¹⁄500

Model Monkey has printed up some new items for old kits. In particular, the venerable Revell/Monogram 1/535 kit of the Iowa class battleship.

For many of us styrene ship builders, this Revell-Monogram kit was among our first ships. We weren't bothered by some of the crude, thick detailing or the lack of propellers on an inaccurate hull. It still had a profile of a powerful battle wagon and we took to the sea of our imagination with it. Now Model Monkey offers us two upgrade sets to give the venerable kit a bit of accuracy.

The first set is labeled New Jersey '44 "Round Bridge". MM describes this set as "intended to help convert any World War Two configuration Iowa class battleship model kit to USS New Jersey BB-62 as she appeared from late 1943 through 1944. It is not suitable for Vietnam War- or Desert Storm-era configuration models."

"In addition to the round bridge, there were subtle differences between New Jersey's bridge and those of her sisters. Many of these differences are captured in this design. This is NOT a duplicate Missouri bridge with a round front."

It features:

-Scale armored conning tower thickness
-Open bridge windows
-Open armored conning tower doors
-Open A/T doors, ready for your favorite photo-etch
-Multi-part design allows easy access to the interiors for painting
-Detailed Bofors tub supporting structure
-Mk.49 Director tubs (directors not included)
-Wiper motor detail
-Correct door, porthole and vision slit placement for New Jersey
-Proper bulkhead orientation for New Jersey

The other set is suited to all ships of the Iowa class, It contains the 3 main gun turrets for the 16" guns the class mounted. These turret parts feature:

-Dimensions scaled from official US Navy blueprints and confirmed by
measurements taken from actual gunhouses on the real ships
-Armored rangefinder hexhead bolt and domed screw details
-Detailed rooftop periscopes
-Asymmetrical underside ventilation trunks (as-built 1943-1945 configuration)
-Detailed turret-bottom crew access hatches

The New Jersey round bridge is listed for $15.00 (US) plus shipping and the turret set is listed for $22.80, plus shipping. The sets are available (as well as advice on preparing and painting these parts) at the Model Monkey webstore at Shapeways.