| The Essex class was the US Navy's standard
heavy carrier. These ships were built in large numbers to help replace
the loses suffered by earlier carriers. It is only fitting that the second
Essex would be named after CV-5 the USS Yorktown lost in the battle of
Midway. This new ship would carry the battle home to the Japanese and help
win the war in the Pacific.
Trumpeter first released the
Ticonderoga in 1/350 scale, so it only seems logical that they scale
that version down to the Divine 700 Scale. This USS Essex follows
hot on the heals of the Essex,
Yorktown, and
Franklin have
been released at the same time and are for the most part the same kit with
some minor exceptions noted below. |
|
|
| HULL PARTS |
|
| This kit is designed much like it's larger cousin, with
a waterline or full hull option molded in red plastic. The hull is cleanly
molded with the short hull bow all as one piece. The majority of the hull
above the hanger deck is left as a separate part. This will allow for many
more Essex class versions to be done. This hull is a what is commonly called
a long hull Essex class. The bow has a distinctly different shape as can
be seen on the hull and deck insert for the bow. |
Click images
to enlarge |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Long Hull
< Short Hull >
comparison |
 |
The photo's above show the USS
Essex and the USS Ticonderoga hull's compared. |
|
|
| FLIGHT DECK |
|
| The flight deck is molded as a single piece with lots of surface
detail. The flight deck insert includes a staggered twin catapult typical
of the later Essex class. |
 |
| Aircraft tie downs and planking is pretty good. The elevators
are molded open so you can position them full up, down, or any point in
between. The bow section includes two catapults, with one set back a little.
The bow fits pretty good and the seam should be a lot easier to hide.
|
| HANGER DECK |
|
| A full open hanger deck is included in this kit. The hanger deck is
done as one main sections with a separate bow insert. The deck has steel
plate detailing and nice surface detailing. The Essex class had a lot of
roll up hanger doors so there is a lot of detailing possibilities here.
The bow deck has anchor ways without the anchor chain molded on. This will
allow you to use real chain without having to scrape off the molded on
chain. |
 |
|
|
| SPRUE A |
|
| The first sprue mostly includes hanger deck walls. These are well molded
and even the roll up doors are detailed on the inside. |
 |
|
|
| SPRUE B |
|
| More walls and other parts on sprue B. There are plenty of separate
doors that you can place in the openings if you chose. |
 |
|
|
| SPRUE C |
|
| This sprue has the gun tubs for the open 5" guns and many other platforms.
The elevators have the same nice deck detailing as the flight deck. |
 |
|
|
| SPRUE D |
|
| The bridge platforms and funnel sides are among the parts on this sprue.
The splinter shields are pretty thin for plastic. |
 |
|
|
| SPRUE F |
|
| These are the main island parts. Like the other parts in this kit,
the walls have hatch and plumbing detail molded on. Ladders are molded
on and nice enough that most modelers will not wish to replace them with
Photo etch. |
 |
|
|
| SPRUE G |
|
| This is the main weapons sprue and there are two of them in the kit,
so you will have a few extra parts for the spares box. The 20 mm
guns are pretty nice, but no shields are included for them. They do have
a flat molded on where the shield attaches so it should be easy to attach
the photo etch. But most photo etch shields that I have seen have too narrow
a slow to fit easily. But I'm sure someone will step up to the plate and
offer an aftermarket set soon. The 40 mm gun mounts and the 5" gun mounts
are well done and composed of several separate parts. This allows you to
pose them at any firing angle, and gives you more superdetailing options
and is pretty amazing for this scale. |
 |
|
|
| SPRUE H |
|
| This sprue is unique to the Ticonderoga and includes some parts that
are specific to that ship including properly shaped gun tubs and bridge
platforms. |
 |
|
|
| DISPLAY BASE |
|
| Not only do you get an option to build the ship full hull
or waterline, but you get the option to display it either way also. A full
hull base is molded in black to set your ship on. A nameplate is with the
ships name and hull number embossed on it. If you wish to display it in
the waterline mode, a nice clear base is provided with a nice wave and
wake pattern.
|
| AIRCRAFT |
|
 |
| The aircraft in this kit are molded in clear plastic so
you don't have to worry about painting the canopy to simulate a transparent
color. Simply mask off the canopy and paint the rest of the aircraft. These
aircraft also benefit from the CAD technology. These are molded
with separate propellers and landing gear. Panel lines are recessed and
the lines of the aircraft look pretty accurate for this scale. There are
four of each in the kit, but they are also available separately if you
want to add more. The Ticonderoga comes with three types of aircraft as
the Corsair wasn't available when she was commissioned and the SBD Dauntless
was being phased out. |
| F6F Hellcat Fighter (x 4) |
 |
|
|
| SB2C Helldiver Dive Bomber (x 4) |
 |
|
|
| TBF Avenger Torpedo Bomber (x 4) |
 |
|
|
| DECALS |
|
| The decals are pretty good, with deck markings and and plenty of markings
for the aircraft. Deck stripe markings are provided as white dashed lines.
The elevator markings are done in black and the elevator opening stripes
are done in white.
The decals are sharply rendered and you wont have to replace these. |
 |
|
|
| INSTRUCTIONS |
|
| A 16 page instruction booklet is included to guide you through a step
by step assembly process. The parts are all called out and placement is
well illustrated throughout.
A nice B sized color sheet is included with MS 32 6-10d
markings for the ship and aircraft. Paint colors are called out as well. |
 |
|
|
| REFERENCE AND LINKS |
|
|
|
 |
| Conclusions: |
|
This is kit #TSM-5736 1/700 USS Ticonderoga CV-14 Aircraft Carrier
with a suggested list price of only $29.95. A great price for a carrier
as nicely detailed as this. 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. |
