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The
Orange Hobby USS Harpers Ferry
This 1:350 multi media model of the USS Harpers
Ferry LSD-49 is one of the latest in resin kits by Orange Hobby, in their
"Blue Series". Harpers Ferry is packaged in a sturdy cardboard box.
Inside is a multi-part hull, photo-etch, decals, instructions, a stand
and numerous resin "sprues" in smaller box, which is where you'll find
the majority of the kit parts. |
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| THE UPPER HULL |
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| There are three large sections that
make up the hull: upper hull, lower hull and interior/well deck.
The upper portion has many detail cast onto it and they are very cleanly
done with the only exception of the anchor chain and molded on vertical
ladders. The ladders are clean but I think most of us would rather use
PE on a kit of this size. Upon turning the upper hull upside down you will
see the well deck details such as the overhead beams and the rubber padding
on the bulkheads which act as bumpers for all craft entering or departing
the well deck. It is represented in good detail as well.
The hull measures to 20.75" or 20 3/4" which come
up a tad shy in scale at 605 ft verse 610 on the full size. The width is
dead on to size. I wouldn't hold that tiny shortage of length against them.
I did find a small corner of the aft starboard side flight deck has a chipped
piece that is missing, and was not in the box, or stuck in the bubble rap.
It won't be hard to repair. This piece missing piece area is .625 long
X .125 wide or 5/8" X 1/8". |
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| THE
UPPER HULL - SPECIAL NOTE |
| After looking over the four ships
in the class I noticed they all have a small section under the flight deck,
all the way aft, on both sides of the hull that is open to the interior
of the well deck. The kit does not have this opening but rather that area
is closed off from the inside of the well deck. However it can be opened
with a Dremel or another drill type tool and some small files. I believe
this area was left enclosed on the kit to make the hull removal from the
mold possible. |
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| THE
WELL DECK |
| The Well Deck hull section has all
the deck detail molded in, such as all tie down areas, raised ridges on
ramp and more tie downs up forward. There are four uptake blocks cast to
the upper deck. The bow area has another small ramp that ends at the forward
most bulkhead. This section is keyed like a puzzle and drops right into
the upper hull once you remove the over pour risers. |
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| THE
LOWER HULL |
| The Lower Hull section is cast as
one piece. The lower bow of this class of LSD has a large bulb. Orange
Hobby cast the bulb as a seperate piece which makes it easier to remove
the hull from the mold and also to preserves the life of the mold. It has
the locating slots for the bilge keels and holes for the shafts, struts
and rudders. Overall it is a nice casting but I did find mine to have a
hog in it running the length of the hull with a slight twist at the stern.
Nothing a few minutes in the oven won't fix. That's is a whole other story. |
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| SPRUE
A |
| There
are five separate sprues for the letter A. Two of them have one bilge keel
each and numbered so the correct bilge keel goes on the proper side of
the hull. One is the LCAC hull and three others have the two "RAM"
launchers and their bases. The others have miscellaneous lockers and cabinets. |
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| SPRUE
B |
| These two hold
the tailgate for the ship which has all correct details molded in both
inside and out. There is a slight warp in that part. This sprue has
one of the stack caps, main mast platform, RHI boat and the two side davits
for said boat. Also the top mast of the main mast assembly. |
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| SPRUE
C |
| This sprue
has the RHI cradles, one anchor, sps 40 radar base and some small mast
platforms. |
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| SPRUE
D |
| There is
three sprues lettered "D". The two propeller shafts on one, Another has
the two rudders, propellers and bulbous bow for the lower hull. The third
sprue has the tailgate rest / bumper and O2 cylinders. |
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| SPRUE
E |
| Here we have
the crane boom and part of the boom rest. The other stack upper section
and the top of the crane post. |
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| SPRUE
F |
| This one
sprue has an assortment of radar domes, two flag bags and the OE-82 sattlelight
dishes. Some of the domes have a long pole base that is cast very clean
along with the small gusset supports under the dome, nice details. |
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| SPRUE
G |
| Sprue
G consist of very few parts. Mostly small mast platforms and one radar. |
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| SPRUE
H |
| One sprue
has the bridge wings and CIWS launcher with it's base, also the other ships
anchor is on this one. The other "H" sprue has the second CIWS, capstans
and chaff launchers. |
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| SPRUE
I |
| This
is a very small sprue with only seven parts. Four being the shaft struts.
One boat platform and a CIWS base with radar. |
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| SPRUE
J |
| Here
we have parts for the LCAC, both sides and fan units. Another sprue has
the M1A1 MBT parts. Note, The turret for the M1A1 has a brass barrel cast
into the resin turret. Nice touch there. Usually parts like barrels very
easily break off or already come broken before one gets to look things
over. The two main stack bodies are in J as is the boat davit center spreader
bar. Pri-fly part and the crane's main body. There are 48 inflatable life
raft canisters on sprue J. The side parts and duct fans are
included here as well. |
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| LASER
CUT WOOD PARTS |
| Six
laser cut parts are provided, to build a stand for your model. Simple to
assemble but it is what it is, nothing of beauty. |
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| DECALS |
| The ships decals will cover everything
for one ship. Unfortunately they only provide for the Hapers Ferry and
not either of her three sister ships. It wouldn't be hard to change to
a sister. you would need small letters for the name on either side aft
and hull numbers from 50-52. The decal for the flight deck is a dry transfer
that will need care when applying. |
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| PHOTOETCH |
| There is eight separate photo-etch
sheets in this kit. four of them being very comprehensive and covering
just about everything one could ask for in a good quality kit. Enough watertight
doors are included for either open or closed position. Railing for all
decks, all levels and platforms are included. There is relief etching on
all sheets. They even supply the well deck catwalk platform railings. All
radar screens and mast platform supports along with inclined ladders of
all sizes for every deck. Upon reviewing the photo-etch i can't find anything
that has been left out. Each part is numbered so there is no question what
goes where. All sheet are packed well and nothing is bent or broken. |
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| TURNED BRASS
PARTS |
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| There is
a small bag containing four turned brass antenna and one piece of styrene
rod. |
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| INSTRUCTIONS |
| There are seven pages, two sided sheets of directions.
A resin parts page showing all parts laid out. All sprues are on this sheets
with each part numbered. They could have laid them out in a better alphabetical
order but I think their reason to do the way they did was to fit them all
on one page. Most of the directions are drawn in 3D very clearly and the
resin parts have their numbers next to a small box lightly shaded with
RE printed in the box.
The photo-etch parts have the same style label
but with a black shaded box and white PE printed in that box. The
lead sheet has the legend on it showing weather to drill, bend, glue, no
glue etc etc... The last sheet just as most kits provide is the layout
for painting and decal location.. |
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| CONCLUSIONS |
After reviewing everything
in the box and going over all parts looking for detail , breakage, warp
and under pour, I must say that Orange Hobby did a first class job with
this one. Yes it has few hiccups but nothing drastic or unusable. The overall
quality is very good for the price it is offered. If you had to purchase
an aftermarket photo-etch set this complex, it would cost as much as the
kit alone.
There are no perfect kits anywhere offered by
any maker. However, after building many resin kits, from very expensive
to the least expensive, I would have to rate this in my opinion a 8+ on
a scale 1-10 and 10 being best. Broken flight deck corner, molded on vertical
ladders, a little warpage in the lower hull and poorly molded on anchor
chain has given it a 8+ rating but don't let that stop you from purchasing
this kit. If you like the modern U.S.Navy and are interested in amphib
type, then this kit is for you. I highly recommend this kit.
This is Orange Hobby's 1/350 USS Harpers Ferry,
kit number NO3-124. The model lists for $299.99 and is available from many
of our sponsors. This is only an in-box review. Thanks to Orange
Hobby for the review sample. |
