As a little something different, I am going to begin this review with a story relating to my introduction to the USS Independence LCS-2. Over Thanksgiving week in 2010, my family and I were traveling to Virginia Beach to spend the holiday with my in-laws (no jokes here, they really are great people). When we first arrived in the Hampton Roads area, we stopped at my favorite hobby shop in the country, at least of all the ones that I have been in. There on the end of an aisle was a brand new release from Trumpeter of the USS Independence (kit 04548), a new littoral combat ship with a trimaran hull. Although I am a former carrier sailor, I had to have this kit in my stash, as it was incredibly state of the art in its appearance. While talking to the owner of the store when I was checking out, he mentioned that the ship was moored in Norfolk that week, and this set my mind to work. As my father-in-law is a retired Naval Aviator, he could get us on base to at least see the real ship from a distance. When I mentioned the possibility of seeing this new ship, he was game, and while there, he, my son, and I went for a little sight-seeing trip. In short, the ship was very impressive to see, especially as we were able to get right next to it on the pier (it pays to have a retired officer with you when you visit a Navy base). As the kit remained in my “to be built” stash, this opportunity to review another set of Master Model detail items quickly peaked my interest.

This new release from the Sea Master line of Master Model detail sets comes with nine pieces of brass consisting of antennas, the top of the flag mast, and a gun barrel to replace the kit-supplied plastic items. As with the previous Master Model items that I have reviewed, they are very impressive, and the addition of these items will make the USS Independence, LCS-2 (or USS Coronado, LCS-4) an even more impressive show piece. The detail is very crisp with the brass items, and the only items that actually require work will be to replace the gun barrel and the top of the flag mast, as the kit pieces will need to be cut off, and a hole drilled to accept the Master Model barrel and mast top. Directions are on a single sheet of folded paper, and they are easy to follow, but I would suggest also referring to the kit instructions to get the exact mounting locations correct.

For my hits of this detail set, I again will mention that the parts show great detail for this scale, and that they are a nice upgrade to the plastic items provided in the kit. Everything is a one-for-one replacement, so it is an easy upgrade for less experienced modelers to go after. Although the Master Model directions alone could provide some challenge to the builder, it is easy to use the kit instructions to figure out what goes where. Just to help folks out though, here is a list of what Master Model item replaces which kit item:

I had no misses for this detail set; just follow the directions, and you will end up with a fine looking set of replacement items. I was initially tempted to swap the Master Model item 1 with kit part D47, and item 2 with kit part D20 as they closely resemble these kit parts in size. Fortunately, the photos that I had of the real ship showed that the folks at Master Model put you on the right track with their instructions.

Overall, I would highly recommend this detail set to anyone wanting to improve their Trumpeter or Bronco littoral combat ship in 1/350 scale. The only challenge that I could see in using this detail set would be the sharp ends of the antennas, which could potentially get bent. If you are purchasing a set like this, I think that you probably have the ability to perform the necessary “surgery” to replace the kit gun barrel and top of the flag mast with the ones from Master Model.

I would like to thank the folks at Master Model for providing this kit to the IPMS/USA for review, to Steve Collins, who runs the review corps, for selecting me to assess this detail set, and to you for taking the time to read my comments.