1144
Saturday, April 04, 2020 - 04:02 AM UTC
Mikro Mir has announced the May 2020 release of a 1/144 USS Monitor.
Prior to the Monitor's construction, most warships were wooden, but after the Battle of Hampton Roads, warships were built using steel as a reflection of the changing nature of battle.

Mikro Mir's model kit of the USS Monitor, the first iron-clad warship commissioned by the U.S. Navy, is an entirely new mold. This kit comes with photo-etched parts, and will be about 37.9cm long, 8.8cm wide when completed.

The 1/144 scale USS Monitor will be available from Hobbylink Japan at https://www.hlj.com/1-144-scale-uss-monitor-mkr144-028 and can be preordered for about US$60.
Click Star to Rate
4 readers have rated this story.
Get a daily email with links to all our latest news, reviews, and features.

Comments

Thanks for sharing Tim. Looks like a really nice kit. A few months ago I was looking at the old Lindberg kit, but this looks so much better. I believe that kit needs a lot of work, repositioning the turret for starters. I wonder if they plan on doing the Merrimac soon after?
APR 04, 2020 - 06:05 AM
Looks rather nice indeed, MikroMir kits can be interesting to build, but I will be adding this to my stash. Thanks for sharing Tim.
APR 04, 2020 - 06:36 AM
I'd bet on it, Stephen; MikroMir has already released Bushnell's Revolutionary War sub Turtle and the Civil War H.L. Hunley, so a Merrimack (CSS Virginia) to go alon with the Monitor would be a natural!
APR 04, 2020 - 07:26 AM
I'd bet on it, Stephen; MikroMir has already released Bushnell's Revolutionary War sub Turtle and the Civil War H.L. Hunley, so a Merrimack (CSS Virginia) to go alon with the Monitor would be a natural![/quote] Thanks. Not a company I've taken much notice of to be honest but they do some interesting stuff. Fabulous range of submarine kits. The Virginia would probably be a difficult kit to research and would certainly provoke discussion. From what I understand there's little documentation and nothing physical remaining of the ship. Only artists impressions taken from witness accounts. At least with the Hunley and Monitor we have the wrecks which have been thoroughly examined.
APR 04, 2020 - 09:21 AM
US sailing war ships are my forte, and I plan on building the USS Merrimack as she was originally built, A Screw driven Steam frigate. I have the United States, the Delaware, and the Germantown to do first, so it will be awhile. I do however have the bulk heads and keel cut out and put together, as I do with all of the ships sunk at Norfolk harbor in 1861. I have the Pennsylvania and the Columbus done. (All are in 1/72 scale). That said, I do plan on building this kit.
APR 06, 2020 - 01:37 AM
Are those the ships in your album? They're fantastic! Are they from kits or scratch built? Have to admit I don't know much about the ACW, that was always my dad's interest. With time available I could be learning more and borrowing some of his books, but we have to stay home and not visit family members. I remember watching a couple documentaries a few months back on YouTube about the recovery of the Hunley and Monitors turret. I think they were originally on the history channel. They did an amazing job on both. Although I have to admit, the frustrated archeologist in me was a little shocked that to get at the turret required cutting through what was left of the hull. I just hope that whatever artefacts were in that section were recorded and preserved.
APR 07, 2020 - 06:37 AM
A Monitor would also be great in 1/72!
APR 13, 2020 - 06:40 AM
I have the Micro-Mir 1/144 Monitor kit. The kit depicts the Post March 9th 1862 battle and is correct for the Pilot house re-design and the Smoke Stack refit. The length of the kit at 14.188 inches seems to be a scale of 1/150 if the Monitor was 179ft long. It is only 1/144 scale when using 171 feet as the length. After dry-fitting and attempting to build the turret and deck I have found accuracy issues and engineering concerns with parts fit on my model of the Micro-Mir 1/144 USS Monitor kit. Micro-Mir left off all the Hatches: Forward Wardroom hatch, Engine room hatch, and the 2 Turret hatches. All are missing. They also missed adding the plate over the Propeller well. The Anchor Well at the bow was not left open so it must be drilled out to accommodate the Anchor-Well Cover, part #37. Also, the pilot house part is too large to fit into the deck recess. Fortunately the pilot house can just be glued over this recessed area. The biggest issue may be the Turret. Composed of 4 parts and, when assembled, it is too large to fit into the decks Turret-mounting recess. Unfortunately, on the kit I received, when the Turret Floor and Roof parts are added to the Turret, the Turret expands even more and the diameter becomes even larger. This will be a problem since sanding the turret deck and roof pieces to a smaller diameter to fit the turret is problematic. This could also require adding shims to the turret to increase the diameter to accommodate those same deck and roof parts. Making the turret-mounting recess area larger may be the only cure. Other parts fit problems are due to Sprue-gate connections. These Sprue-gate NUBS are on top of the flanges that the Turret and Propeller Well it on. It requires a delicate touch to remove these Nubs without damaging the top deck and lower hull surface details. A few minor issues... The forward deck is missing 6 of the "Dead Lights", the aft deck has 6 of the 8 Coal shuttles in the wrong location, and the Bow and Stern Bollards are just small impressions in the deck. Information on various other deck details has been available such as the Ash removal cover, Steam excess exhaust port, and Kitchen stove vent; all of which this kit left out. There is no reason not to include them on a new mold plastic model. Also, at 1/144 scale the turret Gun Ports could have had the "drill marks" engraved just like on the real turret and the real turret roof of iron plate with perforations should have been include as a PE part. The Turret's top deck part that is included is the support rail part and it only has 24 "rails". It should have had 40 rails. At 1/144 scale this should have been possible in plastic or certainly in PE. One other thing,...This is a new kit but many parts have flash on them. This is not a problem for most modelers but it should not occur on a new Mold. As far as engineering the mold, the Bollard impressions should have been left off and Bollard parts included. The two-part Deck will require an expert Modeler to hide the seam. It should have been 1 part like the old Battleaxe 1/144 USS Monitor kit. Micro-Mir's deck seam is in the middle of the Iron deck plates and that makes it more noticeable. It could have been designed to match the seam between the Iron plates. A seam there would be an easy fix, if even necessary. The two-part lower hull will have an even larger seam due to the mounting surfaces. A single part Lower-Hull should have been designed. Again, the old Battleaxe Monitor had a single piece lower hull. Finally, adding the Armored Hull sides will be difficult for a beginer modeler as the upper deck and the Lower hull must be aligned to get an even fit. The hull side parts I received left a gap of 2mm on each side when attached. Based on the kit I received, This is NOT a Beginners kit. I have written 4 emails to Micro-Mir detailing Accuracy, Parts fit, a Review of the kit, and a comparison with other kits such as the old Battleaxe 1/144 plastic model of the same scale as well as a well-known Resin model. I have sent the information they need to obtain good plans and drawings for historical accuracy too. However, strangely enough, they must already have that "Historical Accuracy" info because their Box Art is far more accurate and shows all the detail that the Micro-Mir Monitor kit left out. Even with all these issues I still like the kit. I will enjoy adding the raised Forward hatch, adding my own scratch-built Turret top deck with perforations for venting, and adding Bollards, Fairleads, and plates/covers for the missing items previously mentioned. Of Course the Turret fit is expected to be tedious but I like a challenge. I was hoping to hear back from Micro-Mir before I posted anything but as modelers on several forums have posted an interest in the kit, I thought it necessary to pass my experience along. I made suggestions in one of my emails that Micro-Mir add additional parts for Hatches, Plates, and Bollards, as well as instructions to cover these additions and other "fixes" for "Misses" in re-issues of the kit. I have photos detailing the fixes needed and how I made them. I would be glad to send a more detailed review to any and all. Find me at FinescaleModeler. I am Nino. Edited 8/29/2020.
JUL 01, 2020 - 07:35 AM
Jim excellent review. I have a lot of their Sub models. Very poor engineering in these kits. no hull locator tabs or pins, very often hull halves do not match. no obvious locator pins or holes for diving planes etc. All require work to assemble accuratly. But they are the one to go to if looking for a sub such as Albacore, and Parche etc. Additionally most sprues lack part # identification etc. Not beginners kits in my opinion these are poor 1950s styled kits with flash and poor instructions. Makes me believe the molds are poorly made . Then again if you want that model they make they are usually the only source. I have tried to get Albacore in her "X" stern configuration and keep getting sent a Skipjack kit, which is not the same boat.
AUG 31, 2020 - 06:23 AM
THIS STORY HAS BEEN READ 2,451 TIMES.
ADVERTISEMENT

Photos
Click image to enlarge
  • move
MikroMir ReviewsMORE
Resolution Class Submarine _INBOXALT
by Is a secret | of 2 ratings, 100% found this helpful
NATO Alfa class SSN _INBOXALT
by Nicola Saggini | of 4 ratings, 100% found this helpful

ADVERTISEMENT