High Mold 1/700 USS Maryland BB-46

Colorado Class Pearl Harbor Battleship
Reviewed by Timothy Dike
At Battleship Row in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7th 1941, there were two Colorado Class Battleships. The Maryland BB-46, and the West Virginia BB-48, both were hit at Pearl Harbor. The Maryland was moored inboard of the Oklahoma and thus escaped most of the damage. The West Virginia was seriously damaged but was re-floated and went on to fight back against it's attackers. The Colorado was undergoing a refit and missed the attack all together. This class of Battleship was very much like the earlier Tennessee class except they had 16" main guns in four twin mounts instead of the triple 14" of earlier classes.
High Mold is the high quality resin division of Pit-Road and this kit really shows it. The hull is superbly cast, with deck planking and fittings cast in place. The anchor chains and chock are all finely detailed and I could find no evidence of any flash or defects.
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This kit is molded in a two part style so there is no over pour to sand away. Parts locate much like a typical plastic kit as there are locators cast on the parts. Some parts may have some flash along the parting lines of the mold but as you can see it is minimal. The superstructure parts are all well molded and detailed. There is a small resin runner that must be sanded off, but these are placed so they are on the side easiest to touch up.
The main gun turrets are well molded, and have locating pins so there is no guess work in locating them. The best part of all is the machines brass gun barrels that are included in the kit. They will really enhance the kit. Brass rod and plastic sheet are included to make some of the other detail parts.
Secondary weapons are made up of several cast metal parts. The 5" 25 cal guns look more like 5" 38 cal guns with the exception of the two shielded mounts that were used on the Maryland. Also included is 1.1" machine guns. These are among the best metal castings I've seen, they are very crisp and have little flash.
Searchlights, rafts, 20 mm guns, gun directors, king posts and  all kinds of small detail parts are included. All the parts are nicely cast and the only ones that I would replace are the aircraft catapults as I prefer the photo etched ones.
A photo etch fret is included for the cage masts, cranes, radar, and boat cradles. The parts are sharp and look like they will assemble easily.
The Instructions consist of six pages of assembly views and parts lists. The various views are well illustrated and unlike most resin kits I've reviewed are very detailed and even include many auxiliary views to show those hard to identify assemblies. Assembly tips for constructing the cage masts and other items. I've scanned a few pages below to give you an idea of what they show. My only complaint is the lack of english translations of the steps, but the pictures more than tell the story.
 
Conclusions:

This is one of the best resin kits of any Pearl Harbor Battleships on the market today. Anyone who has built a resin kit or two could tackle it. Of course you will want two of them so you can add them to that Battleship row diorama you've been considering. Highly Recommended!


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