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The Franklin D. Roosevelt was on of three Midway
Class Carriers. Completed after the war, these were the largest warships
built at the time. With armored decks and plenty of anti aircraft guns
ringing the flight deck, these carriers were the ultimate aircraft carrier
designs. The FDR was active in the Atlantic and Mediterranean during the
late 40's and early 50's. In 1954 the FDR underwent a SCB-110 modernization
that gave her a hurricane bow and angled flight deck. These modernization's
would keep this carrier active for the next 20 years. It is in this later
configuration that HP Models has depicted the ship.
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| HULL PARTS |
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| The hull is one piece molded in the waterline style. A
complete hanger deck is included to store your air wing. The detail is
pretty good and the structures are sharp and well defined. During the 50's
the ships retained her 5" gun mounts and there are plenty of gun tubs ringing
the deck. The hanger doors are cast closed and you will have to cut them
out yourself if you want to model them open. |
Click images
to enlarge |
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Overall the casting on this part is very good, and you will have very little
to clean up on this casting. |
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| FLIGHT DECK |
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| The flight deck is one piece with pretty good detail. The
deck is cast with a slight over pour that will need a bit of sanding. The
forward elevator will also have to be opened up as there is a thin layer
of flash covering it. Some of the platforms around the flight deck had
some breakage, but nothing major that can't be fixed. |
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| ISLAND SUPERSTRUCTURE PARTS |
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| The Island is broken up into several sections to allow for more detail
to be cast on. The casting is pretty good and only some minor sanding will
be needed. The radar masts have a thin film of flash at the parting line,
but this too will be minor cleanup. |
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It should be noted to those who are new to resin ships that the thin resin
film or flash is not a sign of a bad casting. This film helps to protect
the fine details lets the mold fill out completely. You can trim
it away with a sharp hobby knife. |
| WEAPONS AND FITTINGS |
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| The small parts are cast on a thin resin wafer. The detail looks pretty
good, but these parts will need a little more work to separate from the
resin over pour. |
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| AIRCRAFT |
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| Two different types of aircraft are included. They are
the Douglas A-3d Skywarrior (x 4) and the McDonnell F-3 Demon (x 6). These
are well cast with nice surface detail and in the case of the Skywarrior,
separate engines, and landing gear. The FDR did operate other aircraft,
but those are available in the various aircraft sets. I am glad to see
these rare aircraft included in the kit.
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| DECALS |
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| A decal sheet is included with typical US Navy flags printed on paper.
These are pretty good, but it would have been nice to have some flight
deck markings and aircraft decals.
There is no photo etch with this kit. |
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| INSTRUCTIONS |
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| An eight page set of instructions includes plan and elevation
drawings, and exploded assembly views. There are also two sheets that have
some nice aircraft drawings that are greatly appreciated. |
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| CONCLUSIONS |
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Finally an angled deck modern carrier for your cold war fleet. This is
the first one offered of the Midway class carrier in 1/700 scale. The kit
is pretty well cast and appears to match the style of the FDR well. You
will have to purchase a separate photo etch set for the radar's. I wish
these had been included in the kit, but I am still happy to see a modern
Midway on the market.
Pacific Front has this kit listed as ."US Navy Aircraft Carrier Franklin
D. Roosevelt (1957, w/Angled Deck) RE-STOCK.195.00" in their latest update.
It has proved to be a popular item and I suspect now that you have seen
it, you too will be wanting one for your cold war fleet. Grab yours today
before they go out of stock again. To see what this kit can become refer
to Christoph Mentzel 's buildup review
of this ship. |
