Saturday, January 3, 2009

FineScale Modeler 02 2005


I'm impressed. Producing a 1/350 scale kit of one of the largest warships ever built must be a daunting task. Just obtaining the research to set up patterns for the parts of one of the United States' most significant weapons would have been difficult. Having built the Tamiya USS Enterprise (CVN-65) when it was first issued 20 years ago (it can't be!), I was anxious to see how Trumpeter's Nimitz would compare. The most interesting comparison is the number of parts and the way certain items are broken down for molding. Trumpeter has more and better detail, but many more parts (1,013 compared with 576 in Tamiya's Enterprise). Trumpeter has cut few corners. For example, on top of one of the cruciform yards on the island's main mast, are four small domed antennas. To the casual observer, these all look alike, but each one is molded to different sizes and shapes.


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