Dragon 1/350 USS Independence CVL-22
By Chris Banyai-Riepl
Overview
The fourth USS Independence (or fifth, if you count the brigantine used by the Massachusetts State Navy in 1776) was the first in a new class of light carriers converted from cruiser hulls. The Independence was converted from the USS Amsterdam, CL-59, and was launched on August 22, 1942. After a shakedown cruise in the Caribbean, the Independence sailed west, first to San Diego and then to Pearl Harbor. Once in the Pacific, the Independence took part in many battles and managed to survive the war. Post-war, the Independence was one of the vessels in the Operation Magic Carpet fleet. Taken to Bikini Atoll, the Independence took part in a couple of atomic blasts. Highly radioactive, the hulk was sunk off the coast of San Francisco, where contamination continues to be a concern.
The Kit
We are definitely in a 1/350 carrier glut lately, with a full range of Essex Class carriers from Trumpeter, the recent Hasegawa CVE kit and now this, Dragon's CVL kit. Having seen all three, I can say that this one is definitely the best, with some absolutely incredible detail throughout the kit. Molded in medium gray plastic, with several frets of photoetch and all the aircraft molded in clear, the model should please any carrier modeler. The breakdown of the main hull is surprising, as Dragon has employed its slide-molding technology to good effect. The result is that the hull is made up from three pieces: a one piece deck that includes some side details, a one piece lower hull with some of the best molded-on strakes I've seen on a ship kit, and a sturdy center hull piece. Slide mold technology means that instead of a two-piece mold as seen in most traditional injection kits, a mold will have two main halves and several side mold pieces that slide in to complete the mold. This allows for great detail on all sides of a part made up from right angles, such as a ship's superstructure. The more one delves into this kit, the more advantageous this technology is made apparent. While this technology can allow for complex assemblies to be molded as one piece, there is still quite a bit to build up here. The model has over 1300 parts, ranging from the large hull pieces to tiny guns. It would be good to carefully study the instructions before tackling this kit, especially since the instructions are the weakest part here. For example, in Step 1, you get to assemble 253 parts (I think; I might be off by one or two in my count). Granted, that step is broken down into nine sub-steps, but still, that's a lot of parts for just one step. In fact, there are only ten steps in the entire instruction sheet, so it is all too easy to get lost and confused, especially with the rather cluttered exploded-diagram type of instructions that Dragon seems to favor. Once that problem is addressed, the actual build is very straightforward. The kit comes with options for the shakedown cruise and a wartime fitting, which manifests mainly in the form of gun placement. Pay close attention to these steps in the instructions to make sure you don't mix up placements and end up with half the ship on a wartime fitting and the other half as seen on the shakedown cruise. With the armament out of the way, the next step is the actual hull assembly. This kit comes with a full hangar bay, with some nicely done interior detail. Separate side doors, plus the elevators, will allow much of this to be seen. In fact, the decal sheet even includes markings to go on the forward bulkhead. Alongside the hangar deck, outside the ship, are the launches, which are again beautifully detailed and include separate rudders. Moving on to the main deck, here you get to build up the eighteen aircraft provided. These include F6F Hellcats, TBF Avengers, and SBD Dauntlesses. For the Avengers and Hellcats, there are optional folded wings. Actually, that is not entirely true, as it is not an either/or choice. The sprues contain two aircraft per sprue, and one has folded wings while the other has extended wings. This means that if you want to fill the deck with a dozen Avengers with folded wings, you'll end up with 24 Avengers. This is not a concern with the Dauntless, as it didn't have folding wings. While on the subject of aircraft options, there is quite a bit more than just the wing fold. For all three there is a choice of open or closed canopies. The Avenger has open or closed bomb bay options, and there is a separate torpedo as well. The Dauntless has a separate bomb, while the Hellcat comes with separate rockets. The detail throughout these aircraft is simply stunning, right down to cylinders molded in the engines. The deck does not just get aircraft, though; there are vehicles as well. There are a couple very nice tractor tugs and a couple equally nice Jeeps. The tractors have molded-in engine detail, a separate cowl, and separate wheels. The Jeeps likewise have separate wheels, along with detailed interior and chassis detail. A separate hood with windshield (not in clear, unfortunately) and a separate steering wheel makes this an incredibly detailed Jeep for something that's smaller than a fingernail. Just as impressive are the figures, which are amazingly detailed for injection molding AND 1/350 scale. For painting and markings, the kit comes with instructions for the 1943 wartime color scheme, which is a very simple Measure 21 scheme consisting of Navy Blue 5-N on the sides, with Deck Blue 20-B on the upper decks. The flight deck is finished in Flight Deck Stain 21. Although not marked on the instructions, should you do the shakedown cruise configuration, you will want to paint the ship in a Measure 14 scheme, which has Ocean Gray 5-O on the verticals. While the later Measure 33 scheme would be more impressive, this simple camouflage scheme will help highlight the nice detail throughout the kit. The decals are nicely printed, and include three marking choices for the aircraft and three marking options for the main deck.Conclusion
This is, quite simply, the best 1/350 aircraft carrier kit I've seen. I am sure we will see several releases of this kit over the years, as there are several other ships in this class, many with some interesting and long histories. Personally, I would like to see the CVL-27, both in WW2 fit as the USS Langley and post-war fit as the French La Fayette (which took part in the Suez Crisis in 1956; now there's some colorful aircraft markings for the deck!). Undoubtedly we will see quite a few of these built up over the next year.