Modernized Battleship
Reviewed by Timothy Dike
| The Mighty Mo is perhaps the best known of the Iowa Class
Battleships. She had quite a storied career. It was on her decks that the
Surrender ceremonies occurred ending World War Two. The Missouri spent
some time in and out of mothballs before being modernized to her latest
configuration. Like her sister ship the Iowa she received many weapons
and radar upgrades over her life. This kit represents her in that final
configuration as she served in the Gulf War and as she now resides as a
museum ship adjacent to the Arizona. The Alpha and Omega, beginning and
end of World War Two for the USA.
In a cooperative effort Pit-Road long known for it's highly detailed ships has teamed up with the larger machining and molding capabilities of Trumpeter to produce all four of the Modernized Iowa Class ships. |
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| The hull is well molded and has those nice clean lines of the Iowa Class. The deck planking is much finer than on earlier models. Detail is pretty good on the horizontal surfaces but lacking on the verticals. The inclined stairways have been incorrectly molded as the dreaded Aztec stairs. These will be somewhat difficult to remove for the purist. |
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| Separate bow and stern inserts are provided and these have plenty of sharp deck detailing. The stern appears to match that of the New Jersey and not the Missouri. Some re-scribing might be needed to correct this. The superstructure parts are well molded and have nice surface detailing that is not overdone. |  |
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| The main guns are the best I've seen in plastic and have all kinds of surface detailing. This will look great with a light wash on the finished model. A sprue insert is used to add the Missouri distinct bridge and superstructure parts as well as a nameplate. I compared this sprue with that of the USS Iowa by Pit-Road and they are identical except for the name plate. |  |
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| The molding on the weapons sprue (2 included) is very fine and detailed considering how small this items are in 700 scale. The Tomahawk launcher can be build in the open or closed position and even include the Tomahawks. Harpoon Launchers and Twin 5" and other details are crisp and sharp. An SH-60 with folded and open rotors are also included. |  |
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| The mast details are very fine and usable. Some can be replaced by some of the photo etch sets out there such as the Gold Medal Modern BB set designed for this kit. |  |
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| A lower hull and waterline insert is provided for the modeler to chose which way to mount his ship. |  |
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| Decals include deck markings flags, hull numbers, and salad bar markings. |  |
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| A display stand is included for full hull mounting. |  |
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| Additional reference and info can be found in the Warship Data #2 book on the USS Missouri. |  |
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| Conclusions:
Since this kit is essentially the same as the Pit-Road Iowa, many of the parts are identical. The only differences are the instructions and box art. So you still have nice kit to build a modern Missouri with a little work. |
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