Flagship Models

Burke Class Super Detail Set

kit number FM 350-13

$32.00 USD

Reviewed By Charles Landrum, #26328
Flagship Models’ latest release is a comprehensive set designed for use with the 1/350th series of Arleigh Burke destroyers by Panda Models, including all flights of the ship (I, II, and IIA).  These kits include photo-etched (PE) parts for the railings, flight deck nets and some mast details.  While adequate, they are not up to the state of the industry standards in terms of double relief etching and petite ness of detail.  Previously White Ensign Models out of Great Britain offered the only dedicated set for these ships.  Now Flagship Models has entered the fray.

The Flagship Models set is double relief etched in two frets of brass.  The detail is fine, especially the helicopter safety nets, watertight doors and hatches and ladders.  The parts are arranged on the sheet in an orderly fashion with the different parts numbered for ease of reference against the instructions.  I like this type of layout, because you do not have to keep referring to a separate picture key to get the number or guess at the part by its shape.  These numbers match a clear instruction sheet that specifies part location in side and top views of the ship.  All variants of the class are referenced.

So what do you get in details?  The set really is a one-sheet-does-all set.  It includes lifelines and life rails (the former is a post and cable system the latter a welded tubular system), helicopter safety nets, watertight doors and hatches, ladders (both diagonal and vertical), mast details, replenishment king-posts, propeller guards and blades, 2 J-bar davits, boat details, fire control radar details, and one set of details for a SH-60 helicopter.  There are even crew figures to give your model a sense of scale.

So how is the quality?  I have used Flagship Models detail sets in the past and have found them easy to use, but this set is clearly a step up in detail.  I was struck by the fact that the brass sheet only lists it as a FLT-1 set, contrary to the instructions (I suspect an oversight in the master artwork).

  • Flagship Models diagonal ladders were trend setters in realism and detail and these are to the same standard.

  • I compared the railings to the dimensions of the original release (Flight I version) by Panda, Arleigh Burke.  The railings look to fit as advertised, matched to exact locations on the ship.  What I like about this set is that the closed chocks are included with the lifelines. Very convenient.

  • The mast details are nice enhancements that look simple enough to execute, without being over engineered.

  • The watertight doors are nice, but some should have an operating handle across the width, this the mechanism for quick acting doors used in high traffic areas - a minor oversight.

  • The set includes J-bar davits for the foc’sle.  These are rigged with a block and tackle (for a rescue swimmer harness on the real ship), but the shape is a bit exaggerated.  Still it is a nice detail to include.

  • I also like the inclusion of a flagstaff and jackstaff.  However, both staffs should have two support legs, which form a tripod base on the real thing.  This can be easily added with a “V” made from very fine wire.

  • The boat details are petite and include a steering wheel!  While two boat slings are provided, only one is really required, since only one boat is ever hooked to the slewing arm davit (SLAD) at a time. 

  • The set includes details for a SH-60 helicopter, but curiously the parts are not numbered and the instructions make no mention of them.  The Flight I model does not include aircraft, but perhaps they are intended for the Flight IIA kit, Winston Churchill.

  • The set includes propeller guards, strange since this class of ship does not have them.  Save those for another model.

  • Flagship Models was a pioneer in replacement propeller blades and the kit propellers desperately need them.  This set provides replacement blades that replicate the scimitar shape of each blade.  While the blades are numbered (44), they are not addressed in the instructions.  This is a tricky detail to replace in terms of achieving even spacing and pitch and require a good guide to be successful.  I thought a real shortcoming of this set is the fact that the Arleigh Burke class has two five-bladed propellers and this set only provides 9 blades.  However, Rusty White includes the 10th blade which is taped to the cardboard stiffener, so don’t throw this away!

Overall, it is a nice set that will greatly enhance the Panda kit.  The set’s shortcomings are very minor; a revision of the instructions will correct many of these.  For the money it is a good value, offering a variety of details from the truck (top of the mast) to the screws (propellers). Highly recommended!

Flagship Models

2204 Summer Way Lane

Edmund, OK 73013

(405) 330-6525

www.flagshipmodels.com

Suggested retail price: $32.00, available direct from Flagship Models

Review Sample Courtesy of Rusty White, IPMS member and owner of Flagship Models

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