Part 1: First Look

[kit boxart image]

MSRP: $29.95
Thanks to Stevens International Importers and Distributors of Hobby Specialties, Magnolia, NJ for supplying the review kit.

The fourth US Navy Hancock (nicknamed Hannah) was laid down as the Ticonderoga on January 1943, but renamed Hancock on May 1943, launched January 1944 and commissioned on April 15, 1944 as the first long-bow Essex-class fleet aircraft carrier. Hancock was commissioned in a Measure 33/3A dazzle camouflage scheme, which this Trumpeter kit depicts. The Hancock’s clipper-bow was lengthened while building to accommodate two 40mm AA mounts in the bow, and the flight deck was shorter to improve their arcs of fire. Hancock arrived at Ulithi ready for action on October 5, 1944. She participated in the attacks on Ryuku islands, Formosa and the Philippines, although she just missed the Battle of Leyte Gulf. On November 25, 1944, Hancock destroyed a kamikaze 300 feet above the ship, and pieces of the aircraft rained on the flight deck and gun gallery, causing no serious damage. After weathering the infamous typhoon of December 17, 1944, she continued to attack targets in the Philippines, Formosa and the South China Sea. During this period one of her planes landed and exploded abreast the bridge, killing 50 men, but Hancock was fully operational the next day. Next she attacked the Japanese mainland and islands around Iwo Jima, with her planes providing tactical air support. In March 1945, Hancock was back in Japanese waters when two kamikaze aircraft attacked during refueling of the destroyer Halsey Powell. Again, the Hancock shot down the enemy aircraft, with pieces raining down on the flight deck.  Hancock was supporting the Okinawa invasion when a kamikaze cart-wheeled into planes parked on her flight deck, killing 62 men. She was operational hours later, but retired for repairs. Hancock was back in action around Japan in June 1945 until war’s end. Hancock earned four battle stars for World War Two service. After several Magic Carpet runs, Hancock was decommissioned on April 1946. In the early 1950s, Hancock was fitted with the first steam catapults able to handle jet aircraft and renamed CVA-19. In the mid-1950s, she received modernization to an angled deck configuration, and spent the rest of her career in the Far East, including seven tours off Vietnam. Hancock was finally decommissioned in January 1976 and scrapped soon thereafter. Trumpeter’s new 1:700 scale kit of the USS Hancock represents a typical Essex class late WWII carrier that gave the US Navy its mobility and striking power.

Kit Characteristics:
  • Injected plastic (polystyrene) kit.  Full hull or waterline options, with a stand included for the full hull option.
  • A plastic sheet simulating water is included for the waterline version, molded in a transparent blue color.  All it needs is painting, and a well is built in to accommodate the finished carrier model.
  • (From manufacturer): 523 parts on 8 sprues, plus decks, lower and upper hulls, waterline plate, nameplate, a single-piece flight deck (no unsightly seams!) and a box of aircraft molded in clear plastic.
  • Parts are sharply molded with virtually no flash, and packaged well to prevent damage during shipping.
  • 12-page instruction booklet is in English and Chinese with pictures of each sprue and hull pieces.  Exploded view drawings clearly show part numbers and their locations on the model.  One tip to expedite assembly is to label the undersides of pieces with the sprue part number, and port/starboard location.  This way you can put them where they belong without mistakes.  Assembly looks to be straightforward if one follows the steps.
  • Hull length scaled out to 875 feet without considering the aft 40mm sponson, close to the 888 feet actual.  Hull beam (width) scaled out to 92 feet, very close to the actual 93 feet.  The flight deck width scaled out to 114 feet, also close to actual.  Thus, the proportions are accurate.
  • Construction is by subassemblies, with hull and deck assembly followed by building the hangar deck, then adding hull platforms.  Bridge assembly and armament finish off the assembly.  The instructions look amazingly like those for Trumpeter’s 1:350 scale carrier models.
  • The inside of the hangar deck is finished, so that enterprising modelers can add more details and aircraft inside the hangar.  The shutters could be cut out and opened, and the flight deck does not have to be glued in place if one wants to remove the flight deck to show off detail inside the hangar.  Thus, this kit has many possibilities for the experienced modeler wishing to customize appearance of the ship.
  • Bridge and mainmast detail are scanty, even for 1:700 scale, but aftermarket photoetch kits can remedy this minor flaw.  As usual, 1:700 scale plastic radars are horrid compared to their photoetch counterparts.
  • AA guns are numerous, and in 1/700 scale are not bad.  However, the 20mm and 40mm mounts have no shields.  The lack of shields for AA guns may be easier for the modeler to assemble, but is not accurate, and a drawback to the overall appearance of the finished kit.  For the modeler who wants to detail this kit, after-market photo etch sets from Gold Medal Models, Tom’s Modelworks, White Ensign, Eduard or Classic Warships would improve the AA armament greatly.  Like Trumpeter’s 1:350 scale carrier kits, the lack of shields for the numerous AA guns is a disappointment IF the model is built out of the box.
  • The two port 40mm mounts were not on Hancock during her 1944 dazzle camouflage fit, so need to be left off (parts F15 & F16).  This kit includes enough 40mm sponsons to depict just about any version of long-bow Essex-class carriers.
  • Gold Medal Models, Tom’s Modelworks, White Ensign, Eduard or Classic Warships all make 1/700 photo etch sets for US WW2 warships that supply railings, catapults, cranes, radars, radio lattice masts, mast spiders and other small pieces for those who wish to add even more detail.
  • A separate Painting & Marking Guide printed in color is included.  A major mistake looms.  The Guide shows the wrong starboard side camouflage pattern – Measure 33/6A.  This design was carried on the starboard side by Franklin and Bunker Hill, but never by the Hancock.  This mistake is easy to understand, since the Franklin was unusual for sporting Measure 33/6A on the starboard side, but showed Measure 33/3A (Hancock’s scheme) on the starboard side after May 1944.  But Hancock was a long-bow Essex, and Franklin was a short bow Essex, and the Guide clearly shows a long-bow Essex.  Somebody goofed.  At least correct overhead, underside and side views of each type of aircraft for the 1944 period are also included.  Also, the flight deck stain on the Guide is too dark – Flight Deck Stain 21, a lighter shade of blue, was actually used.
  • Paint guide lists Gunze Sanyo paints to complete the model.  These paints are sometimes difficult to find in the US on hobby store shelves.  The paint color descriptions in the guide do not match the well-known names of US naval ship paints used in World War 2.  Several companies produce appropriate paints for this era – check with your local hobby supplier or favorite websites for matching paints.  White Ensign and Floating Drydock enamels and Polly-S and Model Shipways acrylic paints closely match the official US Navy colors.
  • 33/3A colors for Hancock were: Light gray (5-L), Ocean gray (5-O) and Dull Black (BK) for vertical surfaces.  Decks were Deck Blue (20-B), and the flight deck was Flight Deck Stain (No. 21).  Normal wear quickly faded flight deck stains, allowing the wood underneath to show through, so you have some options on how soon after completion you want your model to illustrate.
  • The box of aircraft marked “Air Power” contains 15 Hellcats, 6 Helldivers and 6 Avengers, all with extended wings.  Each plane molded in clear plastic – another nice touch.  Panel lines are exaggerated, but at this scale that may help the appearance.  Each plane looks fairly accurate.  Trumpeter sells each type of aircraft separately for those who want to populate their kit with more aircraft.
  • A decal sheet is supplied with the correct black hull number (19) for the flight deck.  Correct insignia for the air group are also included, another nice touch.  The extensive flight deck dashes (always a nightmare for US carrier modelers) are white, which is likely to be correct.  Keep in mind these dashes quickly faded.
Parts:
  • Sprues A & B: Vertical hangar deck pieces
  • Sprues C & F: Platforms and bridge pieces
  • Sprue D: Bridge pieces
  • Sprue F: Superstructure components (27)
  • Sprue G (2): Armament (5in turrets, 40mm guns, 20mm guns), liferafts, cranes, propellers and shafts
  • Sprue H: More sponsons and 20mm platforms
  • Sprue F6F: x5 – 15 F6F Hellcats
  • Sprue SBC: x2 – 6 SBC Helldivers
  • Sprue TBF: x2 – 6 TBM Avengers
  • Stand, name plate and water diorama for waterline version
  • Single piece hull, waterline plate, lower hull, hangar deck, flight deck pieces
  • Decal sheet with insignia for planes, and hull/flight deck numbers and dashes
Comparison to Hasegawa Long-Bow Essex-class Carrier Kits (Hancock and Ticonderoga): An interesting comparison between the new Trumpeter kits and the older Hasegawa kits of the same carriers reveals pros and cons for each company’s efforts.
  • The Hasegawa kit hulls are beamier and longer, but have a separate bow piece – advantage Trumpeter, even though the hangar deck sides are built into the hull for Hasegawa – thus fewer seams.
  • The flight deck underside for Hasegawa is more detailed, but the flight deck detail is finer for Trumpeter – advantage Trumpeter.
  • Trumpeter has a finished hangar deck, Hasegawa does not – advantage Trumpeter (but not many will take advantage of this point).
  • 40mm and 20mm AA guns have shields with Hasegawa, but are poorly detailed and the 20mm guns have a completely wrong shield shape and thickness; however, Trumpeter has no shields at all – nevertheless, advantage Trumpeter because it is easier to add aftermarket photo etch detail to the otherwise OK guns rather than complete replacement of Hasegawa guns.
  • Hasegawa’s bridge mast has crossarms and a little more detail – advantage Hasegawa.  Overall look of sponsons, thickness of gun mount shields and fittings gives the advantage to Trumpeter.
  • Aircraft are molded in clear plastic for Trumpeter (more realistic canopies), and more are included – advantage Trumpeter.
  • Hasegawa decals do not have aircraft insignia – advantage Trumpeter.
  • Instructions clearly favor Trumpeter, but even though the painting guide for Hasegawa is in black and white, it is correct (at least for Ticonderoga, I do not have the Hasegawa Hancock kit), and thus Hasegawa wins that point.
Thus, Trumpeter’s newer kit is a finer kit than the older Hasegawa kits, as long as photo etch parts are used for the AA guns.  Neither kit looks good out of the box because of the AA gun problems, but overall, the Trumpeter kit is an easier build with finer details.

Summary:
The Trumpeter 1:700 USS Hancock CV-19 kit is not perfect, but is still the best injection-molded plastic kit of a long-bow Essex class carrier in this scale.  More options for depicting the ship are available with the hangar deck finished out and the water diorama included.  Enough extra parts are included to convert this kit into other or later versions of long-bow Essex-class carriers.  The aircraft are attractive, and the model promises to be a straightforward build without any glaring seams.  Major inaccuracies include the lack of shields for 40mm and 20mm guns, and the wrong paint job for the starboard side.  These inaccuracies necessitate getting aftermarket photo etch parts and looking up references (or using the Hasegawa Hancock kit painting guide) to make the real Hancock.  In fact, adding a small photo etch sheet with just the AA gun shields would make this kit much better.  Pricing is slightly more than Hasegawa kits, but not much of a difference.

References:
  • Arnold GR. Warship Perspectives. Essex Class Aircraft Carriers in World War Two. WR Press.
  • Campbell J. Naval Weapons of World War Two. Conway Maritime Press, London, UK, 1985.  0-85177-329-X
  • Faltum A. The Essex Class Aircraft Carriers. Nautical & Aviation Publishing, 1996.  ISBN: 1-877853-26-7
  • The Floating Drydock. United States Navy Camouflage 1 of the WW2 Era. Part 1. The Floating Drydock, Kresgeville, PA, 1976.  ISBN: 0-944055-01-X
  • The Floating Drydock. United States Navy Camouflage 2 of the WW2 Era. Part 2 Fleet Carriers. The Floating Drydock, Kresgeville, PA, 1976. (this book has been updated with more photos and is newly available on CD from Floating Drydock)
  • Friedman N. U.S. Aircraft Carriers. An Illustrated Design History. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, 1983. ISBN 0-87021-739-9
  • Raven A. Warship Design Histories: Essex-Class Carriers. Naval Institute Press , 1988.  ISBN: 0-87021-021-1
  • Self C. The USS Hornet CV-12 - CVA-12 - CVS12. The Aircraft Carrier USS Hornet Foundation, Inc., 1995.  ISBN: 1-56311-336-3
  • Smith M. Essex Class Carriers in Action. Warships Number 10, Squadron/Signal Publications, Carrollton, TX.  ISBN: 0-89747-373-6
  • Terzibaschitsch S. Aircraft Carriers of the U.S. Navy, 2nd Edition. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, 1989.
  • Wiper S. USS Ticonderoga CV/CVA/CVS-14. Warship Pictorial #22, Classic Warships Publishing, 2004.  ISBN 0-9745687-2-4
Websites:
A Google® search will find many sites for information about the USS Hancock, but my favorites are:

[Painting Guide (with incorrect starboard pattern)] [Water diorama base] [Aircraft]
[Sprues A & B] [Sprues C & F] [Sprues D & H]
[Sprues G] [Hull pieces]

Part 2

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