by Martin J. Quinn
1/350 USS Gatling DD-671 (Trumpeter)
I have always wanted to build a model of the Fletcher class destroyer my Uncle served on very late in World War II, the Gatling. I had attempted to do so with my earlier build of the YMW Johnston kit, but found out during construction that my Uncle's ship was in a different configuration than the YMW model depicted, which led me to finish that model as the USS Cowell. The YMW kit depicted a mid-war square bridged Fletcher, while the Gatling was a late war square bridge with the full anti-Kamikaze AA fit.
When he was assigned to her at Pearl Harbor in the summer of 1945, Gatling had just come out of refit at the Mare Island Navy Yard. In addition to the late war kamikaze AA fit she received, she was painted the new (horrid) neutral gray colors the Navy was transitioning to. When the Trumpeter The Sullivans was released, I found it gave you the option to build a very late war Fletcher with the proper AA fit I needed. I could finally build my Uncle his ship!! While the negative reviews of the kit did concern me, I knew this was the only option short of major surgery or scratch-building, neither of which I felt comfortable doing, given my middling skill set.
While not quite as dreadful as depicted, the Trumpeter The Sullivans is not nearly as nice as the Tamiya Fletcher. For a brand new kit, the fit is poor and many of the parts - especially the AA guns - were, at best, toy like. I replaced the main battery turrets with a set from Corsair Armada, with barrels from L'Arsenal. The twin 40mm guns were from YMW, while the quad 40's, the twin 20's and the Mk 37 director were all from L'Arsenal. I have used the quad 40's and the Mk 37 directors before, but this was the first time I've used the L'Arsenal twin 20's. What gorgeous little kits!! The photo-etch came from the Gold Medal Model photo-etch set, while the mast was made from brass rod. Rigging is .004 nylon quilting thread, while the hull numbers are from the spares box.
After determining that the Gatling was most indeed in neutral grays, I went out and got the appropriate colors from White Ensign's colourcoat range. The upper part of the hull is Neutral Haze Gray, while the lower portion is Navy Gray. The deck is Deck Gray, an almost black color, while the color on the underwater portion of the hull is also from WEM.
Between the fit problems I encountered and since I was building this for my Uncle (who's certainly not an IPMS judge) I will admit to taking a few shortcuts here an there. Still, with the upgrade parts it turned out to be an okay model. Certainly one good enough for one of my Uncle's bookshelves.
