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Old 04-05-2021, 05:07 PM
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Destroyer Escort USS ENGLAND (DE-635) by HMV

1:250 Destroyer Escort USS ENGLAND (DE-635)
HMV
Available from Fentens Papermodels €24.99
Photo courtesy of Fentens Papermodels

(All photos by the author except where noted.)
Fresh off the presses from Hamburger Modellbaubogen Verlag (HMV) comes the Buckley-class destroyer escort USS ENGLAND (DE-635), famous in the annals of anti-submarine warfare for her unmatched feat of sinking six Japanese submarines in the span of only twelve days in May of 1944. You can read more about her exploits here, including how she survived a kamikaze strike in 1945.

Public domain photo courtesy of Wikipedia
Designed by Darius Lipinski, this exciting new release from HMV is in their usual scale of 1/250 and produces a model 372 mm in length (14.6 in.). The parts count on this one is a hefty 1567 (up to 1875 if all optional parts are used) printed on 11 sheets. The color scheme is Measure 21's uniform dark blue-grey. The printing is sharp with excellent registration. A lot of parts in this kit are visible on two sides, and these parts are all given reverse-side printing. A nice touch on this and other newer HMV kits is that the fold lines are no longer printed directly on the parts but rather adjacent to them.





The instructions consist of a whopping 28 diagrams that cover every facet of construction. A brief introduction on how to interpret the symbols used on the diagrams is included in six languages: German, English, French, Japanese, Spanish, and Russian. Parts marked "A" can be replaced or enhanced with alternative parts that raise the level of detail. Parts marked "L" can be replaced with optional laser-cut details.









A departure from previous HMV kits is that the "egg crate" hull construction has been significantly beefed up, with many more transverse bulkheads added and some parts doubled for additional strength (as indicated by a block-style "=" sign). The internal formers also do not include the typical gluing tabs that are normally used for attaching the hull sides. Overall, this method is more in line with that used by most Eastern European publishers, and I anticipate that this will make for easier hull construction and a more rigid substructure.



As you can see, this is an incredibly detailed kit with a lot of very small parts, making this kit deserving of its schwierig (difficult) rating. Potential builders should definitely have a few completed card models under their belts before attempting this project. One way to simplify construction is to invest in the optional laser-cut detail set. This €29.99 option includes five frets of parts, including railings, ladders, davits, and other small parts. Replacing the railings and the multitude of "fiddly bits" with parts from the laser-cut set eliminates the tedium of cutting those delicate parts out and improves the finished look of the model. Personally, I feel that the time savings and the inherent neatness of the laser-cut parts makes them well worth the additional cost.





The level of detail of this model, coupled with the fantastic appearance of the finished product, show again why HMV are considered a top-shelf card model publisher. But despite the kit's complexity, it is apparent that HMV have taken pains to ensure that a reasonably skilled builder is given every possible advantage toward finishing a very impressive, medium-sized model. The kit's wealth of detail and great choice of subject will no doubt make this kit a big seller. This author hopes that HMV will soon follow this design up with additional small warship subjects. If they do, we'll be sure to let you know!

Thanks go to Fentens Papermodels for providing this review copy, which was securely packed to survive the journey across the pond and arrived in excellent condition. To purchase, visit the Fentens Papermodels website via the link at the top of this post -- they have a lot of really neat models in stock. If you place an order, be sure to tell them that Paper Modelers sent you!


Photo courtesy of Fentens Papermodels


Photo courtesy of Fentens Papermodels


Photo courtesy of Fentens Papermodels


Photo courtesy of Fentens Papermodels
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  #2  
Old 04-10-2021, 11:54 AM
GMintz GMintz is offline
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Great review!!

Greg
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Old 04-10-2021, 03:17 PM
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is great to see HMV issue another warship
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Old 04-11-2021, 06:34 PM
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Thank you for great review. Can you tell me if there is an English translation of ship history or German language only..?
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Old 04-12-2021, 02:39 PM
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these really are the ''rolls royce '' of papership modellers, not for the feint hearted or bargain hunters but beautifull models
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Old 04-13-2021, 11:21 AM
PaperLab PaperLab is offline
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25 Euros hardly qualifies for a Rolls status....

I asked about ship history because Arthur D. Baker III wrote the original forward and if only German translation is included in the kit I figured it would be interesting for non German speakers to have access to the original English text.*
So here it goes:

During World War II, an urgent need for additional antisubmarine assets for the Allies resulted in part with the U.S. Congress authorizing the construction of 1,005 “destroyer escorts,” of which 800 were subsequently ordered and 789 finally built. The turbo-electric drive Buckley class are perhaps the best known, with a total of 108 units of the 306-ft. long class completed. Forty-six were Lend-Leased to Royal Navy and six others to Free French forces, while 37 of those remaining in U.S. Navy service were eventually converted to “high-speed transports” (APD) and seven more were earmarked for conversions that went unfinished with the ending of the war.

The U.S.S. England (DE 635) was named for Ensign John Charles England, who had been killed aboard the battleship Oklahoma (BB 37) on 7 December 1941 at Pearl Harbor. Launched on at Bethlehem Steel's San Francisco yard on 26 September 1943, the ship was commissioned on 12 October of that year and, after workup, arrived in the Pacific Theater of operations on 12 March 1944, ready for work.

Ships of the Buckley class in all three navies, in cooperation with other units, sank a total of 36 German and 11 Japanese submarines. The England, deservedly the best known of all DEs, sank five Japanese subs over the course of a week in May of 1944 and cooperated in the sinking of another soon thereafter. Following those exploits, the ship conducted convoy escort duties until March of 1945, when she participated in the pre-invasion bombardment of Okinawa. On 6 May 1945, the England was attacked by three Japanese aircraft, one of which crashed into her superstructure, just below the bridge, causing the deaths of 35 crew and injuries to 25 additional personnel. After being patched up at Leyte, the ship sailed for the Philadelphia Navy Yard, arriving on 16 July to begin further repairs and conversion to High Speed Transport APD 41. With the end of hostilities, however, the conversion effort ceased, and the England was decommissioned on 15 October 1945 and sold for scrapping during November of the following year.

The illustrious England was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation for her submarine sinking exploits and a total of ten Battle Stars for her Pacific Theater operations; in addition to the six submarines (the highest total sunk by any USN warship), the ship also shot down two Japanese aircraft during the Okinawa campaign. Wartime Chief of Navy Operations Ernest King declared that there would “always be an England in the U.S. Navy,” a pledge that was not honored until the name was bequeathed to guided missile frigate (later cruiser) DLG 22 in 1963; with that much larger ship's retirement in 1994, the name of England has unfortunately been absent from the U.S. Navy's fleet.

The model depicts the England as she appeared during May of 1944. Note that, while most of the destroyer escorts that went to the Pacific Theater eventually lost their triple 21-in. torpedo tube mounts and carried 40-mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns, the England, retained her torpedoes and the ship's original quadruple 1.1-in. (25-mm) AA mount atop the after end of the superstructure

* ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** A. D. Baker III
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Old 04-13-2021, 11:40 AM
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This is a beautiful rendition of this warship.

Lots of parts and details.

Should be a museum piece when properly built and displayed.



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Old 04-15-2021, 01:58 PM
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@PaperLab

The forward is in German (which, happily, I can read), but the Wikipedia entry linked to in the review also gives a very good overview of the ship and her service, which was quite remarkable.
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Old 04-15-2021, 02:03 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by herky View Post
these really are the ''rolls royce '' of papership modellers, not for the feint hearted or bargain hunters but beautifull models
As I have pointed out to builders of wooden or plastic kits at Model Ship World, even a "Rolls Royce" card model is still far cheaper than a comparable wood/plastic model.
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Old 04-15-2021, 03:04 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ccoyle View Post
As I have pointed out to builders of wooden or plastic kits at Model Ship World, even a "Rolls Royce" card model is still far cheaper than a comparable wood/plastic model.
yes it was not a complaint but a compliment to designers and a word of caution to new model builders
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