The USS Hornet, CV-8, was laid down in September
1939 the third member of the Yorktown class. She was commissioned
in October 1941 and spent the next six months working up in the Atlantic.
Her first combat mission was carried out on April 18, 1942 when she launched
a B-25 Bomber raid on Tokyo. It was more of a symbolic attack as the amount
of damage was minimal. But the psychological value of the attack was great
and it showed that America was willing to take the war to the Japan.
The Hornet also participated at the battle of Midway with her
two sisters, the USS Yorktown CV-5, and the USS Enterprise CV-6.
She was later sunk at the Battle of Santa Cruz on 27 October 1942. Fatally
damaged by four bombs and sixteen torpedoes, the last from US Destroyers
who sunk her to prevent her from falling into Japanese Navy hands.
For many years now, modelers have had choices in Hornet kits. The Tamiya
Yorktown
Class Carrier Enterprise
and Hornet, both pretty good kits when introduced in 1980 fall short
of today's molding standards. Enter Trumpeter of China with yet another
new kit for 700 scale modelers. The ship is portrayed at the time of the
Doolittle raid on Japan. |
|
|
| HULL PARTS |
|
| The hull is one piece molded in the waterline style. A
separate flat waterline base and full lower hull are molded in red plastic.
The hull has numerous portholes molded open with rain gutters. The hanger
sides are left off and are included on the sprues B and C shown below. |
Click images
to enlarge |
 |
|
|
| Since this kit was scaled down from the 350 scale version,
it has inherited the bow error found in he larger kit. The bow is too blunt
and lacks the proper curvature found on the real ship. You can see this
difference in the side by side caparison with the Tamya hull on the right.
The second image shows the Tamiya waterline laid over the Trumpeter one.
It should be noted that while the Tamiya kit has the correct shape, it
is dramatically under scale. This difference is not as noticeable if you
build the ship in the waterline style. |
 |
 |
|
|
| FLIGHT DECK |
|
| The flight deck is one piece with nice wood planking and surface detail.
The deck elevator openings are molded in the open so you can show the elevators
raised or lowered. |
 |
|
|
| HANGER DECK |
|
| The hanger deck is a single piece that fits nicely into the molded
hull. |
 |
|
|
| SPRUE A |
|
| This sprue has the bow deck insert, and various gun tubs for the 5"
anti aircraft guns. The elevators have the same nice detail found on the
deck. |
 |
|
|
| SPRUE B |
|
| Many of the hanger walls are found on this sprue. They feature open
doors so you can show off the interior of your ship. This is a big plus
as you wont have to cut these out yourself. The gun tubs that mount under
the flight deck edges have nice thin walls. |
 |
|
|
| SPRUE C |
|
| More hanger walls are included with nice open portholes and conduit
detailing on the surface. Separate hanger doors are also included in case
you want to show yours closed. |
 |
|
|
| SPRUE D |
|
| The superstructure parts are featured on this sprue. There is plenty
of surface detailing is present. Even the funnel top with it's molded in
grill guards are very well done. Overall I am very impressed with these
details. |
 |
|
|
| SPRUE E |
|
| There of two of these sprues with mostly weapons on it. The 20 mm guns
are the best plastic ones I have seen in this scale even if they are lacking
shields. Most modelers would likely have replaced them with photo etch
anyway. The 5" gun mounts cam out very well as did the ships boats with
separate decks. |
 |
|
|
| DISPLAY BASE OPTIONS |
|
| Besides just giving you a full hull and waterline option. You get a
base and nameplate for full hull display. But the real plus is the inclusion
of a waterline base molded in a blue translucent color. This base has a
moderate wake around the ships outline. The base sits about 3/4" tall,
but I am thinking about cutting the sides off and mounting mine to a flat
wood base. |
 |
|
|
| AIRCRAFT |
|
 |
| The aircraft in this kit are sharply molded in clear plastic
with separate landing gear and propellers. Panel lines are recessed
and the lines of the aircraft look pretty accurate for this scale. These
aircraft sets are also available separately if you need more. |
| B-25 Bomber (x 8 sprues) |
 |
|
|
| F4f Hellcat Fighter (x 4 sprues) |
 |
|
|
| TBD Devastator Torpedo Bomber (x 4 sprues) |
 |
|
|
| SBD Dauntless Dive Bomber (x 4 sprues) |
 |
|
|
| DECALS |
|
| A decal sheet is included with aircraft markings. The early war markings
are included in two type; white stars on a blue background, and the same
with the red circle in the center. The latter was quickly phased out to
avoid misidentification with red markings on Japanese aircraft. Even the
take off stipes for the B-25's are included on the sheet. |
 |
|
|
| INSTRUCTIONS |
|
| A sixteen page instruction booklet describe the assembly in great detail
with a variety of sub assembly views. These instructions are very well
done and should provide all the information that is needed to build this
ship. For painting, a color plan and profile sheet is included also showing
the aircraft. Decal location is called out as are the colors used to paint
all the parts. |
 |
|
|
| LINKS AND REFERENCE |
|
|
|
 |
| CONCLUSIONS |
|
 Yet
another impressive kit from Trumpeter. I'm glad to see subjects done in
1/350 scale scaled down to 1/700. I do however wish that the researcher
who supplied the drawings has alerted Trumpeter about the well published
error in the 1/350 scale kit before this one hit the market with those
same flaws. Now it is probably too late to change. I still think that even
with this error, that the kit will be a favorite among ship modelers who
will enjoy the open hanger deck and sharp detailing. After all the larger
1/350 version of this kit built by Kelly Quirk won Best Ship at the 2003
Nationals without any bow corrections.
This is kit #TSM-5727 1/700 USS Hornet CV8 US Aircraft Carrier
with a list price of $29.95 US. A great price for a large well detailed
kit of this important ship.
Thanks to Stevens
International for the review sample. They are the exclusive importer
for Trumpeter kits in the US. If your hobby shop does not carry Trumpeter
kits have them contact Stevens
International or try their Hobby Shop Locator to find one. |
