1/350 USS Coronado LCS-4 (Bronco)
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by Philip LaVoie |
1/350 USS Coronado LCS-4 (Bronco)
This is the LCS Independence class USS Coronado. The Coronado is the second ship of the Independence class, with the USS Independence being the first. Bronco / Cyber-Hobby released a 1/350 scale Independence earlier, and the 1/350 Coronado seems to be pretty much a re-box of that kit. There are some variations I noticed between the two actual ships, however.I decided to make this a clean full hull build in order to show off her unique trimaran hull design. The ship looks more like a spaceship than an ocean vessel. The Bronco kit includes a pretty good PE set that covers most of the fine details like the railings and 50 cals. Most of the build went well, especially considering the angled hull design. You will have to deal with some pretty small parts, such as the lights over the hanger bay doors. I do not think anyone would complain if they molded those on the bulkhead next time. The mast can be a little challenging to construct. Most of the build is out of the box. I replaced the chaff and searchlights with Veteran parts. I also replaced the base and dome of the SeaRAM with Veteran parts, and the SH-60 chopper is a spare Veteran.
Changes I made include the small boat bay, where the Coronado sports a different style crane mounted from behind the rigid boat. The kit’s rigid boat seems undersized, so I modified a spare resin one to fit in that space.
The railing pattern was changed to run around the edges of the ship. I used some spare railing to replace the kit rails to ensure I had enough and that they would all match. Parts B48 and B49 do not seem to be mounted on the upper bulkhead on the Coronado, so I left them off. The two overhanging white boxes (C14) on the starboard side are also changed. If you are a fan of the modern Navy, I definitely recommend adding an Independence class to your collection.
