Reviewed by Timothy Dike |
| The resin department of MidShip models
is cranking out more Classic kits, old Classic Warships kits that is. This
one a late war Frisco features the ship after a major rebuilding. Gone
are the old bridge wings and now she has a more compact superstructure
and more modern radar. This kit is based on the 1944 appearance, but could
easily be modified to a 1943 version with some minor radar and light AA
adjustments. |
| HULL |
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| The hull is nicely cast with thin splinter shields and
the surface detail is pretty nice. My sample is pretty much flash free
with only a little along the waterline. Surface detail is abundant
and the shape looks pretty good to me. I'm not a big fan of molded on anchor
chain, but you can tell real chain was used on the master and this looks
pretty good. |
click images
to enlarge
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| SUPERSTRUCTURE |
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| The superstructure parts are cast on a thin resin wafer. These appear
to be new parts designed using new rapid prototyping methods. The shapes
look good and features such as splinter shields are pretty thin. There
is a lack of detailing for the vertical surfaces though, so you might want
to add some hatches and drill a few port holes here and there. The funnels
are nicely shaped and hollowed out a bit for a more realistic appearance. |
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| WEAPONS |
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| The main and secondary guns are cast in resin. The main guns look nice
and have that distinctive flat turret face that the later New Orleans class
had. There is a lot of flash under the sighting hoods that will need a
bit of cleanup. But the shape looks correct. |
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| The 5" 25 cal gun bases look pretty good with a simulated
diamond tread plate design on the base. There should have a yoke to hold
the gun though. Instead it is set up like the old Skywave open 5" mounts
but with a lower more correct profile.
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| DIRECTORS AND CRANES |
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| The crane bases and directors are cast in resin. They appear
to have the proper shape and a minimum of flash. Flag bags are also included.
The gun directors look good with nice hatch details and only a touch of
flash. |
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| WEAPONS SPRUE |
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| This kit features the MidShip standard weapons sprue to supply the
small weapons and fittings. The rafts are molded in two styles and are
both nicely done. This will supply the small weapons as well
as give you a bunch of extra spare parts you can use for other projects. |
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| METAL PARTS |
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| The SOC float plane and ships anchors are cast in metal. The float
planes will need a little cleanup to remove the little gates. |
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| PHOTO ETCH |
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| A photo etch fret supplies all the railings, searchlight platforms,
and cranes. This is based on the 1/350 Yankee Modelworks (ex-Classic Warships)
New Orleans class photo etch and it is a great bonus for this kit. It includes
nice boat and aircraft cranes, and catapults. Even some nice sky lookouts
that you don't normally see in 700 scale. |
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| The railings include bow rails that angle upwards.
The searchlight platform is nice, but not correct for this ship. You will
have to cut it down like it was on the real ship.
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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 very sharp. |
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| INSTRUCTIONS |
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| The instructions are seven pages with a bill of materials,
subassembly views and exploded views. Pretty good overall, but it would
be nice if some of the finer points of assembly were explained. There is
nothing to show you how much of the photo etch is put together.
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| PACKAGING |
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| A quick note about packaging. I love the way these kits are boxed and
packed. They come in a sturdy cardboard box that fits nicely on the shelf
(for us kit collectors). The parts are shrink-wrapped onto a cardboard
insert so they should be able to survive the abused of mailing. A nice
touch for these ships. |
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| CONCLUSIONS |
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It's nice to see Midship
upgrading the old Classic Warships line. This kit was very nice when it
first hit the market over 10 years ago, it's better now. It's nice to know
that even with the addition of the photo etch fret, new decals, and the
extra weapons set, it is still only $70 retail. You can get yours now from
Pacific Front
and Freetime
Hobbies. |
