If not for its tragic end, the USS Indianapolis might have been best-remembered as the ship that carried the first atomic bombs from the U.S. mainland to Tinian Island, where the B-29 Superfortresses Enola Gay and Bockscar awaited the payloads that would end World War II. Instead, about a week before the Hiroshima bombing, a Japanese submarine sank the Indianapolis in the Philippine Sea. Of the 1,197 aboard the stricken ship, an estimated 880 survived the sinking — only to be decimated in the next four days by exposure, thirst, and shark attacks. Only 317 sailors survived.
Academy’s kit provides a choice of either a full hull on a stand (included) or a waterline model. Guns and turrets are movable, and the larger guns have hollow ends. The comprehensive instructions and painting guide are helpful. One set of markings is provided.
Choosing the full-hull version, I found the upper and lower hull dry-fit was fine. The deck was a tight fit — no gaps or seams to deal with. (The break was at a vertical wall in front of the hangar.) Propeller shafts are numbered so you need to note their position. Since the camouflage pattern is in Measure 22, I painted the lower hull in Tamiya hull red and Testors sea blue. The propellers are Testors Metalizer brass.
I assembled the stand and painted it with SnJ Bronze. However, the base’s footings are a little on the small side; even with the ship on it, it tipped over easily.
Building the turrets posed no problems aside from having to clean up the barrels’ numerous sprue-attachment points. However, the base’s fit to the top part of the turret left gaps.
The life rafts are numbered, and there are a few different types, so you have to be careful to keep them straight so you don’t use the wrong ones.
Assembling the other armament was challenging, with tiny parts and nonexistent attachment points.
The 40mm barrels have numerous sprue attachment points, making it easy to break the flash hiders. The 40mm mount never gave a positive feel while I was adding the guns. The 20mm cannons, with the stand, shield, and guns as separate pieces, were hard to assemble with very small attachment points. The 5" cannon mount is two pieces that are very small and challenging to glue together.
Attachment points for the superstructures are minimal, making the glue joint less solid than I would like. The mast — part numbers D23, D24, D25 — was difficult to glue together and had a seam that needed to be cleaned up. The radar turret had gaps between the walls that needed filling.
I painted the superstructure with Testors dark ghost gray (No. 1741). Installing the superstructure assemblies on the hull went well. The catapult and aircraft installation went off without a hitch.
It took me 45 hours to build this ship. With some of the above-mentioned issues, I recommend it to experienced builders. It’s a lot of parts, and a lot of parts left over — which makes me wonder if another version of the ship is in the future.
Note: A version of this review appeared in the February 2014 FineScale Modeler.