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Trumpeter 1/700 USS South Dakota BB-57

By Chris Banyai-Riepl

Overview

The South Dakota was the lead ship of the last of the Washington Treaty battleships.  This treaty limited the size of battleships to 35,000 tons, and the South Dakota class strained to keep under this limit.  With nine 16-inch guns in three turrets and a top speed of over 27 knots, the South Dakota class battleships proved to be a solid interim design until the larger Iowa class took to the seas.

The South Dakota did two tours in the Pacific, separated by a short operation alongside the British in Scapa Flow.  During her first tour in the Pacific, the South Dakota supported the invasion of Guadalcanal, while the second Pacific tour saw the South Dakota off the shores of the Gilbert Islands and the Mariana Islands.  As the war progressed, the South Dakota routinely found herself under attack by Japanese aircraft, taking many hits but surviving them all.  At the end of the war, the South Dakota anchored in Tokyo Bay at the end of August 1945 before sailing to the west coast of the United States.

One of the more interesting side histories of the South Dakota is that she was the ship that saw the service of the youngest person to serve in the US Navy.  Calvin Graham lied about his age and enlisted in the Navy right after the attack on Pearl Harbor, at the age of 12.  While fighting alongside his crewmates at the Battle of Guadalcanal, Graham was wounded by shrapnel.  His actions resulted in the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart, but his mother revealed his age and Graham was sent to the brig.  A dishonorable discharge followed and his medals revoked.  Graham later enlisted in the Marines at the age of 17, from which he received an honorable discharge, but constantly struggled for his veteran's benefits for the rest of his life.

The Kit

Trumpeter's latest 1/700 battleship follows their existing line, comprising both a full hull and waterline hull, molded in gray and red plastic, with a clear sprue for the aircraft.  Having produced models of both of the North Carolina class battleships and all of those of the Iowa class, it is little surprise that they have turned their attention to those ships in between the two.  As the lead-off ship of the class, the South Dakota is a bit different than the later ships, and it appears that Trumpeter captured these differences correctly.  These include two less 5-inch twin turrets than the later ships in the series.  This was because the South Dakota had a larger conning tower, commiserate with her role as a flagship.  The South Dakota  was also the only one of the class that had 1.1in and .50cal anti-aircraft gun mounts.

Construction is as one would expect for a battleship.  The upper hull and lower hull options are separate pieces (allowing for full hull or waterline), with a separate main deck.  The 16-inch turrets have individual guns that, with a bit of extra work, could be made to elevate at different levels.  The #2 and #3 turrets have additional gun tubs mounted on the rear of the turret, and these are separate parts (along with the plethora of individual guns, get your tweezers ready!).

The build-up of the superstructure is complex, with each level comprising of separate sides, fronts, and decks.  The result is very nice detailing on the parts (due to molding essentially flat pieces rather than complex shapes), but the potential for unsightly seams is higher.  I recommend going slow here, with lots of test fitting and careful sanding to try and minimize or eliminate any need for filler.  A rough count, not including any of the gun mounts or antennae, has over forty parts going into this superstructure.

For the gun mounts, well, there's a lot here.  The 5-inch turrets are decent, with separate gun barrels and a two-piece turret.  The smaller guns are individually cast, and with some careful cleanup should do quite nicely.  The crane and catapults on the fandeck are basic, as it is impossible to capture the complexity of their shape in injection plastic.  I am sure we will see a photoetch set for this ship soon, though, and that is one area that will greatly benefit from photoetch.  The aircraft, two Vought OS2U Kingfishers, are molded in clear plastic, so you can mask off the canopy before painting.  For those doing a full hull model, the four screws accurately capture the 5-blade outer and 3-blade inner screws.

Painting of the South Dakota is simple, as it wore the simple Measure 21 color scheme throughout her life.  So there is no complex masking required on this build (if you want that, pick up the Massachusetts kit and build it as the Indiana in a Measure 32 camouflage scheme, or the Alabama in its blotchy Measure 12 camouflage scheme).  For more information on the camouflage schemes of the South Dakota class battleships, a good reference is the Measure 31, 32, 33 page at the US Navy Historical website.  The small decal sheet provides basic markings, namely flags and markings for the Kingfishers.

Conclusion

This is a great addition to Trumpeter's growing 1/700 battleship line, and with it we can now build all the USN battleships of World War Two.  My thanks to Stevens International for the review sample.