¹⁄350

USS Lexington (CV2) 1927-1942

Overview of the Trumpeter kit

This is the first 1:350 scale model warship I’ve built. Given how long it took, it may well be the last. On reflection, building a replica of what was the world’s largest warship throughout her lifetime was perhaps over-ambitious. Perhaps starting in this scale with a whale boat would have been a better idea.

If you like your models smothered with light automatic AA weapons, then you’re in for a treat. If not, then steer well clear of this subject.

The other problem is – it’s an aircraft carrier. Modelling skills are of course transferable across subject matter. By and large, modelling ships, aircraft, AFVs and model railways present very similar challenges. And, by and large, the same solutions are not only ubiquitous, but can actually inform new approaches to different subject matter. So the fact of the matter that this is an aircraft carrier doesn’t actually present any problems in the aircraft modelling skills department. The real issue is whether you are prepared to put in the time to build dozens – literally dozens – of tiny 1:350 scale aeroplanes. Because ship modelling this is not.

Having built five 1:700 scale injection moulded kits I was expecting the finesse exhibited at this scale to be translated to the larger size. I was hugely disappointed. This kit seemed to me to be the 1:700 version scaled up. On reflection, I was wrong to expect this. If this kit had been moulded with sectional thicknesses found on 1:700 scale models it would have warped, twisted and fallen apart in the first breeze. Clearly it had to be moulded with greater thicknesses to retain any structural integrity.

Overall, however, what a sad disappointment this kit is. The quality (or lack) of accuracy places it in my mind in the market for mass-produced kits of popular subjects. How can this be? If it was a Missouri or a Bismarck it would be excusable. But surely, the market for, at best, a marginal subject, depicted at a very time-constrained period in its history (three weeks or less) can only be very small and restricted to a small band of model warship enthusiasts. The very fact that White Ensign Models received only twelve advance orders for their proposed photo-etched set within three months of the release of this model indicates the narrow scope of likely interest. Therefore, what a huge lost opportunity this represents. For a small group of enthusiasts like myself, the release of this kit was akin to an answer to a maiden’s prayer. Not only is it the Lexington. It is the Lexington at the time of the Battle of the Coral Sea. Not only that, it’s in 1:350 scale. It just couldn’t get any better. Unfortunately, it could. What astonishes me is the effort that must have gone into fictionalising so much of the detail when so much effort could have been saved simply by mimicking the builders’ plans.

The Floating Drydock Company plans represent the ship as first completed. Although they are marked up with subsequent changes, the references are to other drawings that are not available (at least from The Floating Drydock Company). Having said this, builders’ drawings are never the whole truth. They still have to be cross-referenced with photographic sources. Fortunately the Lexington was the subject of a lot of photographic coverage in the pre-war era, especially in relation to the widening of the flight deck at the bow and the installation of light AA platforms at the quarters and on the stack.

The areas of greatest conjecture surround the details of her refit prior to the Battle of the Coral Sea. All the surviving photos from this period are published in Classic Warships Publishing Warship Pictorial #11, Lexington Class Carriers. Combining these with textual descriptions in ‘The Lexington Class Carriers’ (Robert C Stern) provides the best possible basis for making judgements on these details.

SO, with the details all laid out on the table, mate, ON to the build!