Trumpeter 1/700 USS Abraham Lincoln CVN-72By Gerry Nilles |
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History
The USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) is the fifth Nimitz class nuclear aircraft carrier to be built. She was authorized in 1983 with construction starting in March of 1984 at the Newport News Shipbuilding Company, located in Newport News Virginia. The Lincoln is 1092 feet long with a flight deck width of 257 feet. She has a crew of about 5700 officers and enlisted personnel when the air groups are onboard. She was commissioned on November 11th 1989 and has gone through a series of updates since then. Currently the Lincoln is home ported at the Everett navy base which is located on Puget Sound in the state of Washington and is about 30 miles north of Seattle.
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The Kit
The USS Abraham Lincoln is the second in a series of 1/700th scale Nimitz class carriers to be released by Trumpeter. Again Trumpeter has done its homework in that this not just a reissue of the previous Nimitz kit with a different number, but rather a significantly revised kit that reflects the Lincoln as she is currently configured. As is the tradition with Trumpeter they have not only provided the option of building the kit with either a full hull or as a waterline model but also included a detailed hanger deck.
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Cast in gray, dark red and clear styrene the kit includes five major parts that make up the hull assembly and its options, ten sprues of detail ship parts, a sheet of photo etch, fine brass wire for use as arresting cables, plus a complement of 23 aircraft that are all cast in clear plastic. The aircraft provided include six each F/A-18Cs and F/A-18Fs, four EA-6Bs, two E-2Cs, two C-2s, a SH-60F, a SH-60B and a HH-60H. Also includes are a stand (cast in black) for the full hull option, or simulated ocean (cast in clear dark blue) for the waterline version.
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Markings
The kit contains two fairly significant sets of decals. The first is for the ship itself and includes all the flight deck markings as well as the Lincolns identification. The second sheet of decals is of course for the ships aircraft. Typically Trumpeter decals are of good quality and registration, and with a little care in application have little if any tendency to silver.
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Conclusion
This is an extensively detailed kit with lots of extras. For those modelers wanting to add a highly detailed 1/700th scale model of a current day Nimitz class carrier to their collection Trumpeter’s USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) should be very welcome. My thanks to both Trumpeter and Stevens for providing this sample kit.
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