Trumpeter 1/350 USS Hancock CV-19
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Overview
 The
USS Hancock was the first long bow Essex class carrier. Commissioned in
1944, she went to battle in the Pacific, taking part in battles at the
Philippines, Iwo Jima, and Japan.  Some
of the distinguishing features of the Hancock over its predecessors included
an extended and enlarged flag bridge, two quad 40mm mounts on the fantail,
and no mainmast. Similar to CV-12, the Hancock was camouflaged in Design
3A, the only long bow Essex finished that way, painted in Ms32 colors
of light gray, ocean gray, and dull black.
 In
January of 1945, the Hancock was damaged by an explosion, and in April
of 1945 she was damaged by a kamikaze. CV-19 soldiered on, though, and
finished the war with the Navy Unit Commendation Asiatic-Pacific Area
Campaign Service Medal with five battle stars, American Area Campaign
Medal, World War II Victory Medal, Philippine Liberation Campaign Ribbon
(two stars),  and
the Republic of the Philippines Presidential Unit Citation Badge. During
the war, the Hancock claimed 723 enemy planes destroyed, 17 warships sunk,
31 merchant ships sunk, and 10 enemy planes downed by ships guns, at a
cost of 221 shipmates either killed or missing in action. On May 9, 1947,
the Hancock was decommissioned.
The kit
 Trumpeter
continues their series of 1/350 WW2 aircraft carriers with this latest
release of the USS Hancock. This builds off of the already impressive
naval lineup beginning with their initial USS Hornet release. Like the
other carriers in this series, this kit comes with a selection of aircraft
(four each of the Avenger,  Helldiver,
Dauntless, and Hellcat), a choice between waterline and full hull, and
detailed deck fittings. Molded mainly in light gray plastic, with some
pieces in clear, black and red plastic, the detailing throughout is quite
good. A large decal sheet provides markings for the aircraft and the deck.
 For
those familiar with the Trumpeter carrier kits, there will be no real
surprises here. In fact, many of the part trees carry 2002 copyright dates,
indicating that several of these have been used in the past. The main
hull assembly is quite sturdy, with the hangar deck coming in three large
pieces. This fits onto the main hull piece and will provide added strength
to this long, narrow kit. Once the main hull is together, the instructions
have you build up from the bottom, adding structure for the hangar deck.
Once this base detail is in place (and believe me, there is quite a
bit  of
it!), it is time to move to the upper deck. Like the hangar deck, the
flight deck comes in three pieces, with separate pieces fitting on the
underside. On this fits the island and all sorts of gun mounts. Various
antenna fittings also are added at this point, and while these are adequate,
most modelers will want to replace them with photoetch examples. I am
sure that any one of the numerous 1/350 Essex photoetch sets would work
with this kit.
 For
the aircraft, these are what we have come to expect from Trumpeter. Clear
canopy pieces, dainty landing gear, and decent shape. You get four TBF
Avengers, four F6F Hellcats, four SBD Dauntlesses, and four SB2C Helldivers.
This is hardly a full complement for the Hancock, but it is enough to
make your deck somewhat busy. For those who want to have the flight deck
packed, these aircraft are available separately as well.
 The
decals are extensive in size, and mainly contain the deck markings. These
include the hull numbers on the fore and aft deck and lots of lines and
outlines. Additionally, markings for all the aircraft are provided. The
painting instructions are clear and in color, so there should be no problems
in applying the dazzle paint scheme (other than masking it off).
Conclusion
This is a nice continuation of Trumpeter’s carrier series and
I hope that they continue with these to produce some of the post-war carriers
as well. The Hancock was recommissioned in 1954 and fitted with steam
catapults. She then went to serve off the shores of Vietnam for a total
of 12 deployments, so there is the possibility of making this into a ship
filled with Skyhawks, Crusaders, Skyraiders, and Skywarriors.
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