I don't know who is feeding these re-releases of the Revell ship classics to my Local Hobby Shop - it may be the owners are actually targeting me, and "get it" about what I like, and will purchase - but in any case, I'm glad of it:


Particularly as, inside this box, the one item not shown off by the outside artwork - its hull - is perhaps the outstanding feature of the kit. Although the new-depression-era pricing (above) runs a very close second!

With not too-overdone raised plating lines, a "slab-facia" type construction for its superstructure, the mold bears more than a passing resemblance to many a Lindberg and (especially) Renwal - except, again, that the hullform looks distinctly accurate. Open, but very heavy railings, of unusual design - again, evocative of some Renwals - will in any case definitely have to go, in favor of PE replacements - of which GMM makes an excellent little set. Likewise, weapons and several other of the mold's fittings are also quite heavy and clumsy, but easily replaced with aftermarket or - in this large scale - even scratchbuilt upgrades.

Speaking of which, at somewhere between 240- and 250 scale (note box says 1:249), this is the kit - to start, as a foundation, anyway - for a USS Pillsbury, or USS Chatelain, to accompany your 200-scale U-505 build (from the Nichimo or Aurora kits). Other kits which it will perfectly complement, at- or very near this same scale, include the Revell flush-decker DD and a slew of Lindbergs: Gato, LST, Carronade "BobTail Cruiser" and LSD. And, between 1:200 and -250 scales there are (at least) several additional submarine adversaries - most notably the Nichimo I-19 - and undoubtedly commercial/merchant auxiliaries - I'm thinking tugs and trawlers, in particular - which would go right alongside this kit.

I'm not that familiar with the history of this mold, boxed over the decades as (at least) USS Buckley and HMS Bligh - however, one glance at the artwork I could find reveals it to be a very old one:


Click on Image to Enlarge Among the earliest boxings was certainly the one at top - the artwork in what I would call the "Cold War Angry" style - notably like their very first (angled-deck) USS Essex box art, for example - preceding even the very early "Sea Power" series (middle), identifiable even in this blurry, enlarged thumbnail by its solid-yellow left edge, bordered by a column of flag signals, wherein it appears the original art was simply duplicated. This art predates many a later - and significantly better, IMHO - box art for other Revell molds (e.g., many in the "Picture Fleet" series), and such box art for this kit may well have existed, at one time or another. However the failure of the current boxing to use any such older artwork, as was done for the latest USS Helena - but not the USS Chicago - repops, argues that Revell has by now sold or otherwise lost rights to use (at least some of) these. A strong argument for collectors to snag the old, original boxes whenever seen at a decent price (and in good condition) on eBay.

In any case, this re-release is a very welcome one, and - particularly at the price - a real gift to the builder. Bravo-Zulu, Revell-o-Gram!

Cheers,

-Matty