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Author Topic: Revel- Fletcher class destroyer,  (Read 2286 times)

farrow

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Revel- Fletcher class destroyer,
« on: April 27, 2009, 08:50:54 pm »

Hi, anyone bought and made up the Revel 1-114 scale Fletcher Destroyer. I bought one the other day on impulse, it was for sale at £39.99, which I thought was not a bad price for a 80cm long model with a possibility to be motorised. So before I start on it some time in the future, I was wondering if others had worked on it and have some experience to pass on.
David
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Edward Pinniger

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Re: Revel- Fletcher class destroyer,
« Reply #1 on: April 29, 2009, 03:37:07 pm »

I bought this kit in January - haven't started work on it yet as I'm still waiting for the etched brass hatch/door and radar parts I ordered from "Tom's Modelworks" (a long story). The kit is certainly very impressive in terms of detail (a huge improvement on the clunky old Lindberg "Blue Devil" kit), the only real problem is that for some reason Revell moulded the bulkhead hatches as featureless rectangles, without surface detail (which is why I ordered the etched brass ones). On a working model this isn't so much of a problem though (I'm going to build mine as a static model).
The plastic railing stanchions are also a bit fragile, especially for a working model, so it may be worth replacing them with 1/128 etched brass ones from http://www.johnrhaynes.com rigged with thin metal wire.

Revell's kit represents a "round bridge" type Fletcher in early-war fit. Converting it to a late-war fit would require a lot more AA guns, unfortunately there aren't any UK suppliers of these in 1/144 at present - HR Products (http://www.hrprod.com) has a sizeable range of 1/144 USN fittings, but is USA-based and only accepts payment via cheques drawn on US banks - so unless you have an American friend to help you out, there's no way to buy from them this side of the pond  :((

The kit certainly has potential for R/C conversion - the only real drawback is that the hull is moulded in two halves, so joining them together securely, and waterproofing the join, will be very important!
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