1:700 USS Cleveland CL-55 1945 (Standard Edition)

1:700 USS Cleveland CL-55 1945 (Standard Edition) from Vee Hobby

A plastic kit of the American light cruiser USS Cleveland (CL-55) as she appeared in 1945, in 1:700 from Vee Hobby. The main purchasing distinction is the edition: this is Standard, that is injection-molded plastic and decals. The manufacturer has also released the same vessel in the Deluxe edition, which adds photo-etched parts, metal barrels and deck masking stencils to the same plastic; check the exact scope of both editions on the box.

The real subject

Cleveland was the lead ship of the class of the same name, the most numerous American cruiser class of the Second World War. Compared with the Brooklyn design she gave up one gun turret in favor of heavier anti-aircraft defense, so the main battery consisted of twelve guns of 152 mm caliber in four triple turrets. The year 1945 is the appearance in that year: Cleveland went through a major refit in the United States at the end of 1944 and returned to the western Pacific in February 1945. She took part in the recapture of Corregidor and in further Philippine landings, and in the summer of 1945 she attacked Japanese merchant shipping.

Building and painting tips

Try the hull parts dry first; in 1:700 every gap shows on the superstructures. Spray the bottom of the hull and the waterline before you glue on the railings and cranes. Bring out the decks by washing a darker shade into the engraved seams. Join photo-etched railings and ladders with cyanoacrylate glue, and apply the decals onto a gloss base. Add rigging from stretched sprue at the very end.

Who the model is for

• modelers who build American cruisers in their late wartime appearance
• collectors of 1:700 and of the lead ships of individual classes
• builders for whom plastic with decals is enough and who add photo-etch themselves

The model is supplied unassembled and unpainted. Glue, paints and accessories are not included in the package, unless stated otherwise.