The
Fletcher class was born of the "need for speed." Able to keep pace with the new generation of battleships and aircraft carriers being produced at the beginning of World War II,
Fletcher destroyers became a mainstay of American forces in the South Pacific during the latter stages of the war.
Revell Germany's destroyer comes in a mighty big box - because it's a mighty big kit! The hull is almost 32" long, and the instructions cover 63 steps over 20 pages. The kit comes complete with five 5" guns, six 20mm Oerlikon guns, and one twin 40mm Mk.I anti-aircraft gun. You get two 5-tube torpedo units as well as two launching cradles or racks for 272kg depth charges amidships.
The radar arrays include a Mk.57 fire control director with a Mk.22 height-finder radar. Atop the mast are SC-1 and SG radar antennas.
Decals provide hull numbers for the USS
Fletcher (DD-445) and USS
Chevalier (DD-451). A separate printed sheet features signal flags, national flags, and naval jacks. These are on non-adhesive paper designed to be wrapped around the rigging or flagpole and glued.
Assembly is straightforward, starting with the hull. The halves fit almost perfectly with very little filling. In Step 4, the screw cover plates need filling to blend into the hull. The two-piece deck in Step 9 needs no filler; just hold it in place with some tape until the glue sets.
Next came the superstructure, which also fit nicely. The "glass" for the bridge is inadequate; I used Micro Kristal Klear tinted with Tamiya clear green. However, the clear searchlight lenses looked great.
I left off all the superstructure components, stacks, and such, to make painting and rigging the stanchions easier.
The 5"-gun turrets could have fit a little better, but my trusty Micro Kristal Klear filled what little gaps there were.
After all the subassemblies were completed, I started painting.
The colors are keyed to Revell paint numbers, but names (such as "flat blue") are provided. I chose "Measure 12, modified" because that was the
Fletcher's most recognizable scheme. I first painted the lower hull Testors British crimson and let it dry. Decal boot striping is provided, but I painted mine. Then I sprayed haze gray on the superstructure sides, and, after masking the lower hull and boot, ocean gray on the hull sides. Next, I brush-painted the ocean gray camouflage over the haze gray on the superstructure. Then, I masked the camouflage pattern on the hull sides and sprayed my own mix of navy blue. After everything was dry, I applied the deck blue.
Next, the most tedious part of the assembly - installing and rigging the stanchions. This took about 16 hours over two evenings. With this done, I was ready for final assembly.
I started with the superstructure, working up and out and adding radars, guns, and turrets as I progressed. After all the components were in place, I added the hull decals. These had a flat finish but went down with only a few spots of silvering. Once the decals set, the whole model was flat-coated.
The final step was to rig the mast and flag lines. This took four hours - not that long, when you look at the complexity of it.
The whole project took 78 hours, a little longer than usual but not bad considering I haven't built a ship in 37 years. I lost only two parts - the life preserver rings, parts I-119, went missing in action. Also, I painted the depth charges amidships the wrong color because of the confusing color charts - my mistake.
According to my reference,
Warship Perspectives: Fletcher, Gearing and Sumner Class Destroyers in World War Two (Jeffrey J. Herne, WR Press), the scale is dead-on. It's a great kit - but modelers should have a few voyages to their credit before setting sail on this project.
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