, in which case their absence may not matter; but this seems unlikely as other images I have seen show the 25 holes uncovered.

Another challenge may lie with the weapons pylons for the various different aircraft that carried Tiny Tims, or at least some form of adapter to fix the rocket to standard pylons. I do not know enough about the subject to be sure, but it seems a fair bet to check before you just hang your Tiny Tim off any old pylon supplied with your aircraft kit.  

Readily available, good quality Tiny Tims, and at an affordable price, are to be welcomed. The inclusion of the F-84G Blunt-nose warhead is a nice touch too.

It seems clear however that all is not as straightforward as I had assumed when first reviewing this accessory set:

• The lack of the 25 blast tubes is a noticeable failing in my view, and could have been easily overcome by the set’s designers (I think most would have traded the F-84G option for PE or resin base-plates featuring the 25 holes).

• Perhaps outside of True Details’ gambit, there is also possibly the matter of researching suitable pylons before arbitrarily hanging these very large weapons off any old kit pylon.

Despite my base-plate gripe, I welcome this set’s arrival on the modelling scene, and happily recommend it if you can accept the detail failing I have hi-lighted. If not, buy Attack Squadron’s for about 34% more.

Thanks to Squadron for the review sample.

Review Text and Images Copyright © 2014 by Mark Davies
Page Created 27 February, 2014
Last updated 27 February, 2014

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