Search the Community

USS New York, BB-34 Trumpeter 1:350 Designated USS New York (BB-34) and USS Texas (BB-35), the new type featured ten 14" guns mounted in five twin turrets. These were placed with two forward and two aft in superfiring arrangements while the fifth turret was situated amidships. The secondary armament consisted of twenty-one 5" guns and four 21" torpedo tubes. Power for the New York-class ships came from fourteen Babcock & Wilcox coal-fired boilers driving vertical triple expansion steam engines. These turned two propellers and gave the vessels a speed of 21 knots. Protection for the ships came from a 12" main armour belt with 6.5" covering the vessels' casemates. Construction of New York was assigned to the New York Navy Yard in Brooklyn and work commenced on September 11, 1911. Proceeding over the next year, the battleship slid down the ways on October 30, 1912, with Elsie Calder, daughter of Representative William M. Calder, serving as sponsor. Eighteen months later, New York entered service on April 15, 1914, with Captain Thomas S. Rodgers in command. A descendant of Commodore John Rodgers and Captain Christopher Perry (father of Oliver Hazard Perry and Matthew C. Perry), Rodgers immediately took his ship south to support the American occupation of Veracruz. Arriving off the Mexican coast, New York became the flagship of Rear Admiral Frank F. Fletcher that July. The battleship remained in the vicinity of Veracruz until the end of the occupation in November. Steaming north, it conducted a shakedown cruise before arriving at New York City in December. While in port, New York hosted a Christmas party for local orphans. Well-publicized, the event earned the battleship the moniker "The Christmas Ship" and established a reputation of public service. Joining the Atlantic Fleet, New York spent much of 1916 conducting routine training exercises along the East Coast. In 1917, following the US entry into World War I, the battleship became flagship of Rear Admiral Hugh Rodman's Battleship Division 9. That autumn, Rodman's ships received orders to reinforce Admiral Sir David Beatty's British Grand Fleet. Reaching Scapa Flow on December 7, the force was re-designated the 6th Battle Squadron. Commencing training and gunnery exercises, New York stood out as the best American ship in the squadron. Tasked with escorting convoys in the North Sea, the battleship accidentally rammed a German U-boat on the night of October 14, 1918 as it entered Pentland Firth. The encounter broke off two of the battleship's propeller blades and reduced its speed to 12 knots. Crippled, it sailed for Rosyth for repairs. En route, New York came under attack from another U-boat, but the torpedoes missed. Repaired, it rejoined the fleet to escort the German High Seas Fleet into internment following the war's conclusion in November. Briefly returning to New York City, New York then escorted President Woodrow Wilson, aboard the liner SS George Washington, to Brest, France to take part in the peace negotiations. Resuming peacetime operations, the battleship conducted training activities in home water before a brief refit which saw a reduction in the 5" armament and the addition of 3" anti-aircraft guns. Transferred to the Pacific later in 1919, New York began service with the Pacific Fleet with San Diego serving as its home port. Returning east in 1926, it entered Norfolk Navy Yard for an extensive modernization program. This saw the coal-fired boilers replaced with new Bureau Express oil-fired models, the trunking of the two funnels into one, installation of an aircraft catapult on the amidships turret, addition of torpedo bulges, and the replacement of the lattice masts with new tripod ones. After conducting training with USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) and USS Arizona (BB-39) in late 1928 and early 1929, New York resumed routine operations with the Pacific Fleet. In 1937, the battleship was selected to transport Rodman to Britain where he was to serve as the US Navy's official representative at the coronation of King George VI. While there, it took part in the Grand Naval Review as the lone American vessel. Returning home, New York commenced a refit which saw the expansion of its anti-aircraft armament as well as the installation of XAF radar set. The second ship to receive this new technology, the battleship conducted tests of this equipment as well as transported midshipmen on training cruises. With the beginning of World War II in Europe in September 1939, New York received orders to join the Neutrality Patrol in the North Atlantic. Operating in these waters, it worked to protect the sea lanes against encroachment by German submarines. Continuing in this role, it later escorted American troops to Iceland in July 1941. In need of further modernization, New York entered the yard and was there when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7. With the nation at war, work on the ship moved quickly and it returned to active duty four weeks later. An older battleship, New York spent much of 1942 aiding in escorting convoys to Scotland. This duty was broken up in July when its anti-aircraft armament underwent a major enhancement at Norfolk. Departing Hampton Roads in October, New York joined the Allied fleet to support the Operation Torch landings in North Africa. On November 8, in company with USS Philadelphia, USS New York attacked Vichy French positions around Safi. Providing naval gunfire support for the 47th Infantry Division, the battleship neutralized enemy shore batteries before steaming north to join Allied forces off Casablanca. It continued to operate off North Africa until retiring to Norfolk on November 14. Resuming escort duties, New York shepherded convoys to North Africa into 1943. Later that year, it underwent a final overhaul which saw further additions to its anti-aircraft armament. New York spent from July 1943 to June 1944 assigned to the Annapolis Naval Academy at Chesapeake Bay as a gunnery training ship, engaged in educating sailors for the fleet. Though effective in this role, it badly reduced morale among the permanent crew. Following a series of midshipmen cruises in the summer of 1944, New York received orders to transfer to the Pacific. Passing through the Panama Canal that fall, it arrived at Long Beach on December 9. Completing refresher training on the West Coast, the battleship steamed west and joined the support group for the invasion of Iwo Jima. En route, New York lost a blade from one of its propellers which necessitated temporary repairs at Eniwetok. Rejoining the fleet, it was in position on February 16 and commenced a three-day bombardment of the island. Withdrawing on the 19th, New York underwent permanent repairs at Manus before resuming service with Task Force 54. Sailing from Ulithi, New York and its consorts arrived off Okinawa on March 27 and began bombardment of the island in preparation for the Allied invasion. Remaining offshore after the landings, the battleship provided naval gunfire support for the troops on the island. On April 14, New York narrowly missed being struck by a kamikaze though the attack resulted in the loss of one its spotting aircraft. After operating in the vicinity of Okinawa for two and half months, the battleship departed for Pearl Harbor on June 11 to have its guns relined. Entering the harbour on July 1, it was there when the war ended the following month. In early September, New York conducted an Operation Magic Carpet cruise from Pearl Harbor to San Pedro to return American servicemen home. Concluding this assignment, it shifted to the Atlantic to take part in Navy Day festivities in New York City. Due to its age, New York was selected as a target ship for the Operation Crossroads atomic tests at Bikini Atoll in July 1946. Surviving both the Able and Baker tests, the battleship returned to Pearl Harbor under tow for further examination. Formally decommissioned on August 29, 1946, New York was taken from port on July 6, 1948 and sunk as a target. The Model It’s is certainly good to see the older and maybe slightly lesser known battleships are finally being modelled. With their long careers they certainly give the manufacturers scope to provide the ships from different eras. So, at last we have a model of USS New York in 1:350 and in some quarters it has been eagerly anticipated. The kit arrives in a surprisingly small box for the type of ship, but then the USS New York isn’t the largest of battleships compared with the later fast battleships of WWII. The top opening box, with a painting of the ship anchored off an anonymous island, contains the two hull halves; split longitudinally, ten sprues of light grey styrene, ten separate grey styrene parts, two sprues of clear styrene, three sheets of etched brass, a stand and a small decal sheet. When checking the kit over and looking at the details it seems Trumpeter have done a very nice job, with lots of fine moulded detail, good definition, cleanly moulded with no sign of flash but with quite a few moulding pips. The only areas that are a bit rough are on the loose superstructure parts where they have obviously been removed from a sprue, but it’s not really anything to worry about as it should only take a few swipes with a sanding stick to clean up. Unfortunately it seems the Trumpeter gremlin has struck again with the hull. Whilst the length, beam and general shape is pretty much spot on, including the bow section, although there are some slight shape issues with the stern and even the hull plates, slightly over done, but easily sorted with some wet and dry, it is the bulges that cause the biggest problems. Having checked out numerous drawings and photo graphs it definitely seems that the top shelves of the bulges are way off in depth. The ship certainly had a shelf at the top of the bulges, but it was only around two feet wide, whereas the models shelf must be around six feet. I have no idea why the designer/s have done this, as there are plenty of photographs and drawings to view, but I guess that would take some proper research to be done, and it will be very hard to fix their mistake unless they modify the moulds and re-release it. If you can get over this pretty major problem then the rest of the build will probably prove to be a delight, as Trumpeter’s latest maritime kits do seem to go together rather well. As for the build, it begins with the fitting of the two hull halves between which are four bulkheads and two joining parts for the bow and stern. The main deck is provided in two sections, the joint of which is fortunately covered by the superstructure, so there’s no worry about filling an awkward seam. Turning the hull upside down the four keel strakes, two propeller shafts, A frame supports, and propellers plus the rudder are attached. Before moving on, several sub-assemblies and PE parts are constructed. These include the PE inclined ladders, PE floater baskets, forty two 20mm Oerlikon mounts with PE shields, two director towers with PE radar dish, twelve 5” gun mounts, and eight quad 40mm mountings with PE railings. Six of the 5” mounts are fitted just forward of amidships before the large deck 01 is attached. This needs several holes drilled through before the fitting as the ship is at a different mod state than the soon to be released sister ship USS Texas. On either side of the hull, aligned with 01 deck, a section of what used to be the barbette emplacements is attached. The bridge area is now assembled, which includes 02 deck, armoured steering bridge, 03 deck and secondary bridge along with two lookout points. The bridge structure is then glued into position along with two ready use lockers, signal lamps, large and small and two binocular stands. The instructions also call for some of the railings, inclined ladders and floater nets to be fitted, but it may be prudent to leave these till nearer the end of the build. The underside of the upper bridge deck/mast is also fitted out with PE braces and struts before being turned over and fitted with the forward main director two rangefinders, two aldis lamps and six 0mm Oerlikons. The two inclined mast poles and underside deck supports are attached and the sub-assembly fitted above the bridge, followed by the mast pole which has two lookout tubs attached along with their roof. Once again the railings and inclined ladders are due to be fitted at this point. The upper spotting top is now assembled, complete with two 20mm Oerlikons, PE baffles, yardarms and a very nice PE radar antenna. This is then fitted to the top of the mast structure along with two PE inclined access ladders. Attention is then quickly focused onto the foredeck, with the fitting of the metal anchor chains, PE hawse pipe gratings and styrene windlasses, cleats, bollards and Jackstaff. Moving aft, more ready use lockers are fitted round the bridge structure and mid AA gun deck. These are followed by several deckhouses, complete with attached Carley floats four quad 40mm mounts, eight 5” mounts and six 20mm Oerlikons alongside B Barbette, A Barbette and the anchor windlasses. Aft of the forward superstructure all the way back to the quarterdeck, or fantail in this case, numerous ready use lockers, ventilation mushrooms, intakes, davits, and other ephemera are fitted. Four more deckhouse sub assemblies are then constructed and fitted with either Carley floats or 20mm Oerlikons and floater baskets, before being fitted into their respective positions, followed by four Quad 40mm mounts, four 5” mounts, a practice 5” loader and twenty 20mm Oerlikons. The funnel is assembled next; it comes in two halves and is fitted with a styrene funnel cap and base. It’s completed with auxiliary steam pipes, PE funnel guards and railings before being fitted into position. The next sub assembly is what looks like an auxiliary bridge on top of a large intake trunk, capped with a small radar antenna. This is fitted just aft of the funnel along with four ships boats onto their respective cradles. More of the ships superstructure railings are now attached as well as the remainder of the floater baskets. The two cranes are assembled from a mixture of PE and styrene parts which should make them look really good once painted up. With these in place the build moves onto the five 14” main turrets. Each turret consists of the base, turret, and the two gun barrels, which whilst they are quite nicely done, they would be better replaced with turned metal items. The centre turret is fitted with a very nicely detailed PE catapult, complete with walkways and supports. With the build in its final stages the five turrets are fitted and the main mast is assembled from a series of decks, three mast poles, and fitted with the after main director, upper mast four 20mm Oerlikons, ready use lockers and railings before being attached to the ship. The kit comes complete with two OS2U Kingfisher aircraft on the two clear sprues, (not to everyone’s taste). These are assembled from two fuselage halves, separate floats and propeller. Unfortunately there appears to be only room for one on the model and that would be attached to the catapult, as there isn’t a handling trolley for the other to sit on, although one of the aftermarket companies may rectify this. Last task is to fit all the upper deck railings and set the completed model onto the large stand provided. Decals The small decal sheet provides national markings and codes numbers for the ships aircraft, the ships name for the stern and her ID number for the Bows and stern quarters, the Stars and Stripes in plain and wavy form. Conclusion Well, Trumpeter seems to have done it again, by snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. The kit itself looks great and I’m sure it will look fabulous when built and painted; it’s just that it will be a beautifully inaccurate model. There may be many who just don’t care or even recognise the faults and will happily enjoy building this great ship and love having it in their collection. For the purists and those who know the ship well it will be a disaster and for that reason I can only recommend this kit if you’re one of the not fussed about accuracy camp. Review sample courtesy of

USS New York LPD 21 Revell 1:350 The U.S.S. New York is a US Navy amphibious transport ship. It is one of the San Antonio Class designed according to the principles of stealth technology. The ships of this class are used for amphibious warfare and to transport US Marines, their vehicles and equipment. The ship therefore has three decks with about 2,300 m² of space for combat vehicles. In addition to the basic crew of 360 men there is room for further 700-800 marines. The landing craft, equipment and soldiers can be landed through the floodable well deck aft. In addition the ship has a large landing deck with hangar. However helicopters are not permanently carried, but can be temporarily stationed on board for individual missions. The special feature of the ship however is its name. After the terrorist attacks of 11th September 2001, the then governor of New York asked the then Secretary of the Navy to name a warship in the war against terror after the city of New York. This request was met; the U.S.S. New York was launched on 19th December 2007 and went into service on 7th November 2009. There were even 6.8 tonnes of steel from the ruins of the World Trade Center incorporated in the forepart. The Model Arriving at BM Towers this large kit comes in its own cardboard box. The kits box has a representation of the ship at sea with the various landing craft and aircraft around the ship, on the flightdeck and flying. Much like the USS Wasp and USS Iwo Jima this kit is released by Revell, MPC/Gallery and I believe Trumpeter for different markets around the world. As with the other ships, this was a pleasant surprise being somewhat a left field choice of ship model. That said it is very well done with beautifully crisp mouldings, particularly the large single piece hull, (well it is if you discount the separate bulbous bow), and main deck/superstructure parts. Other than the separate hull and deck section, there are 11 sprues of light grey styrene for the ship, six for the LCACs and LCU’s, and two for the AAVP-7s. Then there are twelve clear sprues for the air complement, a large display stand in black styrene, three sheets for PE and a length of brass coloured chain. In total there are 767 parts and the completed model measures out to 594mm in length. Including the builds for the helicopters, landing craft, Ospreys and AAVP-7s, there 125 steps in the instructions to complete the model. Unlike most ship builds, this one doesn’t start with the hull, but with the interior well/dock and vehicle decks. The well deck is built up of the bottom and two side pieces, which have very nice detail moulding of the wooden dock faces that some careful painting and weathering will really bring out. To the dock sides two marshalling platforms are added either side of the loading ramp. The vehicle deck and ramp assembly, which also includes the hanger deck, begins with the deck, three transverse bulkheads and two walkways being fitted together, followed by the rear bulkhead with walkway and vehicle ramp roof. This assembly is then attached to the rear of the well deck. Since not much of this detail will be visible through the small opening in the stern, it is crying out for some lighting to be added to the build, either fibre optic or LEDs, so some thought to this will be needed before putting glue to plastic. At this point the instructions call for the modeller to build several sub assemblies. These include the main crane for the ships centre section deck. The crane is built up of a five piece operators cabin, main boom arm, hook, and the five piece Low Observable housing, including three PE parts, into which the crane folds when not in use. The starboard side boat housing, consisting of a two part RIB, (two boats are required to be built), deck and internal box structure. Two RAM launchers are then assembled, with the missile box having two PE end pieces fitted, followed by the support arms and pedestals. With these done it’s back to the main build, with three internal strengthening bulkheads, and hawsepipe fitted to the forward hull, transom to the rear and the completed vehicle/dock assembly in-between. The RIB housing and another open deck port are then fitted to the inside of the starboard side of the main deck structure. Turning the main deck over, the after bulkhead of the forward superstructure is fitted with a PE grille and glued into position, as is the hanger bulkhead with its hanger door, (which has optional parts for open or closed doors), and the stores/ammunition lift door, after which the main deck can be attached to the hull section along with the foredeck. The upper dock door is then attached to the transom, along with a lower hull extension piece and the two piece lower door with its associated actuator arms. Although it might be an idea to leave these off until later in the build as there will be a tendency to knock them off. Turning the hull over the two bilge keels can be fitted as can the rudders prop shafts, A frame supports and propellers, depending on how the completed model is to be displayed, particularly in a diorama, these items can be left off unlike the two part bulb which is fitted to the bow. With the now completed hull upright the rest of the build continues with the superstructure and sundry fittings. The instructions have the modeller start at the aft end and moves forward. This means that there will be quite a few fragile pieces to knock off whilst carrying out with the build, whereas it may be better to start at the bow and work toward the stern. If keep with the instructions the catwalks around the flightdeck are fitted along with their PE railings, inclined ladders and styrene aerials, in either upright or folded options, plus several styrene catwalk fittings. To complete the flightdeck, the PE side netting is fitted. Several sub assemblies can also be built, including the two part large RIB and trolley, mid section deckhouse, grilles, mainmast bases and the mainmasts, with their top aerial arrays, railings, and other fittings. The side and front of the rear superstructure are then glued into place, as are several deck fittings, a RAM launcher, rear gun turret and deckhouse,. The small RIB built earlier is now attached to its trolley and fitted to the ships mid deck section with the large RIB/trolley, PE inclined ladders and further fittings. More sub assemblies to be built are four five piece decoy launchers and two, two piece launchers, the port side transverse bulkhead/side of the mid deck section with its additional supports roof part and door. Once completed, this assembly can also be fitted to the mid deck as can the crane built earlier. The two mainmast assemblies can now be glued into place on the upper decks, as are the multiple decoy launchers, PE railings, liferafts and their PE supports, funnel assemblies, satnav dome assemblies, deck houses, navigation radar, and bridge. On the sides of the bridge pair of platforms and ECM aerials are fitted. The deckhouse structure is then built up on the foredeck, directly in front of the bridge. To this, a RAM launcher is fitted along with a further deckhouse, front gun housing and gun turret. Finally the foredeck fittings, such as capstains, bitts, footplates, and capstain control shields are glued into place as are the anchors and anchor chains. With the ship completed, it’s on to the various helicopters and landing craft. Each of these is a little kit in themselves, with the following included:- 2 x AH-1W Cobras 2 x UH-1N Hueys 2 x MV-22 Ospreys 2 x CH-46E Sea Knights 2 x CH-53E Sea Stallions 2 x LCACs 2 x AAVP-7s 1 x LCU Each helicopter comes in multiple parts, with separate skids, wheels, folded or extended main rotor blades, tail rotors, and stabilisers. Whilst the Ospreys have a single piece fuselage, wing fairing, wing, horizontal tailplane, vertical stabilisers, engine nacelles, and props either folded or extended. It is doubtful that all these aircraft would be in use at the same time on this type of ship, but any surplus could be used on either the USS Wasp or USS Iwo Jima kits that Revell have also released. The LCU is built up of lower hull, shrouded props, tank deck, deck surround, loading ramp, five piece bridge structure, exhausts and several aerials. The two LCACs consist of a two part lower hull/skirt, tank deck, fore and aft loading ramps, port and starboard bridge structures, radar aerials, and exhausts. The shrouded fans fitted to the rear of the LCACs are made up with the fans, protective grilles, drive shafts, and twin deflectors/rudders. The AAVP-7s consist of an upper and lower hull, turret, and wheel/tracks. Decals There are three decal sheets included in the kit. One large one covering the ship, including the complex flightdeck markings, which come as separate strips and circles, so will need careful placement to get them all in the correct positions. The sheet also includes decals for the ships pennant number, fore and aft, danger circles for the RAM launchers, and guns, capstain tops, depth markers and ships name for the upper dock door. There is another large sheet providing all the decals required for the various helicopters, Osprey and landing craft, plus very large national flags, both in flat and wavy form. The smallest of the three sheets, only has five decals on it, which look like some form of crest and whilst the placement sheet shows where these go, it is as unclear as to be next to useless. Research shows that these are the Never Forget crests that were painted on the anchor plates and in front of the bulbous bow markings. They should only be used if the ship is to be modelled as she was at her commissioning ceremony. Conclusion Revell have done it again with their collaboration with MRC/Gallery and produced a very well designed model of an interesting class of ship. Whilst some purists may say the latest ships of the worlds navies are quite boring due to their “stealthy†characteristics, this is the way things are going and I think its great that model manufacturers are providing us with newer classes as well as older ones. With all the parts, etch, aircraft, and landing craft this will build into a great model and whilst it is full hull the open dock with full interior will give loads of scope to super detail and use in a diorama with the dock flooded. Not for the faint hearted for sure, but it has the potential to build into an award winning model. Highly recommended. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit

Hi, After almost 5 years I’m resuming to build model warships at 1/700. I ordered the USS New York LPD-21 from Cyber-hobby as well as extra RIM-116 from WEM produced by Orange-hobby. The level of detail of the Orange-hobby RIM's is amazing and they have the correct dimensions. The same cannot be said regarding the original RIM's. I also added Edward railings and SBROC's. The flight deck will have 2x MV-22 Osprey (included in the kit), 1x UH-1N Twin Huey from WEM (Ref. AS 7177) and 2x or 3x AH-1W Super Cobra from WEM (Ref. AS 7176). One of the MV-22 will be folded (main wing and propellers) on the way to the hangar and the second one parked with the rear ramp opened. I still have in mind to put a hovering MV-22 Osprey from WEM (AS 7077) with a Humvee from JAG (Ref. JAG 803) or a 155mm howitzer included in the JMSDF LST 4002 Shimokita Tamiya Kit. The following image shows a similar configuration what I have in mind to my LPD, but without the Sea Stallions. As far as the MV-22 Osprey camouflage pattern concern, this is the scheme I used: I used a RHIB inside the starboard side behind the large sliding door with a scratch crane, as the Cyber-hobby kit does not include a single one! I must order some extra RHIB from WEM to storage amidships. The stern gate will be open with a LCAC also included in the Cybery-hobby kit with a couple of Humvees or M923 Trucks (Ref. JAG 802). For the time been the LPD will be temporarily placed with a full hull configuration in the stand provided with the kit, but in the future this will be my first project with a model in a water diorama. Now some photos: I'm still working on the Nulka launchers to be placed near the SBROC Launchers. Hope you like it! Thanks. Regards, Ayala Botto