Revell USS Wasp (LHD 1)

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1:350 scale
Reviewed by: Mathew Barron

Our thanks to Revell for providing the review sample.

News Just In

Hello Geoff

I am really enjoying the magazine since I joined. Just a comment for your reviewer on the pedigree of the Revell USS Wasp if I can.

The kit is actually marketed by Gallery Models, which seems to be a subsidiary of Trumpeter, going by the look of the instruction sheet and paint chart
For whatever reason, in Europe the kit is re-boxed as Revell. In Japan it will be available under the Fujimi label and in North America as Academy. Here in Australia one can get both the Gallery and Academy boxings. I believe this applies in the USA also. Whatever the boxing, the plastic inside is exactly the same. I know this may sound trivial, just thought some of your readers may be interested as it may well mean they can pick it up cheaper somewhere under a different label. The above information was verified by my local hobby shop owner after attending the recent Melbourne Toy Fair and speaking to the Academy distributer keep up the good work
Regards
Bruce Anders

USS Wasp (LHD 1) is a U.S. Navy multipurpose amphibious assault ship, the tenth to bear the name, the flagship of the Second Fleet and the lead ship of her class. She was built by the Ingalls Shipbuilding division of Litton in Pascagoula, Mississippi. The Navy-Marine Corps team’s newest amphibious warship has as its primary mission the support of a Marine Landing Force. USS Wasp and her sister ships are the first specifically designed to accommodate new Landing Craft, Air Cushion (LCAC) for fast troop movement over the beach and Harrier II (AV-8B) Vertical/Short Take-Off and Landing (V/STOL) jets which provide close air support for the assault force. Wasp, which is 257 m long with a beam of 32 m, also accommodates the full range of Navy and Marine Corps helicopters, conventional landing craft, and amphibious vehicles.

The Kit

First thing I’m going to say is the box is HUGE, just a little bit smaller than the 1:72nd Gato Class Submarine. When you open the box there really isn’t any space left in it, everything is well packed and protected, even down to the P.E. frets being individually shrink wrapped in their own plastic bag. So much, that when I got the kit home and decided to look at every sprue in the box (come on, we all do it, and yes I mean you!!) it took me a good twenty minutes to re-pack all the parts so the box lid would shut. Anyway I digress, onto the rest of the kit….

Instructions & Painting Guide.

The instructions are up to the usual Revell standard, well thought out and really easy to follow. The instructions are 36 pages long (cover to cover) as you can see from the sample pictures the diagrams are easy to follow. My only problem (it’s a small one, and the only thing I think is wrong with the instructions) is the paint chart, which has the usual 60%/40% mixtures, that just don’t really appeal to me. But this problem will be easily overcome. The painting guides are excellent, one side covers the USS Wasp itself, with the decal placement, unfortunately the paint numbers refer to the Revell colours, but like the instructions are very clear. On the reverse side of this all the vehicles (both armour and aircraft) showing colours and decal placement, again they are very clear and easy to follow.

The USS Wasp

The ship comes with a one piece full hull which nearly takes up half of the box, and is a very impressive (large) piece of plastic. This obviously leads to the fact the kit doesn’t have a waterline option (although somebody VERY VERY brave or stupid, I’m not sure which could cut the bottom of the hull). There is also a very well detailed ‘wet’ hangar for the landing and hover craft and aircraft hangar. This is well set up for someone to add lighting which could show off the interior to its best potential (That’s not me though!!). The second largest piece in the kit is the main deck which runs nearly the whole 73cm’s of the kit. Again this is well cast with raised and recessed detail where applicable, the only blemishes on this kit are in the places nobody will see when it’s built. See the images below: