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Trumpeter 1/700 AOE Fast Combat Support Ship USS Sacramento AOE-1

By Chris Banyai-Riepl

Overview

The lead ship in a new class of fast combat support ships, the USS Sacramento marked a change in the Navy's underway replenishment system. By combining the fleet oiler, ammunition ship, and refrigerated stores ship into one fast ship, the Navy simplified its replenishment procedures, and in 1963 the first AOE was launched. The USS Sacramento saw service during the Vietnam War, where it proved the concept of one-ship replenishment. The ship continued to resupply the Navy's surface vessels until 2004, when the USS Sacramento was decommissioned.

The Kit

Trumpeter's newest 1/700 ship kit marks the first time the AOE Class has been done in injection-molded plastic. Like other Trumpeter ship models, this one comes molded in both gray and red plastic, with optional waterline or full hull pieces. There are a couple of clear-molded CH-46 helicopters, a small fret of photoetch, and a small decal sheet to round out the basic box contents.

Construction is typical for a Trumpeter ship kit, with the main hull constructed from two pieces for the upper and either a waterline or full hull lower, the latter molded in red. Should you opt for the full hull choice, there are separate rudders, shafts, and screws provided. This makes up the hull assembly, which gives an idea as to the complexity of the superstructure.

As is common with several Trumpeter kits, the superstructure is constructed from lots and lots of flat pieces. While this does allow for excellent surface detailing to be molded in place, it also means that there will be quite a bit of assembly. The main superstructure base starts out with two separate sides, both featuring separate cargo door inserts. These attach to the raised deck, upon which will fit all the various support structures for the supply hoses. On the aft end of this assembly is a helicopter hangar, made up from four additional parts, while on the bow end is the bridge superstructure. This is fairly well done, and is made up from many layers of parts. Again, to ensure crisp detailing, much of this is molded in flat pieces, so be ready for quite a bit of gluing here.

The main raised deck is where most of the work is done, as the Fast Combat Support Ship has ten loading stations, five per side. Trumpeter has done quite a nice job in detailing these areas out, although there are some aspects that could be improved. The immediate and obvious omission is the fueling hoses. None of these are present, and these are a very visible part of the AOE ships. These are shown on the boxtop, but no mention is made in the instructions. I recommend scouring your local electronics shop for some black-coated wire to create these. Another item that would have been nice to have is the individual control cabins for the stations. These are molded solid, but actually have very large windows. While 1/700 is a small scale, I think that these could have been molded in clear, to improve the look of this area. Speaking of clear, the two CH-46 helicopters provided are molded in clear, and come with the option of folded rotors.

Moving on to the decals, these offer the usual Trumpeter bits, including stars & bars for the helicopters, landing pad markings, including hangar edge markings, and the usual 48-star flag. Noticeably absent from the decals are all the other markings found on these ships. For instance, each loading station has its own number and color, matching up with gunwale colors. These will have to come from scrap stock, and that small detail will provide some very useful color on an otherwise drab vessel.

Conclusion

While this kit is missing some rather obvious parts, they are not too difficult to add in place, and it's worth it to have a decent model of the AOE-1 on the shelf. I am sure it will not be too long before we see dioramas employing this vessel refueling any number of 1/700 ships. My thanks to Stevens International for the review sample.