A non-biased review of the kit from Rajen's Ship Kit List & Reviews
http://www.quuxuum.org/rajens_list/shiprevs.html
"Enterprise (USN, CVN-65) [1/350]
OK/FAIR. Somebody's gotta say it.. This kit has become kind of notorious for being expensive and huge and yet lacking so much detail. Yes, it's very impressive, and the fit isn't as bad as some reviews would have you believe; mine assembled with little fuss. But for such a high price, and for such an immense kit, this model should have included at least a semblance of a hangar deck and at least a few aircraft of all types carried. If you get this kit and want to make it look really good, be ready to invest plenty of money in sheet plastic and accessory kits, and devote plenty of time.
UPDATE. I wholeheartedly agree with Jodie Peeler's review. Essentially correct in shape and dimension, the kit is big and expensive and lacking detail. It's a nice model out of the box but it begs for detail. It also had some design features that are not so builder-friendly.
The features the builder may have trouble with include aligning the three-piece flight deck so that the seams are smooth. The large hull is molded with a separate bow. Getting the seam smooth requires some putty work and sanding. The lack of a hangar deck is a real shame but can be scratch built. The molded on flight deck netting looks bad but can be replaced using the Gold Medal Models (GMM) photoetched brass detail set.
Before detailing your kit, keep in mind that Enterprise has been in service since the early 1960s and as such her appearance has changed during her service life. The kit shows the ship without her "beehive" radar as she appeared during the eight years between the 1979-1982 refit and her 1990-1993 refit. Fortunately for the builder, Bert Kinsey's "The USS Enterprise in Detail and Scale" ISBN 1-888974-23-0 is a great color photo reference of the ship during this eight-year period. I have annotated where in Bert Kinsey's excellent book the builder can refer to a photograph of the detail in question on board the actual ship.
The ship appears slightly different in detail today than it did before the 1990-1993 refit. Anyone wanting to build the ship as she appears at this writing (October 2001 taking part in air attacks on targets in Afghanistan) should check out the ship's official website for detail changes and the addition of radars to her island superstructure at http://www.navy.mil/homepages/cvn65/.
Here are kit inaccuracies the builder may want to correct:
- GMM's brass set really makes the kit look good. The kit radars look heavy and the lack of details such as watertight doors, hatches, ladders, railings and fire hoses is noticeable. Paint the AN/SPS-49 radar black as well as the two SPN-42 dish antennas but all other island radars should be grey.
- The kit is missing some very noticeable markings. Missing in the kit's instructions and decal sheet is the very large "USS ENTERPRISE CVN-65" marking on the forward face of the real Enterprise's island. On the aft face of the real square island appear "BIG E". The kit's yellow-on-black "BEWARE OF JET BLAST PROPS AND ROTORS" warning marking decals' word order are close but not quite correct. (BK - pg. 40) Dry letter transfers from an art supply store, craft store or hobby shop should do the trick.
- The kit is missing any clear parts. The enclosed mount for the television camera on the port side of the island is missing the very noticeable curved Plexiglas cover. (BK - pg. 42) The kit's island windows are open holes so back them with clear plastic or fill with a "window making" fluid and let harden.
- The kit's starboard side aft AN/SPN-41 automatic landing control radar should be moved outboard so that the outermost supports rest on the rail rather than the flight deck. It is also missing some framing. (BK - pg. 32) Paint the receiver panel white.
- The innermost portion of real Elevator #2 is solid not perforated. (BK - pg. 28)
- The real jet blast deflector for catapult #1 immediately forward of the island has six sections rather than the kit's three. (BK - pg. 22) The jet blast deflectors for catapults #1 and #2 are slightly out of position on the kit but this is not very noticeable.
- There should be yellow ordnance disposal chutes on the flight deck edge at various positions for jettisoning explosives in the event of a fire. (BK - pg. 25) Enterprise suffered a serious fire off Hawaii in 1969 causing nine 500lb Mk 82 bombs loaded aboard burning aircraft to detonate. These noticeable chutes were added to all carriers following that fire and a similar fire aboard USS Forrestal.
- The real aft flight deck edge is angular, not curved. (BK - rear cover)
- The kit's enclosed bow forward face below the catapult overruns is missing the three very prominent bow line ports. (BK - pg. 47)
- The kit is missing the entire landing signal officer platform and head up display at the forward end of the port quarter aft sponson at the flight deck level. (BK - pp. 51-52)
- Omit the kit's starboard side aft Mark 29 Sea Sparrow launcher. It wasn't mounted until the 1990-1993 refit. (BK - pg. 49) Instead, scratch build and install two Mark 36 Rapid Bloom Offboard Chaff (RBOC) launchers here. (BK - pg. 59)
- The insides of the real Mark 29 Sea Sparrow guidance radar shields mounted on the island are painted black not grey. (BK - pp. 56-57)
- The real starboard mid-ships Mark 15 Phalanx Close-in Weapon System (CIWS) is mounted on a much larger box-like structure on top the flight deck edge next to the island. (BK - pg. 58)
- The real port aft (fantail) Mark 15 Phalanx CIWS is mounted on top a much larger box-like structure on a platform at port quarter aft. (BK - pg. 51)
- Scratch build and install two more RBOC launchers aft of the CIWS on the port forward CIWS sponson. (BK - pg. 59)
As for the air wing the kit's planes look perfectly dimensioned. Sadly, the canopies are molded solid with the fuselage. Also, none of the kit planes has folded wings meaning some surgery is required. The planes have no underwing pylons, ordnance or fuel tanks. Tom's Modelworks makes brass detail sets for the aircraft which include landing gear struts and bay doors, weapons pylons, airbrakes, tractor tow bars, refueling probes etc. I know of no actual underwing ordnance details sets or kits for purchase. Drill out the exhaust and inlets with a pin vise.
The kit only has a smattering of aircraft. To get most of the aircraft from the entire carrier air wing the builder will have to purchase additional aircraft sets also made by Tamiya. F/A-18 Hornets are available in these sets. Note that F/A-18 equipped squadrons were NOT assigned to Enterprise until after her 1990-1993 refit but Hornets did serve aboard Enterprise during carrier qualifications before 1990. A C-2 Greyhound can be made by modifying one of the E-2C Hawkeyes. Just flatten the nose, omit the radome, and remove the dihedral from the horizontal stabilizer making it flat. KA-6D tankers can be made from the kit's A-6 Intruders and are normally painted light grey and white for easy identification.
For builders depicting Enterprise's air wing after the 1990-1993 refit, replace the A-7 Corsairs with F/A-18 Hornets, replace SH-3H Sea Kings with six scratch built or kit-bashed SH-60F anti-submarine warfare helicopters and two HH-60H search and rescue helicopters. Replace any KA-6D tankers with KS-3 Viking tankers. The A-6 Intruder is currently retired from Enterprise's air wing being replaced by F/A-18 Hornets so builders should omit A-6s for Enterprise as she appears during operations against targets in Afghanistan. However, EA-6B Prowlers remain.
GMM makes some nice, thin decal sets for the air wing for East Coast (tail code AJ) or West Coast basings of Enterprise. The West Coast set for CVW-11, tail code letters NH, are correct for Enterprise as depicted by the kit including all deployments from 1982 until 1990. The E2-C Hawkeye "Screwtops" decals are NOT correct for CVW-11.
Yes, it is a lot of work but the kit begs for it. So get busy. "
It is probably the best 1:350 scale USS Enterprise there is. MiniHobby Models of China has produced a ripped-off/pantograph copy of the kit which is of lesser quality.
The kit is old and not up to the current standards of the hobby, though better than the box-scale kits of the 50s & 60s. With a kit of this size it cries out for aftermarket detailing. The lack of detail and dated-ness of the kit will be shown to its full extent by an OOB build. My opinion, but bigger is not always better.