Trumpeter

1/72 JMSDF Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC)

Kit Number: 7301

Reviewed by  Carl F. Weaver, IPMS# 33610

MSRP: $90.00 Distributed by: Stevens International - Website: www.stevenshobby.com Description According to information from the internet, the LCAC is capable of carrying payloads up to 60-tons (up to 75 tons in an overload condition) at speeds over 40 knots. Fuel capacity is 5000 gallons and the LCAC uses an average of 1000 gallons per hour. Four centrifugal fans driven by the craft's turbine engines supply the air cushion. The air is contained in a flexible skirt system manufactured of rubberized canvas and the LCAC hull structure rides approximately four feet above the surface of land and water. In heavier seas, performance is more limited. A Typical LCAC load includes: 12 HMMWVs (Humvees) or 4 LAVs or 2 AAVs or 1 M1A1 or 4 M923 5-ton trucks or 2 M923 5-Ton Trucks,2 M198 Howitzers, and 2 HMMWVs per sortie. Trumpeter's newest LCAC provides markings for six different Japanese Maritime Self-Defense vessels but it can easily be converted to a late United States Navy ship. It is definitely a good-sized kit - the rubber skirt alone is a little over 13.5 inches long. The rest of the kit is molded in light gray styrene and presented on eight parts trees, plus separately molded main deck and deck underside plates. A large fret of photo-etched grilles and a huge sheet of decals are included. The instructions state there are 338 parts in this kit, and I can believe it with all of the detailing that Trumpeter has provided, still this is not a complex build as each of the deck structures are individual modules that can be assembled and detailed separately, then installed altogether on the main deck when ready. As with the smaller scale version, construction starts on the main deck and works its way up. As with the previous kit, all of the various deck structures mount to the plate, and these house the four turbine engines and ductwork that drive the two main fans and thrusters. Construction Trumpeter does not identify the components so if my descriptions are inaccurate I apologize. Assembly begins with the upper and lower deck pieces. Assembly is simple and what seams there are will be hidden by the skirt or will be invisible on the underside. I deviated from the instructions and did not add the structures until the end to reduce any chance of damaging the assemblies during construction and since the pictures I found on the web showed these vessels in various shades of "aluminum" I thought it would make painting easier. Most of the time is spent on the building the components. There are quite a number of parts with a lot of details. I started with the basic build up - the overall fit is good, but I did have some gaps at the rear bulkhead of the engine modules. There were minimal seams and everything went together rather well. The lift fan modules have the most bulkheads to install and you need to pay close attention in order to get the reinforcement pattern correct on the transverse bulkheads. The curved duct for the bow thruster forms the top of this assembly requires some difficult clean up around the stiffeners. Where the pilothouse and load master enclosures are molded in on piece on the 1/144 scale cousin, several parts make up these structures on this version. The only real difficulty was putting the "flight deck" inside the pilot house. I basically had to tip the house over and trap the window with flight deck instrument panel and then gently tap it into place.

The propulsion fans are a project unto themselves, primarily due to the clean up required. There are some ejector marks on the inside of the shrouds, which will be very visible under metallic paint. I used Squadron white putty to fill in the ejector marks and sanded smooth. The stators and propellers had a seam molded down the middle of each vane, which had to be cleaned up.

The loadmaster's house is in two pieces and there is a very difficult seam to fix. I tried to cover this best I could but you can see it if you look closely. Once the paint had cured, I continued with assembly and added the separate structures and the safety screens after removing the paint from the mating surfaces. I added the skirt using five-minute epoxy to attach it to the hull. The fit is okay, but not great. The skirt has tabs that insert into the hull and these worked well on the front and sides, but not the back. I understand that the skirt is not totally correct, but it appears to match the pictures I have seen. Painting After I assembled the deck, fans and structures I painted the deck airframe aluminum and then masked over the edges and painted the deck weathered black and painted the striping instead of using the decals. I used various shades of Alclad and Floquil Old Silver throughout the build to add interest to an otherwise boring color.

The propeller blades, life rings and strobe marker lights I painted International orange. The stacks I painted burnt metal and painted the interior flat black. Decals There are a lot of decals on this model! They are not hard to work with and they really snuggled down with Solvaset, but it really wasn't needed except for the markings on the ramps. I could not find any modern 1/72 scale Japanese armor to place on my LCAC so I kit bashed decals from my spares to construct a USN vessel. Unfortunately after I had finished I found out they are not entirely accurate. Before applying the stencils to the skirt I brushed several coats of future over the rubber before I applied the stencils Finish I added all of the fiddly bits including the beacon lights and antennas. I did not weather my LCAC because all of the pictures I saw, the "boats" looked clean and shiny. I added Dragon's AAV as a load. There is a very neat picture of an LCAC loaded with humvees painted in Euro camouflage and sand and I was hoping to find enough kits to add to give it some color. But, I had the AAV in the stash and used that instead. Impressions This was a very easy build and quite fun. I wish someone would make a deflated skirt so the boat could be shown offloading. You need to read the directions for the correct pieces as I inadvertently installed a piece backwards as there a number of pieces that look alike but they're not. I have to say that I am impressed. I think Trumpeter really stepped up with this kit. I just read on Hyperscale where someone is scratch building one of these in 1/35th scale. Can you imagine a 1/35 LCAC offloading an Abrams, LAV-25s or humvees? I highly recommend this kit to anyone who is interested in Marine Corps or US Navy subjects. I would like to thank IPMS/USA and Stevens International and Trumpeter for the kit.