Lion Roar

Photoetch 1/700 WWII US Navy Catapults for Battleships For any1/700 US Navy battleship kit

Stock Number: R7061

Reviewed By  Luke R. Bucci, PhD, IPMS #33549

MSRP: $9.00 – 18.00 Website: www.dragonmodelsusa.com Bottom Line: Very accurate and detailed catapults for one fast BB and one slow BB, but building these sets will require some advanced skills. 1/700 USN CATAPULTS REVIEW: The Set Lion Roar adds to its extensive line of photoetch sets for 1/700 scale warships with a US Navy battleship catapult set. There are four total catapults per set, enough to outfit one fast battleship (North Carolina, South Dakota or Iowa classes) and one slow battleship, before or after wartime refits (New York, Nevada, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Tennessee, and Colorado classes). There are also photoetch parts to upgrade US Navy catapult aircraft (two each Kingfishers, Seagull biplanes and Seahawks), including canopy frames. The accuracy of these catapults is excellent. The catapults are in two parts and have reels, platforms, railings and other very tiny parts to add. Railings are very fine and perforated walkways are too small to prevent clogging from painting, but they convey the right look. The Build The instruction sheet simply uses pictures identifying which parts go to which catapults by number. That’s a good thing since the parts look almost identical between catapults. The bad thing is that there are no written instructions to help with the sequence of folding and gluing the additional pieces – only a few arrows. This is a deficiency since it places a burden on the modeler to make all the right moves the first time, which is sometimes not obvious. Those with photoetch experience in 1/700 scale can figure it out, but I foresee some problems for beginners. At least the pieces fold easily and usually fit well enough to not need to be glued. Assembly would be easier if the instructions had pictures of the completed catapults and/or the real things. These catapults and airplane parts are so delicate that extreme care must be taken at all steps of construction – removing pieces from fret; folding and gluing. The tiny size of additional pieces tests the limit of being too small. Likewise, the delicate pieces to be folded are almost too fragile – any false moves and they are bent out of shape. Bending them back into shape is difficult to get to the original appearance. I tried two ways to paint catapults. Airbrushing is a necessity with these delicate creatures. Airbrushing the fret before removal of pieces was compared to airbrushing after assembly. I recommend airbrushing first because getting paint inside the finished catapults is quite difficult. Also, folding seems easier with painted pieces. I had a Trumpeter 05761 USS Massachusetts kit already built out-of-box and in need of photoetch pieces. Since this is a fast battleship, use what is mislabeled as Fast Cruiser catapults (yes, they really are for fast battleships too). Parts 1 & 2 plus others. Lion Roar makes another set for US Navy cruiser catapults (R7064). I suspect they simply cut and pasted the instruction figures to the battleship instructions from the cruiser set instructions. The other two catapults on the fret are for older BBs. You get one simple stern catapult, and one very complicated turret catapult – a real looker when completed. I used an unbuilt Dragon 7040 USS Arizona kit to try out the catapults.

The photoetch catapults were considerably larger than the plastic pieces for all catapults. The photoetch catapults used on the Massachusetts were airbrushed after folding and assembly, which I do not recommend (airbrush the entire fret first, both sides). Nevertheless, they are greatly more detailed than the kit pieces, which were not bad themselves. Adding the aircraft trolleys helped stabilize the Kingfishers and improve the accuracy of the photoetch appearance. Now the Kingfishers have the correct longitudinal angle I saw in photographs. The stern catapult for the Arizona looked much better than the kit part – no comparison. But the biggest difference was the turret catapult. The photetch catapult is simply awesome and makes the kit piece look pathetic. Since I did not install the barrels to the turret, I cannot tell if there will be fit issues, but unless the barrels are maximally elevated, I think the photoetch catapult will fit nicely. Quite an improvement!

I chickened out on the canopy frames. I suspect that they would look better if the plane’s glass area was cut out and the photoetch frame bent (carefully) to fit the hole. One day when I feel insane and have extra aircraft I will give it a try. These should look impressive if the frames can be bent to the proper shape – not an easy proposition. I also have a feeling that the frames are overscale and will look too obvious.

There are three other photoetch sets in 1/700 scale for US Navy battleship catapults. Finemolds, Hasegawa and White Ensign Models have sets of just catapults. Other general sets for USN battleships or for specific ships include catapults (such as Gold Medal Models, Tom’s Modelworks and White Ensign). This Lion Roar catapult set is as good as the best (White Ensign) and superior to others, and gives you enough catapults for two battleships (albeit from different classes). Summary Lion Roar USN battleship catapults are the ultimate in appearance and quality, and are more accurate than most other photoetch sets. A moderate value since a fast battleship and a slow battle ship can be outfitted for about $4-9 each – that’s $2-4 per catapult. But the appearance is unbeatable. Highly recommended for advanced modelers. Others beware.