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Posted by Jon Iverson on February 7, 2026, 16:35:18, in reply to "Revell Helena"
Ahhhhhhhhhh...John Steele paintings - he was a fantastic lure for us youngsters to buy the myriad of terrible kits (for us at the time they were the only game in town)....But it was fun to build them as a kid - - and then to blow them up with fire crackers and BB guns when I moved with my family and could not take them with me:
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The Revell Helena from that period was a Baltimore Class repop of what was originally their USS Los Angeles which was released around 1952. I still remember my best friend being duped into getting the Revell Helena because he thought it was the CL. Revell was quite good at shaking down kids with new box art and names for their old, tired kits. I was suckered into numerous Iowa Class kits (originally New Jersey around 1952. Who can forget the bright yellow sky of that box?). New John Steele box art hooked me every time. Previous Message
Not exactly the first. Revell did a box-scale model of Helena which I had in late 50's. Was neither full-hull, nor waterline, as it had a flat bottom so you could play with it on the floor! Previous Message
The kit arrived yesterday earlier than expected. It is very well done and I will do a general review of contents but for now I suggest you go to eBay and look at the kit posted by Skyscraper_98 (64) which has a very complete description of the contents including photos of the major components and instructions. This is the first injection molded kit of a Brooklyn Class CL and the box art also shows USS Phoenix and USS Honolulu as in 1944,I speculate that late war St Louis will also be released as it is the only other one with the 5" twins as far as I recall,
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