USS Lassen DDG – 82

Trumpeter, 1/350 scale

Reviewed by Al Bowie

Trumpeter's 1/350 scale USS Lassen is available online from Squadron.com
 

This is the first Trumpeter Large scale ship kit I have had the pleasure to see and if this is an example of Trumpeter's 1/350 scale ships, there will be a few more in my stash down the track.

The USS Lassen is a Flight IIA (OSCAR AUSTIN), a sub class of the highly successful Arleigh Burke (AB) DDG family. She differs from the earlier AB DDG’s in being slightly longer , having two helicopter hangers, a 5”/62 cal Mk 45 Mod 4 gun, Additional Vertical Launch System (VLS) cells and the deletion of the Harpoon launchers and Towed Sonar. The class were designed to fill a gap in the US Navy’s Littoral warfare capability and introduced an in theatre anti ballistic Missile (ABM) capability at the same time.

The Lassen is named after Naval helicopter pilot Clyde Everett Lassen who earned his Congressional Medal of Honour rescuing downed aviators during the Vietnam War. A description of his action meriting the award can be found here:

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/navy/ddg-82.htm

This is not the first kit of an Arleigh Burke class DDG in 1/350 scale with kits by Panda and later DML also being available. This kit offers a slightly different Flight IIA configuration from the others and is far more detailed than the PANDA/DML offerings.

The kit comes in a typical sturdy Trumpeter box with a lovely painted rendition of the Lassen at sea. The size of the box in no way betrays the contents and one is confronted with a box packed with styrene and PE and a full colour A3 sized painting guide.

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The hull of the kit is presented in Trumpeter's typical style of being split on the waterline and the upper is a one piece molding. The below waterline part is in a wine red plastic and an optional flat piece is providing for those wishing to do a waterline model.

This style of hull construction is far preferable to the old two halves split along the keel this author remembers from his early shipbuilding years on the old Airfix 1/600 ships.

Another feature of the kit is the clear styrene moldings of the two 1/350 SH 60 Seahawks which are finely detailed and hollow so that when they are painted they won’t look like the usually 1/350 aircraft solid lump. The bridge window array is similarly presented in clear styrene.

The kit has been thoughtfully designed and follows a modular process similar to the real thing obviously allowing maximum mold re use. Details are faithfully reproduced and I was amazed to see how well these were done and that a lot of the deck fittings were separate detailed parts unlike other 1/350 ships I have where they are molded as part of the deck.

Construction should be straightforward with the hull and two levels of deck starting the process and giving a 44 cm (nearly 17”) long hull to adorn with hundreds of detail parts.

Construction proceeds in earnest with detailing the forward deck area , amidships decks with stunningly detailed RIB’s (Rigid inflatable Boats), Light deck guns X 6 (25mm (2) & 50 cal (4)?); and triple launcher tubes for the ships Torpedos. At this stage the PE safety nets for the Aircraft deck are added. The inclusion of these finely detailed PE frets along with the Railings is a great touch.

From here we build the modular forward and rear superstructure which like every other area of this kit is highly detailed down to multipart Fire direction radars and Phalanx CIWS. The various multi barrelled Chaff dispensers are very well done. Literally a few hundred parts make up the forward and rear superstructure giving an idea of the detail included. The complex masthead is packed with a huge array of antennas that match the online references well and appear to be very complete in this kit. The rear superstructure includes the Hanger Bays which even have interiors including a great rendition of the RAST Recovery, Assist, Securing, and Traversing Track continuing out onto the rear deck.

Construction of the two SH 60’s is next with the option of fully folded or operational rotors. The SH 60 comprise 8 parts each.

This is followed by the lower hull fittings (shafts, props and Sonar bulge on the Bow) and finally a nice four part stand with molded nameplate.

The decal sheet is pretty comprehensive and has the large ships crest, deck markings, Ships numbers, name etc plus Ships pennant and the US Flag. A nice touch is the inclusion of additional ships numbering in the familiar naval block script in White with Shadowing.

Unfortunately the ships number is portrayed in White which was fine for her earlier service but presently she carries a more subdued grey Number which is not included. The only markings provided for the SH 60’s are small subdued NAVY markings for the tail booms. Printing is typical of Trumpeter decals with everything in register on my sample.

Trumpeter has done a remarkable job with this kit getting the details right and and the moldings superb. It is sensibly engineered and should pose no problems to an experienced builder. If you do not like lots of detail parts then the much simpler DML kit may be an option but does not represent this particular sub-sub class of Arleigh Burkes.

I would have to say the inclusion of the PE and the level of detail through puts this kit close to one of the best 1/350 kits I have ever seen. It will present little challenge when building and result in a stunningly detailed replica of an early Flight IIA Arleigh Burke Destroyer. Judging by the parts included this will not be the last Arleigh Burke DDG from Trumpeter.
Highly recommended

Further history of Arleigh Burke class including specifications, pictures, ship list, class differences and schematics may be found here:

Thanks to J.B. Wholesalers for the sample

Review Text Copyright © 2009 by Alistair Bowie
Page Created 27 February, 2009
Last updated 27 February, 2009

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