USS Wasp
US Navy Aircraft Carrier 1942
1:700 Scale Model Model By Corsair Armada

In-box review by Devin Poore

History

The USS Wasp (CV-7), was launched in 1939. Displacing just under 15,000 tons, she was smaller than the preceding USS Yorktown and USS Enterprise. After spending the first months of World War II in the Atlantic, where she made two successful runs ferrying Spitfires to reinforce Malta, she was transferred to the Pacific theatre in mid-1942. There she participated in the invasion of Guadalcanal, and just missed the Battle of the Eastern Solomon’s; as she was out of the area taking on fuel. On September 16^th, 1942, while escorting Marine reinforcements to Guadalcanal, two torpedoes fired from a Japanese submarine hit the Wasp. After burning furiously for many hours, she was scuttled by torpedoes from an American destroyer.

Packaging

Corsair Armada’s kit of the USS Wasp has been long awaited in the modeling community. Rumors and release dates for this kit have been floating around for a year or so. Was it worth the wait? In a word: Yes. And this is coming from someone who doesn’t even build in 1/700^th scale!

The kit comes in a sturdy cardboard box filled with packing material. The hull and flight deck share a plastic bag, separated by a sheet of cardboard. The other pieces of the kit are distributed between two plastic bags, and a small envelope containing the brass photo etch. Also included in the kit are several lengths of styrene rod and strip, a three-page history of the ship with photos (the history is a reprint of the DANFS sheets), and three sheets of written assembly instructions that include photos and part number cross reference for all the pieces. Finally, there are four 11 X 17 sheets which deal with parts placement, exploded view assembly sequences, and a painting guide for the ships’ camouflage. The large format of this last set of instructions is most welcome, the plan views and camouflage scheme being show in almost 1/700^th scale.

Owners and fans of Corsair Armada’s USS Ranger will see many similarities between the two kits. The Wasp is a little cleaner overall in the molding process, but there is now PE brass included for crane and other various details. No planes are included, but there are plastic and resin sets for these available from other sources.

Hull

The hull is a real jewel. It is a one-piece casting, waterline, with a internal hanger deck detail. There is very slight over pour on the bottom of the hull. My copy is very smooth with very few imperfections in the way of air bubbles or damaged details. The shutter doors are molded in closed position, so most will want to open these up (carriers in the Pacific always had these doors open; they were only closed during the worst storm conditions). One problem that will be encountered with opening the doors, however, is with the line bits and chocks that are molded to the hull. Several of the doors have these either attached, or so close to them as to be impossible to remove the door without damaging the chock. More on the replacement chocks later. Anchor chain is molded to the foredeck, and is probably the only example I’ve seen on any scale ship that I wouldn’t want to replace; it looks great just the way it is.

Overall the hull is very nicely done, and will take little work to get to the priming and building stage.

Flightdeck

The flight deck is a one piece casting. I was at first surprised to note that there is no deck planking. Of course this would never be visible from the scale distance in 1/700^th and it doesn’t really bother me, but I’m sure there will be some that denounce this omission. Deck detail does consist of the expansion joints, elevators (cast thin so they can be easily removed), and the attachment points for the arrestor wires. The forward crash barriers are also cast into the deck.

Parts

There are a TON of tiny resin parts included with this kit. The gallery deck, ships boats, gun pedestals, 5-inch mounts and barrels, all are represented in resin. Two resin elevator platforms are also included for those of you who want to show these fixtures in action. All of the small parts sprues do have a resin film around them that needs to be removed, but it is literally thinner than paper so in most cases it can be scraped away in no time. There is no white metal in the kit.

Referring to the afore mentioned chocks: there are replacements provided on a separate resin sprue, I’m assuming to replace any miscast or damaged by opening up the hangar doors. How anyone could remove those things to attach them is beyond me. Cutting them with a razor saw would most likely destroy most of the piece. My thinking is that sanding away the resin plug from behind with a disk sander is the best option; holding the chock with a tweezers until all the over pour is removed.

Brass

The kit includes a very nicely relief etched brass sheet. There are no railing or vertical ladders included, so if you want to include those you can add them to your order for the aftermarket aircraft. Included in this sheet are cranes, the 1.1 and 40mm guns (which are folded over to add a little depth to them, very nice touch), inclined ladders, aircraft details, etc. Also included are 50 cal and 20mm mounts. These things are TINY!!! A magnifying glass and tweezers will definitely be required to assemble these items.

Conclusion

Overall Corsair Armada has provided a great little kit and a worthy successor to the USS Ranger they produced several years ago. The Wasp kit could be built without using the enclosed brass (with the exception of the 20mm and 50cal mounts), and have a fantastic little carrier. Those of you who are really into super detailing a 1/700th scale kit can use the enclosed brass and purchase additional for railings and vertical ladders, can build something phenomenal with this kit.

At $180 from Pacific Front, the kit is pricey, and that turns a lot of people off. Unfortunately for them, though, that’s what Corsair Armada has to charge for them. I for one think it is worth it (hey, I don’t even build 1/700^th scale and I bought it). I was able to justify the price to myself and saved several months to be able to buy it. Hey, I’d love to drive a Porsche, but I can’t justify the cost, so I don’t do it. That’s how one has to look at it.

Criticisms of the kit? It would be "nice" to have some aircraft. Not that I can’t go out and buy something aftermarket, but I’d like to see what Corsair Armada would be capable of casting. The detail on many of the smaller resin parts in this kit have to be seen to be believed, and I think they could do great things with aircraft. I realize this would figure into a higher price, though.

Overall a great addition to the early WWII US carrier lineup, and a kit that has never been available before in any scale. My only real complaint? It’s so darn small! I’d love to see this kit in 1/350^th scale.

Footnote

Mike Czibovic owner of Corsair Armada offers this tip:

Here's a tip for removing the spare chocks, or removing the ones on the hull to open the doors. I use a new X-Acto #17 chisel blade to score the perimeter of the chock (press straight down to form a grove on all four sides) then chisel the chock off by pressing at the base and rocking the blade from side-to-side horizontally. Don't try to go all the way through on one pass, but work a little from both of the long sides. If there is a little crown on the bottom when the chock pops off, hold it with a pair of tweezers and give the bottom a couple scrapes with the knife to flatten it.

I've used that method to move details on plastic kits, too. If you are careful, you can usually reuse the part you chisel off.