| At 27 3/8" long, the
Iron Shipwright 1:350th USS Alaska is a
large ship. The actual battle cruiser was 808.5' in length with a
maximum beam of 91', not too much smaller than the Iowa
class battleships. The kit's dimensions scale out to within 2% in
length and 1% in beam, quite acceptable for a resin kit. It should
be noted that in evaluating the Iron Shipwright USS Alaska
I referred to US Battleships in
WWII by Robert O. Dulin Jr. and Wm. H. Garzke
Jr., with line drawings by Robert F. Sumrall. I also used photos
from US Cruisers: An Illustrated
Design History by Norman Friedman, with
drawings by Alan Raven.
After comparing this kit with the aforementioned references, I
was quite pleased with its proportions and accuracy. As a side note,
the ship's general layout differs depending on the source of the
drawings and the date. I checked photos to determine accuracy of
various details such as stern hose reels, gun tub positions,
bollards, deck hatches, and catapult towers. At first I thought
there were discrepancies such as a missing stern hose reel, but
subsequently found it on the brass fret. It also appeared that the
catapult towers should be flush with the side of the hull, not inset
as on the kit. Subsequent examination of photos indicated they were
in fact inset and not flush with the hull, so the kit is correct in
its placement of these prominent towers.
The hull is cast in upper and lower halves ( for those squeamish
about introducing a $ 300 model to a table saw! ). The upper is cast
to the lower edge of the armor belt for those building a waterline
model. This allows for the depth of the " water", and eliminates
having to shim the hull so that it does not sit excessively low in
the water. The upper hull had about 1/8" bow midship. This gremlin
rears its ugly little head in many large resin castings. The problem
can be cured by either by immersing the hull in a hot bath, or by
sanding off the overpour, heating, then placing on a flat surface to
cool. ( Note: the wife may give you some strange looks ).
The major resin parts, ( turrets, funnel, superstructure parts
etc.) match the drawings. As for the small resin parts, these are
well cast with a minor amount of " feathery" flash. Some parts had
small voids. I fill these with two part epoxy putty. While still
soft I trim the putty with a sharp X-Acto knife and upon drying sand
lightly to feather the filler into the surrounding resin.
The instructions are a vast improvement over previous Iron
Shipwright (Commander's) kits. There are 9 pages of plan and 45
degree exploded views. There is a separate parts list for each
construction step, and the relevant parts of the brass fret drawing
are included in each assembly step! ( Now you got it guys!!).
The brass fret contains fine relief-etched .007 thickness parts.
The bracing under the catapult frame, the load block rigging and the
" headache" ball for the cranes are especially noteworthy. The deck
railing is from Tom’s Modelworks and includes various 1,2, and 3 bar
rails.
This is an "in box" review, so I cannot comment on ease of
assembly. However, if it builds as easily as the Iron Shipwright
Graf Spee, it will an easy build indeed. At Virginia Beach
I had the opportunity to see a semi-built USS Alaska at
ISW’s table, and it appeared to go together rather easily. |
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Lost) 
