The
model comes in a reasonably sturdy end-opening box. Moulded in light grey
plastic, slight sink marks appear in the hull sides near the bow, otherwise
no flash or other flaws were seen. The model is 138mm long (5.4inches) which
is exactly correct at 1:1250 scale, overall proportions look right to me.
Detailing looks good, on the decks and superstructure, bearing in mind the
small scale, the gun barrels are particularly fine. The masts are "solid"
but the lattice structure is raised so that it can easily be painted a
different colour from the "gaps". The kit comes with a hull bottom
detachable at the waterline, making a waterline model will involve trimming
the ends off the locating pins inside the hull. The assembly instructions
have no sequence indicated. Some care will be needed in locating the
antennas correctly, since there do not appear to be any locating pins or
marks. The modeller needs to be careful to paint and apply decals before the
gun mounts are attached. The box bottom plan indicates colours and placement
of the markings.
No helicopter is included, aftermarket SH-60s are available in this scale in
cast metal, possibly more expensive than this kit.
Aftermarket PE railings are also available in this scale, as far as I know
there is no PE mast available commercially, yet.
Hobby Boss has released Kits in 1:1250 scale of three ships in the
Ticonderoga class: Ticonderoga, Vincennes and Princeton. Each boxing have
some different plastic parts: missile launchers, masts, antennae, as
appropriate, as well as different decals. So if you are interested in having
a little fleet there is a point in buying all three kits. I hope that these
kits will help to introduce new modellers to the sphere of 1:1250 scale ship
collecting, and also perhaps persuade a few collectors to try making kits.
There are very few plastic kits in this scale or the very similar 1:1200
scale. By contrast are thousands of cast metal ship models currently
available in these scales, also hundreds of metal and resin kits.
Supplier:
I bought my kit from Martin Brown at a 1:1200 collectors' meeting, he has a
website specialising in 1:1250 scale ship models
http://waterline-ships.co.uk/. No doubt they are also available from
Hobbylink Japan and other internet websites. I haven't seen them in the
shops in the UK, but have heard that they can be found.
Jeff Simpson
June 2008
The
model comes in a reasonably sturdy end-opening box. Moulded in light grey
plastic, slight sink marks appear in the hull sides near the bow, otherwise
no flash or other flaws were seen. The model is 138mm long (5.4inches) which
is exactly correct at 1:1250 scale, overall proportions look right to me.
Detailing looks good, on the decks and superstructure, bearing in mind the
small scale, the gun barrels are particularly fine. The masts are "solid"
but the lattice structure is raised so that it can easily be painted a
different colour from the "gaps". The kit comes with a hull bottom
detachable at the waterline, making a waterline model will involve trimming
the ends off the locating pins inside the hull. The assembly instructions
have no sequence indicated. Some care will be needed in locating the
antennas correctly, since there do not appear to be any locating pins or
marks. The modeller needs to be careful to paint and apply decals before the
gun mounts are attached. The box bottom plan indicates colours and placement
of the markings.