US Coast Guard Cutter Roger B. Taney retains the claim to fame as the last surviving vessel of the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Its keel laid in 1935 and commissioned in 1936, Taney served for over 50 years, seeing combat action during World War II and Vietnam, as well as performing weather station, search-and-rescue, and drug interdiction duties. Taney was decommissioned on December 7, 1986, and presented to the City of Baltimore, and now serves as a museum ship.

Revell has released its venerable kit, once again, to the delight of maritime and nostalgic modelers. From all accounts of legacy reviews and my recollections from at least 3 decades ago, there’s nothing new in the box – which isn’t a bad thing. Although shot from old tooling, Revell’s Taney still looks really nice at first glance of the box contents. Molded in white, detail is raised and well-defined on the hull, deck and superstructure. Masts, boats, machine guns, davits, depth charges, and other “fiddly bits” aren’t as crisply defined as the main structure of the ship, however, but are adequate for the casual ship modeler. Railings are molded into the hull sides. As expected from an older kit, a bit of clean-up was needed on the smaller parts, but nothing unreasonable. Decals are provided for two flavors of Taney – one for a 1950’s-era rendition, and the other for a late 60’s to present-day “racing stripe” scheme. Based on some cursory research, the latter scheme doesn’t seem to jibe with the configuration of the subject as represented in the kit, but the former does.

With only 109 parts, and very simple construction, this build flew together, with the only real “speed bumps” being for cleaning flash from parts, filling ejector pin marks, and letting paint, Future, and decals cure. As I built, I recalled why I liked this kit so much as a kid – it is so easy to pre-paint the decks, superstructure, and detail pieces before assembly! Assembly is also clean and easy, with only a little putty need for seams on the hull and small portions of the superstructure and funnel.

The only things that really wrankled me were ejector pin marks in the on the foredeck, the instructions’ callout of incorrect colors for some elements, and the draft markings for the sides of the hull printed in white for areas above the waterline – thus making “white-on-white” (=”invisible”) draft markings.

The model was painted with a combination of Model Master Enamels, Gunze, and Model Master Acryl. Future was used as a “spot” base in the areas of the 5 decals. Decals are crisply printed in register and respond well to the Microscale System. A 50/50 mix of Model Master Acryl Flat/Future was used to blend the decals into the matte hull finish.

Personally speaking, this was a very gratifying “nostalgia build.” It was time well spent with an old friend from my modeling childhood, kicked up a notch with some grown-up techniques. I can easily recommend this kit to modelers of all skill levels, especially those looking to wander back a few decades and revisit their modeling past, as well as younger modelers looking to build sharp-looking ship with basic skills. At the great price point of under $17.00, it is even more appealing!

Thanks to Revell and IPMS/USA for the sample kit!