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| The USS Enterprise, the seventh ship to bear the name was
a Yorktown class carrier commissioned May 12, 1938. Arguably the
most famous ship of world war two, certainly the most decorated with 20
battle stars earned during the war. The Enterprise was at sea on
December 7 when the Japanese struck Pearl Harbor. Three days later
her aircraft sank the Japanese submarine I-70. Shortly after, Enterprise
and ships of Task Force 8 raided Kwajalein, Wotje, and Maloelap in the
Marshall Islands. She participated in several raids across the central
Pacific before returning to Pearl Harbor. She joined her sister ship
USS Hornet escorting her on the Doolittle raid. Enterprise was on
our way to join the battle of the Coral Sea, however she arrived too late
to participate. She was ready when the Japanese attempted to attack
Midway island and with sisters Yorktown and Hornet met the Japanese head
on. While the Yorktown was lost the Japanese lost four fleet carriers
in the battle and were forced to abandon their plans to invade Midway.
The big E as she was affectionately called, wasn't done yet. She
sailed for the south west Pacific helping to hold the line at Guadalcanal.
She was at times the only carrier operating in the Pacific in spite of
being reported sunk on many occasions. Enterprise went on to fight
in almost every major battle of the Pacific war. After the war she
participated in magic carpet operations bringing troops back to the states.
She was decommissioned in February of 1947 and eventually scrapped.
A sad ending for great ship.
This new kit by Academy depicts the Enterprise in her 1942 appearance
during the Midway battle.
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| UPPER AND LOWER HULL |
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| The hull is molded in two pieces, the upper hull molded
in gray styrene, and the lower hull molded in red. The kit is well
engineered and the upper and lower hulls fit together remarkably well with
barely any evidence of a seam. There is plenty of surface detail, but the
best part is the shape of the hull, it looks to be very accurate! Degaussing
cables are molded on and appear to be correctly placed. I will leave it
to the experts to nit pick the details, but this hull closely matches my
drawings of the ship. |
Click to
enlarge image |
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| One side of the lower bow requires an insert to allow for
proper molding of the thin section without sink marks.
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| MAIN AND FLIGHT AND DECK |
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| The flight deck is molded as a single part with open fore and aft elevators.
Deck planking and tie down strips that really stand out are well done and
accurate in size and quantity. The splinter shields for the 1.1" guns are
a little thick and short for my taste, but of the proper size and shape.
The hanger deck is molded in two parts with recessed panel lines and the
outline of the midsection walls, though I don't see the actual walls included
in the kit. I doubt this will be a problem as you can't see that area once
the kit is assembled anyway. |
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| SPRUE B |
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| The island superstructure is of the correct width and is slide molded
to allow for a better part. I like the way the rear stairway platforms
are molded on. Locator tabs on most parts will assist in proper placement. |
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| SPRUE C |
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| The propellor shafts, propellors and rudder are all molded in red to
match the lower hull. |
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| SPRUE D (x4) |
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| Four of these sprues are included with weapons and aircraft. 5" 38
cal open mounts are molded as a single part, as are the 1.1" and 20 mm
guns. Detailing is a little soft, but shapes appear accurate. There are
plenty of aftermarket upgrades out there for those who need more detail.
Extra flight deck elevators are included in case you want to cut out the
third deck elevator. |
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Three types of aircraft are included, 8 of each: F4F Wildcats fighters,
SBD Dauntless dive bombers, & TBD Devastator torpedo bombers. They
are molded all as one part with molded on props and landing gear posts. |
| SPRUE E |
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| Island platforms, boat and aircraft cranes, and hanger deck walls are
well molded on this sprue. The roll up hanger deck doors are all in their
closed position. |
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| SPRUE F |
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| More hanger deck walls, the funnel,. and various platforms are
nicely molded here. I do have one complaint here though, I don't like seeing
details such as searchlights molded on. These should be separate parts
in my opinion, though I know some of you will disagree. |
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| STAND (E) |
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| The display stand is molded in black with a spot for the name plate
decal. |
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| PHOTO ETCH |
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| A dedicated photo its fret is included to add finer details.
New handrails are custom cut to fit the various superstructure parts.
New radar and various antenna are also included. |
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| PAINTING MASK |
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| One of the cool features of this kit is the precut painting mask for
the deck. The image doesn't show very well but the mask is cut to
fit the various deck details and all one has to do is peel and stick them
in place. This nice touch will save the modeler a lot of time. |
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| DECALS |
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| The decals are provided with aircraft roundels of various sizes, deck
stripes, and elevator outlines. All are well registered and sharp. |
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| INSTRUCTIONS |
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| The instructions are 18 pages with very well drawn assembly
and subassembly views. Separate full color try fold sheets describe
the painting mask locations and the photo etch assembly and placement.
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| BUILDUP |
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 To
see what is possible with this kit, check out Won-hui Lee's build of this
kit. His kit was built mostly out-of-the-box! |
| CONCLUSION |
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 I'm
very pleased to see this new kit from Academy. Especially with what
appears to be the most accurate Yorktown class carrier in size and shape
in this scale. While some of the parts are greatly simplified this modelers
addition can be a great kit right out of the box or serve as a platform
for a super detailed masterpiece. I certainly hope Academy will do
other versions of the ship soon. |
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This is kit number 14224 1/700 USS Enterprise CV-6 with a list price of
only $49.00. It should be in stock now with your favorite hobby shop.
Thanks to MRC
/ Academy for the review sample. |
