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Recommended WWII US Aircraft Carrier 1/700


100SQN

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Simon,

 

First, if you want to make a 1/700 USN WWII Aircraft Carrier, you are fortunate in that just about all of them are available in one way or another.  As a result the claim of “Best” is tough to answer.  Here are the available options.  Note, I have owned/built or still own almost all of the ones below:

CV-1 Langley

Loose Cannon-Resin

Only one is in resin and from what I have seen, pretty nice kit.  Hard to find

CV-2/3 Lexington/Saratoga

Fujimi –Lex Older kit, nice but there are better alternatives.

Meng – Lex & Sara, very new, Meng’s first ships kits and from their reputation, likely to be pretty good.  This is one of the few that I don’t own.

Tamiya, Sara late war only.  IMHO, the best one available especially if you can find the one with the Pontos upgrade set

Trumpeter.  Can make early war Lex as well as pre-war Sara.  No bad kit and cheaper and easier to find than Tamiya. 

Pit-Road. Not seen these but believe they were the kits that the Trumpeter ones were based on.

CV-4 Ranger

Corsair Armada.  Resin but beautiful kit.  Hard to find

CV-5/6/8 Yorktown/Enterprise/Hornet

So many versions of this, you take your pick.  Academy, Doyusha, Tamiya, Trumpeter, Mini Hobby.  Academy is the newest and probably the best.

CV-7 Wasp

Aoshima (3 boxings).  Very nice kit. 

Corsair Armada.  Resin but beautiful kit.  Hard to find

Essex Class

Once again, so many versions of this, you take your pick.  Hasegawa is old, stay away from, Trumpeter is good, but the best is probably Dragon, available in several versions.  Both Trumpeter and Dragon do short and long hull versions.

Independence Class

The same sprues are sold by three companies, Pit-Road, Dragon and Revell.  All the same kit, and very nice. 

 

All of the kits listed can improved by aftermarket PE and 3D printed AA guns, but assuming that you want a buildable plastic kit that looks good, I would go with any of Tamiya Saratoga, Meng Lexington,  Aoshima Wasp, Academy Enterprise, Dragon Essex or Dragon Independence.

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Zed,

 

Thanks for the detailed response. Its much appreciated 😀

I think I will go for the Tamiya Saratoga and/or the new Academy Enterprise

 

Many thanks,

Simon

Edited by 100SQN
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