Five Star Models
USS Yorktown CV-5 Upgrade Set, 1/700 Scale

Item FS700125, for the Turmpeter 1/700 scale USS Yorktown CV-5, kit 06707

Reviewed by Devin Poore
October 2018
 
With the release of Trumpeter's USS Yorktown (CV-5) kit in 2017, we finally have an accurately shaped and sized kit of Yorktown in 1/700 scale styrene. While the kit is very good, even excellent in many respects, there will always be aspects of a 1/700 scale model that that are more realistically depicted in brass. While the Trumpeter kit does come with a small PE fret that includes items such as the flight deck crane and a few other items, major items such as railings, ladders, radars, weapons, and so on, are not provided in brass. Five Star provides those items and more in their very comprehensive set.

The parts come in a flat box with the above photo on the lid. Inside each sheet is covered on both sides with clear plastic film, and taped to a white cardboard carrier card. All of these are then taped to the bottom of the box, with the folded instructions placed on top. A very nicely packaged set that showed up with zero damage.
Fret A
Sheet A is simply the flight deck. It's a single piece of thin brass. The builder will need to sand the existing styrene deck smooth to apply. One of the main quibbles with the Trumpeter kit is the simplistic design of the flight deck, making this brass deck most welcome. Planks with butt joints are visible, as are aircraft tie down strips, elevators, catapults, ordinance elevators, and wind barricades. As the elevators are part of the flight deck, if you want them in the lowered position, you'll have to cut them free. The wind barrier locations are etched recessed, with the actual barriers as separate pieces on another fret, so erecting them is an option.
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Sheet B
Sheet B is actually two parts. The first is a small sheet, only 1.5 X 3/4", which has the parts for the .50 caliber anti-aircraft mounts. The other, larger, B sheet has even more AA mount parts, covering the 1.1" and 20mm mounts. Also included on this fret are the previously mentioned wind barriers for installation on the flight deck, the CXAM radar components, and splinter shields for the 1.1" mounts.
Sheet C
Sheet C has even more in the way of weaponry, with parts for the 5" mounts. The bases, trunnions, and ammo racks are all here. Also on this sheet are the components for the smaller boat cranes, and the large flight deck crane. Many open watertight doors also populate the fret.
Sheet D
Sheet D is railing and ladders. The ladders are typical vertical variety. Multiple types of railings are included: three bar and four bar solid rails, drooped lifelines, and shorter barriers for either around the stacks or elevator openings. These are extremely finely etched. 
Sheet E
Several parts of the under flight deck support structure are located on Fret E. The other major components on this sheet are for the air group, including landing gear, flaps, and propellers, for F4F Wildcats, SBD Dauntless, and TBD Devastators. As a holdover from the Hornet set they did a few years ago, Five Star has also included the props and landing gear for B-25 Mitchells. There are several other parts on this sheet that I can't find in the instructions, but they appear to be straps for the ship's boats.
Sheet F
Sheet F has more under-deck support beams, and other various gussets, ladders and doors. Also on this sheet we see the first parts of various decks with diamond plate tread. I'm not completely sold on diamond plate in 1/700 scale, as it's completely oversized, but these do look good. Other parts are various platforms, and the LSO safety net, nicely perforated. One-piece cable reels are also included.
Sheet G
Here we get various platforms for the island and around the perimeter of the flight deck. While the main sheet that has the railings and ladders for this set are mostly generic, nothing etched to size, on this sheet the gun galleries and various platforms that need railings have them attached. Also attached to the gallery decks are the underside supports. Various angled truss supports are also included on this sheet, as are inclined ladders.
Sheet H
More platforms with diamond plate and attached railings and supports included here. We also find mast components with draped foot ropes, as well as the stack caps and grates. One item of note is part 21, a platform that runs down the port side of the island and terminates in a secondary flight control room. (I've never been sure what to call this, pri-fly-two? Secondary-fly?) Regardless, Yorktown did not have this structure, only Enterprise and Hornet. It should be relatively easy to remove the bulkheads and overhead for this structure and just leave open deck.
Sheet I
Here we find the arrester gear for the flight deck, two sets are included, both for laying flat on the deck, or erected for flight operations. Very fine, it's going to take some care to cut these all out individually. The fighting top components for the mast are included on this sheet, as is the armored conning tower, and other platforms and railings. The stack safety rails are also included on this sheet, consisting of a perforated platform with attached railings.
Sheet J
This sheet smaller than the rest, yet is from heavier material than the others, coming in at .25mm, whereas the other sheets are .15mm, as it contains structural parts that need a little more strength, such as the deck that runs directly above the fantail, and the splinter shields for the 5" galleries. Fairleads and chocks are found on this sheet. There are also several circle pieces that look to be gun mount bases, and vertical parts that are possibly flight deck supports, but I can find no mention of them anywhere in the instructions.
INSTRUCTIONS
Instructions are on eight pages, front and back, 8.5 X 11", in color. The first page has an inventory of all the sheets included, as well as beginnings of construction. The construction steps are photos of already assembled components, with numbered call outs for each part that makes up an assembly. For structures such as the flight deck forward and aft supports, this will likely be fine. I can see it getting confusing when it comes time to assemble a complicated gallery deck, though. Fortunately, with the gallery decks having their supports and railings all etched as one piece to be bent into shape, this will hopefully cut down on the confusion as to what goes with what.
CONCLUSIONS
This is a well designed and etched upgrade set. Just on their own, the flight deck and all of its associated supports and gallery decks will be a huge improvement to the Trumpeter kit. Add in the railings, hatches, doors, and other small bits, and you can really doll up Waltzing Matilda. All of the pieces are extremely finely etched and detailed. Diamond plate is well represented, perforated radars, nets and catwalks look the part.

Since it wouldn't be a true review without calling out some issues, here are a few I found. One is that the set is 100% photo etched brass, there are no turned gun barrels, bollards, or masts. This is fine and not an issue for me, but since a lot of these extensive upgrade sets now include those other style parts, it's worth mentioning. Secondly, I'm not sure how much of what is in the set is covered by the instructions. While studying the brass sheets, I found that quite a few pieces are not mentioned anywhere in the instructions. Indeed, the final page of the instructions states "Please install the parts which are not mentioned in the instruction according to the sample pictures and historical reference". Only the build will tell how much is covered or omitted in the directions.

Overall I highly recommend this set. The brass is extremely fine, so care will be required in working with it, but that fineness does give great scale detail. The combination of Five Star's work with the Trumpeter Yorktown kit will result in a stunning model.

Thank you to Five Star for the review sample. The set is currently available through their direct website and their eBay store, with shipments currently on the way to U.S. and European dealers.


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