The USS Arizona was one of two Pennsylvania
class battleships built during the first world war. She was modernized
between the wars and was at her berth when war came to the United States
on December 7th 1941. She will always be remembered for the tremendous
loss of life that occurred when she was hit by a Japanese bomb that detonated
her forward magazine. The Arizona sank immediately and to this day lies
on the bottom of Pearl Harbor, a permanent memorial for those who gave
their lives in defense of their country.
When Dragon first released this kit a few years ago, it was easily the
best Arizona kit in 1/700 scale to date. See the review
by Bob Dedmon. It did have a few flaws, in that some of the parts were
molded out of a soft vinyl material. While rich in detail, this rubbery
material was difficult to work with. The new upgraded version not only
fixes those flaws, but also adds another photo etch set to replace the
stern crane and pulleys in this Premium Edition Kit release. |
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| Dragon writes: |
| Premium Edition kits strike an optimum
balance between technology and value for the money, often with the reuse
and revival of existing Dragon Models. New technology is added to create
new molds and more accurate parts, and these elements are combined to produce
a greatly improved kit. Premium Edition kits are complete in every sense
and offer modellers a chance to extend their families of model vehicles. |
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| UPPER AND LOWER HULL |
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| The hull on this kit is molded as a waterline kit with
a separate lower hull. It is the best kit as far as capturing the shape
of the Arizona's hull. The bow and hull sides look very much like the drawings
I have. The lower hull looks equally accurate. The decks have nice planking
molded on, however there are those dreaded Aztec stairs |
Click
images
to enlarge |
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| SPRUE A |
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| the main sprue includes waterline hull bottom, and the bow and stern
deck inserts. The first thing that I noticed was that the anchor ways are
molded clean without any molded on chain. This is a real plus, especially
when you notice the separate capstands and real chain. The decks have some
nice planking molded on and the splinter shields are not bad for this scale. |
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| The various superstructure levels are well molded
with bracing molded on the undersides where appropriate. Slide mold technology
is utilized to allow for port holes to be molded open on the 2nd deck.
The catapults and fighting top trusses are now molded in plastic and are
not bad. But would have been excellent candidates for photo etch replacements. |
| SPRUE B (x 2) |
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| This sprue contains most of the secondary weapons and fittings. The
5" 25 cal. anti aircraft guns are better than any other plastic ones available
in this scale. But they still have the incorrect pedestal style mount.
There are even some 50 cal. machine guns that are a little thick, but still
pretty good considering this small scale. |
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| SPRUE C |
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| The ships boats and float planes are included on this sprue. The detail
is pretty good and the Kingfishers are molded with recessed panel lines. |
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| SPRUE E |
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| The bridge and crane parts are now molded in injection molded plastic
and the detail is very good. |
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| MAIN GUNS AND BRASS BARRELS |
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| The main gun turrets are molded in plastic with some very nice surface
details. Locating holes for the catapult are now included on turret #3.
The real plus are the twelve 14" CNC machined gun barrels that can be used
to replace the plastic ones. These are very nice and include drilled out
centers. |
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| The guns are designed to allow for individual elevation,
but be advised that the Pennsylvania class has all three guns on the same
elevation track and they were elevated together.
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| PHOTOETCH |
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| A couple of photoetch frets are included that will allow
you to replace some of the molded details. What isn't replaced is enhanced
by the extra photo etch parts.
Railings and boarding ladders will add a nice touch to the ship. A length
of chain is also included for that realistic effect. |
| The second fret included a stern crane and pulley details.
New propellers are also supplied for the Kingfishers. There are also two
boat cranes included that are not be used on this kit. Perhaps these are
for a future late war Pennsylvania, "the world wonders". |
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| DECALS |
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| The decals by Cartograf include the ships name and aircraft
markings. These are nicely registered and pretty sharp. The flags are pretty
nice, although there should be 48 stars on the flags. You would need a
magnifying glass to notice that though. |
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| INSTRUCTIONS |
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| The instructions are a six page booklet showing the assembly
in a step by step process that is easy to follow. Very thorough and well
illustrated. Photo etch locations are noted in color. The last page shows
the ship in the MS-1 Camouflage.
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| CONCLUSIONS |
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 This
Dragon kit is the best Arizona in this scale to date. The upgraded tooling
and new parts make it an even better value than before. I am pleased to
see that Dragon is paying attention to what modelers are saying about their
kits. They listened to the concerns of modelers and took a good kit and
made it even better. You will definitely want this ship in your battleship
row! |
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