USS Santee, USS San Jacinto,and USS Belleau Wood
by Rob Weilacher

1/700 USS Santee CVE-29, USS San Jacinto CVL-30,and USS Belleau Wood CVL-24 (Aki/DML)

  1. Pictures of my 1/700 USS Santee build, made from the Aki Sangamon kit and Gold Medal Models CVL photoetch kit.
  2. Pictures of my 1/700 USS San Jacinto CVL-30 build made from Dragon Independence Class CVL kit, Gold Medal Models photoetch, and the Midship Models photoetch CVL deck replacement.
  3. One picture of my older build of the USS Belleau Wood CVL-24 (close up of the deck to compare the Dragon kit deck with the Midship replacement deck on the San Jacinto).

The kit pictures pretty much speak for themselves. The last two ship images contrast the difference between the Dragon kit supplied deck and the Midship Models PE replacement deck. The differences are like night and day, and I'm very happy with the replacement deck and how it looks. This replacement deck makes the kit worthy to sit next to the new Dragon Essex kits now.

I followed the Midship replacement deck instructions and it worked without any trouble at all. The deck fits perfectly, which is attached using 3M spray adhesive glue. After that, the arrestor wires are added and you are done installing the deck. At about $30 for the deck, it is not cheap, but I think it is worth the investment, especially since the basic Dragon kit was fairly cheap.

The Gold Medal Models PE set is a great bargain also. You can build one CVL and one CVE from the same $12 photoetch kit, and the detail of the kit is terrific and easy to assemble.

Rob Weilacher


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