The T2 class of oil tankers was adopted by the US navy prior to WW2 as a standard type. Over 500 were built under a War Emergency programme, despite the speed of their construction they were well built and many went on to have long post war careers. The "Esso Glasgow" is a T2-SE-A1 type and displaced 21,925 tons.

The Kit

The kit is molded in white plastic. It is a waterline model and the hull is in one piece with a one piece main deck. A dryfit check shows a good fit with minimal filling required. Raised lines depict the steel plating on the hull sides. The rest of the parts are well molded with only a small amount of cleanup needed and consist of superstructure and deck fittings. Most of the pipework on the main deck is molded on.
Although this kit is sold as a civilian tanker some armament is included. The instructions say to discard these parts and they are not shown in the construction diagrams, but by using them a model of a fleet support tanker of WW2 can be built.
There are some ejection marks on some of the superstructure parts. Most of them appear to be hidden after assembly but some will need attention as they will be visible. The railings on the deck edges are molded on and are solid with the rails depicted as raised detail. Additional railings are included for the superstructure and again these are solid with raised detail. In all cases the detail is on the outer sides only. A two part stand is included.

Decals

A small decal sheet is included which contains a couple of Esso logos, ship's name, an Esso flag and some markings for various points on the hull. There is also a small sheet of printed flags.

Instructions

The instructions are printed on thin paper. There is a brief history of the ship followed by 25 construction diagrams, the final one showing the rigging points. The painting diagram shows side and top views for civilian livery.

Conclusions

This looks to be a well engineered kit. The basic construction should be straight forward and there is plenty of scope for those who like to add detail. As mentioned there are parts there to build the millitary version, although some research would be required for their placement and for paint schemes.