Background

The Littoral Combat Ship is the Navy’s latest controversial shipbuilding program. What was originally designed to be a winner-take-all competition is now a ship construction program with two distinct classes. The LCS-1 USS Freedom Class is a more traditionally designed mono-hull, while the LCS-2 USS Independence Class is the trimaran hull form. Those of us with longer memories remember how controversial the Spruance and Oliver Hazard Perry classes were when they were under construction and during their early service – both were designed to be manned with smaller crews and the ships were delivered before their major weapons systems were ready: Harpoon, Sea Sparrow, SLQ-32, CIWS, and LAMPS Mk III. The LCS program is in a similar position; the hulls are delivered with small crews and without the mission modules, which are lagging the hull production. Many observers question the viability of the program.

Well, the Black Swan has set sail! In the process, I’ve developed a new appreciation for all those shipwrights out there, especially those who build from scratch! But I digress; in this final installment ,we’ll cover steps 37 to 61.

This set of finely turned stainless steel gun barrels for early U.S. Navy 8” gunned cruisers and carriers is the latest in a long line of superb replacement parts for 1/350 naval vessels. Each of the open-ended barrels is slightly tapered with very finely defined segmentations. The short stubs at the end of the barrel allows for easy insertion into the kit’s turret or blast bag. The accompanying comparison photos show the Master metal barrels next to the 8”gun kit parts from the Trumpeter Saratoga. The Master barrels are noticeably longer and, no doubt, more accurate than the kit parts.

Model Art No. 44 is devoted to Super Dreadnoughts – battleships from the beginning (HMS Dreadnought in 1907) to the US Navy’s Iowa class (the last operational dreadnought). As usual, in this issue there is extensive historical information along with kit builds of examples. The magazine itself is A4 size – somewhat longer and less wide than standard US 8.5 x 11 inches. There is a centerfold with the full-sized cover art of the Yamato firing a full broadside and Tamiya’s 1/350 Yamato model.

The coverage starts with a 14-page pictorial on Zvezda’s 1/350 HMS Dreadnought, the battleship that lended its name to describe the world’s most powerful weapon at that time. A beautiful kit, with pages of how to build the kit.

Next up is the ultimate Super Dreadnought – Tamiya’s 1/350 IJN Yamato. 20 pages showing details on building the kit (in late 1944 fit). Again, a beautifully built model.

The kit subject addresses a generally under-represented set of modern USN aircraft carrier details. While there is an abundance of aftermarket aircraft available for 1:350 carriers, with the exception of some resin offerings there is very little available for the ubiquitous utility vehicles that populate carrier decks. This under-representation has been lessened by MRC with the release of a carrier deck equipment kit.

Packaging and Contents

Everything is in a double-blister pack with the interior blister pack designed as a tray to hold the sprues. For me, this interior pack or tray served well as a corral for very small parts. Two identical sprues are provided in the kit. All parts are crisply molded in light gray plastic. The sprue frames are formed nicely to provide protection for the delicate one-piece fork lift cages. The assembly instructions and painting guides are part of the cardboard packaging. No decal sheet is included.