The USS Ramsey had her keel laid on 4 February 1963 as a Destroyer Escort, designated originally as DEG -2. As the second keel of the Brooke (DEG 1) class of destroyer escort she carried armament of one 5” gun and an ASROC Launcher forward of the bridge. On her aft deck was a Tartar missile launcher, with two torpedo launchers both port and starboard amidships. Also carried was one Seasprite Helo for anti-submarine duty. She spent time on Yankee Station off the coast of Viet Nam, then finished her career designated FFG 2 on 1 September 1988 when decommissioned. Stricken from Navy lists in January 1992, she was later sunk as a target on 15 June 2000.

The Kit

Originally issued by Monogram Models around 1970, this kit is pure nostalgia for a certain segment of the modeling community. I never built this model back in the day as I had already put the hobby on hold for real life and missed its release. The kit has been resurrected by our good friends at Atlantis Models and consists of 56 parts injected molded in light gray plastic. Also included are a base for the model, instructions and a small decal sheet. Molded in the “fit the box” size of 1/311 scale. Ramsey is identical in almost every way to the Brooke (Atlantis kit M8295) also marketed by Atlantis. The box art on each release is slightly different to reflect the ships’ identity, and it appears the only real difference between the two is the markings on the decal sheet!!

The kit contains moveable features that render the model fairly toy-like. When the forward 5” turret is rotated the forward gun director moves along with it by means of a linkage between the shafts of the two features. The Aft Tartar guided missile launcher and the aft radar antennae also function the same way. I didn’t build this feature in my build and fixed each part in place.

The overall shape of the model is pretty good, considering the age of the molds. Construction went smoothly and simple techniques produced a nice representation of this class of DE. There are a good number of mold release marks on the parts, typical of models from this time period. There was an amount of flash and mold seams to deal with but the clean up of all parts went quickly using a hobby knife, files, sandpaper and sanding sticks.

As this build was for review, I didn’t do anything other than build the model from the box. Of itself, the general shape of the kit is good compared to photos I found online. The photos are also handy when it comes to painting. I added some color to the UH-2A Seasprite helo posed on the aft flight deck with a yellow stripe along with a few national insignia from a sheet of 1/350 ship markings. For me the hardest part of the build was to not add extras such as railings, flight deck marking, rigging and a few flags to add some extra color. As I mentioned, I have the Brooke in my stash, and this one is sure to get some additional detailing treatment!!

The instruction sheet contains six construction steps which proceed in a logical sequence. Paint call outs are featured in proximity of step 1 on the page and are easy to follow. A weakness of the kit is the sparse decal sheet. Hull numbers and Ramsey for the stern are the only decals included for the hull and a larger name for the base. No decals for the Seasprite or flight deck areas are included. I understand these were not contained in the original offering and contain only basic hull numbers and stern text.

This kit would be an excellent choice for a young beginner or someone restarting in the hobby. It's an easy build and has decent detailing for a kit of this age while leaving room for a more experienced builder who wants to add more detailing.

The paint scheme is easy to follow, consisting of hull red, a black boot stripe, Haze Gray and deck gray. The most time I spent on any segment of the build was masking the decks before painting the vertical surfaces. Eight hours of applying the masking, 40 minutes of actual airbrushing, then ten minutes to remove it all!! All the masking was worth it though and there were very few touch ups needed.

I used Squadron Scale Colors throughout. I fabricated the wood base from a scrap piece of Poplar stained with two coats of lacquer finish. It’s a fun, easy build that I enjoyed tremendously. The completed model is a nice addition to my collection of warships, and I will recommend it to any level of modeler, as it offers something for every skill level from beginner to expert. You’ll find this a worthy kit to fill a hole in your bathtub fleet!! .

My thanks to Atlantis Models and IPMS/USA for supplying this sample for review.