Reviewed by Timothy Dike
August 2013 |
The USS Tennessee (BB-43) was the lead ship of a new class of battleships.
The Tennessee and sister California (BB-44) were similar in earlier New
Mexico class, but had better armor and their guns could elevate to 30 degrees
for longer range firing. Both sisters were present at Pearl Harbor moored
on battleship row on December 7th. Damaged in the raid, the ship was repaired
and sent stateside for an more repairs upgrades and refitting. Tennessee
operated like this until late in 42 when it was decided to send her through
the same modernization program as her sisters. In May 1943 she emerged
as a modernized ship with the latest armor, anti-air defenses and new Mark
34 main battery directors provided with Mark 8 fire-control radars. Tennessee
was radically different and had the appearance of a modern fast battleship.
Tennessee spent the next two years marching across the Pacific, enacting
her revenge.
Tennessee earned a Navy Unit Commendation and 10 battles stars for World
War II service. She entered the mothball fleet after the war and survived
until 1959 when she was sold for scrap.
A more detailed account of the Tennessee's history can be viewed on
the DANFS page.
This new kit is based on the Classic Warships kit. Blue Ridge
Models began with that kit, remastered many of the parts, added some of
the best aftermarket accessories available and brought it up to the standards
we expect from today's kits. The transformation is as radical as the Tennessee's
original rebuilding in 1943. Also available is the West
Virginia from the same time frame.
The first thing that grabs the eye is the distinctive box art by Wayne
Scarpaci. Everything is packed securely in a sturdy cardboard box with
protective foam and the parts all nicely protected from damage.
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| HULL |
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| The hull is cast in the typical waterline style with deck
planking inscribed into the surface. The anchor ways are clean with no
molded-on chain. Casting is pretty good overall and there is plenty of
surface detailing and virtually no cleanup needed. |
click images
to enlarge
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| DECK |
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| A wood grain laser cut deck overlay specially designed by Artwox Models
is provided for those who can't resist that real wood look. It can be left
in it's natural wood color if your doing a post war version, or stained
blue for war time colors. The planking is nicely scribed on the surface
and all the shapes are precut to fit around the deck fittings. The deck
has a self adhesive coating on it, so it's virtually peel and stick. |
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| SUPERSTRUCTURE |
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| The superstructure parts are cast on resin wafers. Some flat sanding
will be needed to separate the parts from the resin over-pour. Shapes look
good and the only real flash is on the bottom. Gun directors area also
included with accurate shapes. Those parts are cast on resin runners with
only a very thin resin film on some parts to remove. |
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| MAIN GUNS |
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| Main guns are cast in resin with pretty good detailing. Five
turrets are included, four plain, and one with gun tubs cast on the roof.
Separate gun barrels are included with cast on blast bags shown on the
sprures below. The 5" gun turrets are nicely cast and shaped. They have
sighting hoods and access hatches. The modeler will have to drill the holes
for locating the machined gun barrels shown further below. Some gun platforms
and tubs are also included on this resin wafer. |
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| SECONDARY ARMAMENT |
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| Ten quad 40 mounts are included with a whole bunch of extra gun barrel
cast in twin sets. These are nicely cast and are provided as a choice for
the modeler (photo etch versions are also included). Mk-51 gun directors
are well done will look really good in this scale. More gun tubs and the
main gun blast bags are included here. |
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| BOATS, RAFTS AND MISCELLANEOUS |
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| The ships boats and a multitude of rafts are provided here. Tubs for
the Mk-51's and searchlights are cleanly cast. Closed and open chocks are
also included to place around the deck edge. |
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| FLOAT PLANES |
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| Two Kingfisher Float planes are included supplied by Trumpeter. They
are molded in clear and have look pretty good. I am not a big fan of clear
molded parts, but some may like this feature. It allows for the canopy
to be masked off prior to painting and the mask to be removed to reveal
a clear effect. |
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| METAL PARTS |
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| The twelve CNC turned 14" gun barrels supplied by Master and are typical
of their high quality work. Ends are center drilled for a hollow look and
the other end has a nice mounting pin to help locate them into the blast
bags provided. There are sixteen Brass Turned 5"/38 cal. barrels that are
scale diameter and length. A turned brass mast is also included with the
proper taper. This part is cut into two parts. |
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| PHOTO ETCH |
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| No less than 7 photo etch frets are included with this
kit. Everything you could think of to add to this kit and then some is
included. |
| The first fret is the basic items like railings, vertical and inclined
ladders. Also included are some cool items like lookout seats and yardarm
antennas. |
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| The second fret includes a wide variety of parts. Everything from more
railings to brackets, radars, catapults, and cranes assemblies. The majority
of these will not be needed but save this fret as it has a lot of nice
parts for your other projects. I have included a few detail views of this
one below. |
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| This fret produced for Blue Ridge Models by Tom's Modelworks has some
really nice radar assemblies, catapults and cranes. Many of the custom
platform, brackets, and other details are included here |
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| Another fret from Tom's Modelworks is this US Radar set with the main
gun director radar and even more. |
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| A whole fret of relief etched 40 mm quads is provided from F-Star.
This are provided as an alternative to the resin version giving you a choice. |
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| Also from F-Star are open doors and hatches with a variety of styles.
Nicely etched, these will really dress up your ship and provide plenty
of extras for other projects. |
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| Finally 20 mm twin and single light weight mounts are included. These
are the tripod style mount and include separate shields and ammo cans. |
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| DECALS |
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| The decal sheet is a real treat and includes flags and pennants as
well as both prewar and early and late war hull numbers. These are printed
by Microscale and are typical of the high quality decals they usually produce.
They are nicely registered and sharp. |
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| BUILDUP PHOTOS |
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| Some photos of the Blue Ridge Models kits built up show what is possible
with this kit. |
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| INSTRUCTIONS |
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| The instructions come in a comprehensive 20 page booklet
with plenty of construction views, parts list and painting instructions.
It's nice to see a high end kit with high end instructions.
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| CONCLUSIONS |
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This new kit from Blue
Ridge Models is packed full of detail and options. It's truly a complete
one stop kit with nothing else needed except glue, paint and time. The
resin is sharp in detail, the photo etch is first rate, and CNC machined
gun barrels make this a first class solution for your late war battlewagon. |
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This is kit #70002 USS
Tennessee 1945 for $135 available now at Freetime
Hobbies. That may sound pricey at first until you add up all the extras
in the kit. |
