I just got a couple of the Mirage 1:400 scale 4-pipe destroyers.
Mirage announced these kits back in 2003, not long after Squadron released their 4-Pipe Destroyer In Action book. And I started badgering some of the people who work for Squadron and who are members of my IPMS chapter as to when the kits could be expected. They kept telling me, "In the fall." Fall has finely arrived and I think I can say it was worth the four year wait! Mirage did these kits well!
The kit of the USS Ward comes in 4 sprues of dark gray plastic. The hull is whole hull with no option for waterline. It is split into left and right halves. The bilge keels are merely suggestions. Its fore deck is common for all variants being modeled. The aft deck is on a variant specific sprue. The decks are molded with camber - unlike the old Revell offering. The small parts are finely cast, including things as small as separate bollards and cleats. The lattice work is finely done, but might stand a pass or two with a triangular file to take it down just a smidge. The 20mm guns are a bit overdone. The stack caps will need to be cleaned out and the cross-braces replaced with some wire.
The decals provided are for one ship - the USS Ward (DD139). The painting instructions call for 5-S Sea Blue as the Ward appeared on the morning of December 7th, 1941 when she fired the first US shot of the war.
The instructions are on six sheets covering twenty-four steps including a rigging scheme.
The box art shows the Ward in action firing on the Japanese submarine. It is interesting that included on the back of the box, in addition to the other 4-pipe destroyers previously announced (USS Noa, HMS Montgomery, HnoMS St Albans, and IJN P-102 ex Stewart), there are two Flower-class corvettes to be released. They include a 1939/40 Short Forecastle and a 1940-41 Long Forecastle versions.
I also got the USS Noa as she appeared as a seaplane tender in April 1940, painted in interwar colors. The variant-specific sprue contains a cute little SOC Seagull.
These kits are highly recommended, but be prepared for a lot of little fiddly bits.
