The USS Fletcher
The first of the US Navy's Fletcher-class destroyers, the USS Fletcher (DD445) was to have a long and storied career from 1942 to 1969. Here's a link to the USS Fletcher Association for history and pics of this important ship.http://www.ussfletcher.org/
Tamiya kit # 902: DD445 USS Fletcher
Part of the Tamiya "Water Line Series," the kit was released in 1996. It consists of three sets of sprue trees, instructions, and a small sheet of decals. The grey plastic is of great quality, with the parts well cast and almost entirely free of flash. The instructions consist of a single sheet of paper, written in Japanese and English, with the history of the ship on the front and assembly instructions on the back. Assembly instructions are clear and well thought-out.
Paint colors and markings are, however, less than ideal. For this you use the back of the box where you get a starboard-side profile, and an overhead view, of the ship. Paint call-outs are for Tamiya paints.
USS Fletcher build
There is little to say other than that everything went together well and without any drama. This kit was a pleasure to build.
But painting was a whole other matter (and has nothing to do with the kit - just me and my paint/painting technique for small models
). The camo scheme is for the ship in 1942 and really consists of only four colors. I used the following Model Master enamel paints:1. #2056: 5H Haze Gray USN (for vertical superstructure).
2. #2157: 5-0 Ocean Gray USN (for hull and camo on vertical superstructure).
3. #1717: Dark Sea Blue - close equivalent for 5N Navy Blue (for hull camo).
4. #2159: 20B Weather Deck Blue USN (for all horizontal decking).
The Weather Deck Blue paint was my nemesis. It goes on like white or yellow paints and requires multiple coats to look right.
The other paints went on okay. Because of the camo pattern, I would suggest you paint some of the parts before gluing them in place on the deck. Otherwise you'll be in for a lot of unnecessary (and difficult) work later.The decal sheet consists of ship numbers (445 or 446) and two American flags.
Here's what came about as a result (sorry Tamiya, I didn't do you justice):
Conclusion
This is a nicely done kit of a very famous ship. It has no vices and is worth considering.
