Hobby Boss 1/1250 USS Ticonderoga CG-47

USS Ticonderoga (1983-2004) has recently been withdrawn from service, the ship has its own web page http://www.navysite.de/cg/cg47.html . From a quick look at the photo gallery I would guess that there has been some slight variation in the colour scheme over the twenty or so years the ship was in service. Other ships of this class are still in service: a Google search will produce plenty of information and photos.  

The preview of a sister ship - Hobby Boss USS Princeton 1:1250 scale, gives a good idea of what the kit is like in the box. Ticonderoga is slightly different in as much as it has above deck missile launchers and a different mast but has the same hull, deck and basic superstructure as the other two models in the series: Vincennes and Princeton. Since that preview was published on M2 I can confirm that Squadron list these kits in the US.

Warning: I am not a skilled modeller and it is several years since I made a plastic kit with decals, so these notes include a few "what I should have done" type comments, which most modellers can laugh at or ignore. 

The plastic needs to be degreased, particularly if you intend to use acrylic paints. I dipped the parts in dishwashing liquid, but even so I had one or two patches where the paint did not adhere properly, so make sure you give the kit a thorough clean first.

I decided to ignore the slight flaw in the hull at the bow. I thought it would be difficult to sand the hull smooth without risking losing some of the details, in fact the "dimple" is not noticeable when the model is painted with flat paint. Since I wanted to make a waterline model I trimmed off the sprues and also the locating sockets inside the hull.

I built the model, assembling parts from the deck up being careful to paint and apply decals to the main deck before the gun mounts were attached. I used polystyrene glue, with no need to use superglue.
The parts all fitted well, there was little need to sand down mould lines and no need for filler. There is a slightly tricky boat arrangement that has to be trapped under the superstructure as it is being fitted. The mast tops were trimmed a small amount at a time until I got a good fit.

I used Testors acrylic paints, thinned and applied with a brush. I painted the small parts before detaching them from the sprues and then touching up after assembly.  I painted the decks "Neutral grey" and the sides "Dark Ghost grey", the mast and funnel (exhausts) black and the Phalanx tops white. Matt Gunze varnish was used on top of the decals.

Probably due to lack of practice I found the decals tended to wrap round themselves and you can probably see in the photo that I did not get them quite right. I also made the mistake of applying the decals straight onto the matt paint, I should have applied gloss varnish first. Even so they snuggled down onto the deck details without the need for any special solutions. After the decals had been applied I painted them over with matt varnish and touched in the deck area with Neutral grey to reduce the contrast in sheen between the decals and the painted plastic, and also to hide the silvering that I had invited by not using gloss varnish first.

Extras (not illustrated)

If you want a little cast metal SH-60 helicopter a foray into the world of wargamers will find them: Regal Distributions http://www.rock-con.com/Regal/index.htm can put you in contact with a suitable local or mail order distributor of the "CAP Aero C3U21 SH-60 Sea Hawk", $3.75 for 5 fuselages, not as expensive as I had feared when drafting the preview. UK distributor is Magister Militum http://www.magistermilitum.com/default.asp . I have heard that PE rotor blades are available, or you could make your own with toothbrush bristles. 

This kit was an enjoyable built, very suitable to revive rusty techniques. I was annoyed with myself over the poor de-greasing and the poor decal application, this is not the fault of the kit. I have bought all three kits in the series and I hope to do a better effort on the next two. I am also looking out for the announced Spruance class destroyers from Hobby Boss in the same scale.

Jeff Simpson

June 2008

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