USS TICONDEROGA CV-14 Length overall: 270.8m Beam max: 44.9m Displacement standard: 27100t Full load: 36380t The second ‘long hull’ unit, Ticonderoga was laid down on 1 Mar 1943, commissioned in May of 1944, built by Newport News. Her first action was supporting landings in the Philippines. In January 1945 she was damaged by a kamikaze but returned to support operations off Okinawa and Japan. After participating in Magic Carpet operations Ticonderoga was placed in reserve in 1947. Ticonderoga was modernized and saw further service, was being stricken in 1973 Ticonderoga received five battle stars during World War II and three Navy Unit Commendations, one Meritorious Unit Commendation, and 12 battle stars during the Vietnam War.
1/350 Trumpeter USS Ticonderoga CV14 Aircraft Carrie 05609
Injected plastic (polystyrene) kit.
264 parts on 14 sprues, plus decks, lower and upper hulls, waterline plate, and display stand (for full hull option).
20-page instruction booklet is in English and Japanese with pictures of each sprue and hull piece. Exploded view drawings clearly show part numbers and their locations on the model. One tip to expedite assembly is to label the undersides of pieces with the sprue part number, and port/starboard location. This way you can put them where they belong without mistakes. Assembly looks to be straightforward if one follows the steps.
Hull length scales out to 884 feet without considering the aft 40mm sponson, very close to the 888 feet actual. The Hull beam (width) scales out to 94 feet, very close to the actual 93 feet. The flight deck width was difficult to measure before assembly, but also was close to actual. Thus, the proportions are accurate.
Construction is by subassemblies, with hull and deck assembly followed by building the hangar deck, then adding hull platforms. Flight deck is in three pieces – fore, center and aft, about equal lengths. Considerable detail is added to the undersides, a nice touch. Bridge assembly and armament finish off the assembly.