History

USS Yorktown, a 19,800 ton aircraft carrier built at Newport News, Virginia, was commissioned on 30 September 1937. Operating in the Atlantic and Caribbean areas until April 1939.

The U.S.S. Yorktown was among the first "true" aircraft carriers ever built. During the Battle of Midway, the Yorktown scored a decisive victory against the Japanese, with the help of the U.S.S. Enterprise and the U.S.S. Hornet. For the heroic sacrifices made by her soldiers in this battle, the Yorktown earned three battle stars. Kit features highly detailed hangar and flight decks with optional-position deck elevators and cranes, twenty Douglas SBD dive bombers, a display stand and official U.S. Navy marking decals.

The “Parts”

Eduard is known for supplying kits and hobby supplies of superior quality and excellent engineering and the EX330 Canopy Mask for the La-5 is no exception. The mask is a 2x2 inch square, with the mask components pre-cut to fit the canopy of the Zvezda La-5, kit # 4803.

Assembly

The instructions that accompany the mask are easy to use and clearly identify the location where each of the individual masks will be used. The masks are easy to remove from the backing sheet. Simply insert the tip of a blade under each mask piece, gently pull it up and off the backing sheet, and then attach it as per the mask instructions. Once the mask piece is in the correct location applying gentle pressure will ensure a good seal between the mask and the kit part. Send a little extra time burnishing the mask edges down to prevent any paint-creep under the masking material.

The PBY-5A Catalina is a well-known piece of US Naval aviation. The modeler has Catalina options in 1/48^th, 1/72^nd, and 1/144^th. For the 1/144^th modelers out there or those that do not have the shelf space for the 48^th Monogram kit, the Minicraft kit will fit the bill nicely. This is Minicraft’s third boxing of the PBY-5. The box contains the same plastic but contains two decal options.

Upon opening the box, two light gray sprues, one clear sprue, decal sheet printed by Cartograf of Italy, and instructions greet the modeler. There is some flash on some of the parts but nothing too bad. The engraving on the parts is nicely done with the exception of the main wing. The engraving of the main wing is a little soft, especially compared to the rest of the kit. However, after painting, it does not look bad at all. The clear parts look well molded and clear.