FLAGSHIP MODELS 1/192 U.S.S. MONITOR - A LOOK IN THE BOX
Let me make it clear right from the start that I have no commercial connection with Flagship Models.
This masterpiece is a full-hull multi-media kit comprised of cast resin, white metal and photo-etched brass. Your $60.00 buys you a kit that is complete for every possible configuration of the U.S.S. Monitor, pre-Hampton Roads or post. It even includes a six-piece mini-kit for a deck cannon which may or may not have been present! All you need supply is glue, paint, 1# nylon fishing line and a base.
INSTRUCTIONS: are abbreviated but quite clear and complete, with excellent diagnostic line drawings.
HULL: The cast resin hull is one-piece. There are three tiny pour stubs at the bow, easily sawn and filed off with minimal loss of detail. Careful examination with an 8x magnifier revealed no air bubbles, a remarkable achievement.
TURRET: Cast resin with white-metal cannons and lots of PE brass details. The instructions are thorough on assembly and painting. The turret has one small air bubble which will disappear when I glue the turret to its recessed hole in the hull.
DECK FURNISHINGS: The instructions note that all deck furnishings were removed when the U.S.S. Monitor went into battle. But everything is here should you model it as appearing in port or underweigh, excepting the Y-shaped exhaust, which is only attested to by a probably inaccurate painting. The pre-Hampton Roads pilot house is PE brass; the later one is cast resin with PE brass details.
PHOTO-ETCHED PARTS: Extremely well etched with excellent surface detail (rough surface and/or rivets) where called for.
PARTS CLEANUP: minimal for a multi-media kit. The resin castings are unusually well engineered to minimize filing and sanding.
SUMMARY: This is an excellent representation of the U.S.S. Monitor which overcomes the historical and/or construction shortcomings in every kit of this subject with which I'm familiar, in any scale. Because of its inherent simplicity and large scale, this would be an excellent kit for a beginner to get his or her feet wet with multi-media modeling.