by Jens Hansen
1/700 USS Minneapolis CA-36 (Combrig)
USS Minneapolis (CA-36) was laid down 27 June 1929 by Philadelphia Navy yard; and commissioned 19 May 1934. In April of 1935, she joined Cruiser division 7 on the west Coast and operated there until assigned for duty at Pearl Harbor in 1940. During the attack upon Pearl Harbor. Minneapolis was only 20 miles away, involved in gunnery practice. Took part in the battle of Coral Sea and the Battle of Midway. On November 29, 1942 the Minneapolis was nearly sunk when she took two torpedo hits during the Battle of Tassafaronga. By August 1943 Minneapolis was back in the pacific after an extensive refit at Mare Island. Took part in the battle of the Philippine sea and the Battle of Surigao strait. She was the flagship for the surrender of the Japanese forces in Korea September 1945. Minneapolis was sold for scrap on August 14, 1959. THe ship earned 17 battle stars for her service in WW2.
When you open the box you are greeted by a vast amount of finely cast resin parts there are no air bubbles and no warping. There are also 2 fine PE sets which include all the details you need excluding rails and watertight doors. One set is a generic PE set for both the Astoria/Minneapolis and one for the Minneapolis with more refined details for the ship like the one crane and the anti-aircraft armament. The detail on the hull is wonderful and the finely etched deck as with the 8 inch guns they compromise of 11 Resin and PE parts each. Also the 40 mm cannons are simply beautiful also I added detail to the Hangar and the float-planes which I added the air force ensign then the area around the stacks with plastic card and some spare PE. Finally to complete the model I added around 100 members of crew onto the deck I also created a base and I recreated the sea using sculpting clay. She is also wearing the paint scheme she wore directly after her refit after the Battle of Tassafaronga this overall build seems quite a decent vessel to my ever growing collection.
Items Used:
Combrig USS Minneapolis 1/700
GMM 1/700 Naval Figures
WEM Generic railings 1/700
Carrier based aircraft ensigns 1/700
Sources:
Modelwarships.com
Warship Pictorial New Orleans class
Wikipedia
