Building and Accurizing the Lindbergh Fletcher
By Jeff Herne
Author's Note: I built this model in 1996-97, and it was sold in 1998. I never really intended to write an article on this kit, primarily because I had no idea what I was getting into with this model. If you want a large Fletcher model, I implore you to seek out an alternate to this kit. If you've got this kit and are determined to beat it...then read on...
Many have tried it, some have succeeded, most have given up. No matter how you slice it (and much slicing is necessary), the Lindberg kit isn't an out-of-the-box gem. With the likes of Trumpeter, Tamiya, Skywave, and Dragon producing high-quality injection molded kits; and a slew of small companies giving us stunning resin models, the poor Lindbergh ship suffers by comparison. Still, it's a BIG model of a popular ship, and it's affordable (here's an argument waiting to happen). I relented last year, against the advice of my shipbuilding buddies, and bought one at my local shop. I figured, " hey, I'll scratchbuild anything that doesn't look right". "Fools rush in..." as they say.
My completed Lindberg Fletcher spent a short time at the Naval Base hobby shop in New York City before it was sold, so I lack for photos of the finished model. I'll use both line drawings and photos of real Fletchers, as well as images from the instructions to point out the kit's many pitfalls. There were always several subassemblies going at once, and it is not essential that you follow any particular construction sequence. But be warned, the instructions are nearly worthless, functioning mainly as a means of identifying some of the kit's unrecognizable parts.