S Model
1/700 USS Casablanca CVE-55


 
 
Reviewed November 2025
by Martin J Quinn

HISTORY
USS Casablanca (AVG/ACV/CVE-55) was the first of fifty Casablanca-class escort carriers built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was named after the Naval Battle of Casablanca, conducted as a part of the wider Operation Torch, which pitted the United States Navy against the remnants of the French Navy controlled by Vichy France. The American victory cleared the way for the seizure of the port of Casablanca as well as the Allied occupation of French Morocco. The ship was launched in April 1943, commissioned in July, and served as a training and transport carrier throughout the war. Postwar, she participated in Operation Magic Carpet, repatriating U.S. servicemen from throughout the Pacific. She was decommissioned in June 1946, when she was mothballed in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. She was sold for scrap in April 1947. 

For more on the history of the Casablanca, check out her Wikipedia page, where this abbreviated history came from, here. 
The S Model USS Casablanca

S Model’s 1/700 SMS Casablanca comes in a rather flimsy, side opening box.  Inside all the contents are contained in a single plastic bag.  Within that bag, the sprues are each wrapped individually, and the 3D printed parts that are provided are in a small plastic flip top box. 

SPRUE A
 
Sprues A & B are molded together, as the first picture below shows.  I cut them apart for photography purposes. This sprue contains the one pieces waterline hull, the gallery deck bulkheads and some sponsons. 

The hull scales out correctly in length and beam at the waterline.  The sides of the hull have large strakes to represent hull plating and weld lines.  In my opinion, these are overstated, but should be moderated somewhat under a coat of paint.  The openings on the gallery deck bulkheads should just be open passageways, but S Model has molded them as partially recessed, with what look like an attempt to mold fastening clips for W/T doors. 

SPRUE B
Here we have the aft deck, parts for the island, including a mast with radar, flight deck supports, fore and aft hangar bulkheads, and the flight deck edge catwalks/gun galleries.  The catwalks have lots of detail, though the molded inclined ladders look more like stairs.  The mast and radar assembly are poor, but luckily, those are provided as 3D printed parts. 

SPRUE C
This sprue has the one piece flight deck and the Fo'c'sle deck.  Overall, the flight deck is crisply molded, and really well done, with delicate planking, expansion joints and tie down strips.  However....the arresting wires are grossly overscale.  In scale, these would kneecap the landing gear on the first plane that tried to touch down.  It's a pity that such a beautifully molded deck was marred like this. Perhaps one can try very carefully removing them with a small hobby chisel.   

SPRUE T (X2)
There are two of this sprue. These contain the 5in gun (also provided as a 3D part), 40mm and 20mm, guns, ships boats, searchlights and what look like vents.  The weapons are pedestrian, at best (though the 20mm do have splinter shields), and would be better off being replaced with 3D printed replacements.   

AIRCRAFT
The aircraft look like someone took a 1970's Fujimi USN aircraft set, cleaned up the molds a little, and re-released it in this kit.  The aircraft on this sprue - which include aircraft which never flew off CVEs - have heavy panel lines and stick landing gear.  Junk these for aftermarket replacements.   

3D PRINTED PARTS
There are two 3D print rafts included with this kit. While they are referenced in the instructions, they aren't shown in the parts manifest.  One print rafts had 3D printed props for the aforementioned abysmal plans, which is akin to putting lipstick on a pig.  It also includes under flight deck supports with lightening holes and well as a 3D printed 5in gun. 

The second print raft has the island and mast.  All the parts look good. 

  

DECALS
The decal sheet includes markings for the flight deck - both lines and numbers.  It also included decals for the aircraft and two types of US flags.  The flight deck numbers are useable, the white dashes and lines are just ok and the aircraft decals are poor.  The color on the US national markings looks off. 

INSTRUCTIONS
The instructions are small booklet with 5 exploded view diagrams to guide you through the assembly.  Most experienced models will be able to get by with what's there. 

There is no color guide, you'll have to check references for painting.  There are pictures on Navsource.net, show her in an attractive dazzle scheme in August 1944.  Plus there were 49 other ships in the class, so you should be able to find a paint scheme you like. 
CONCLUSIONS
While there have been at least two resin models of this class released in 1/700, this is the first injection molded Casablanca-class carrier that I know of. Of course, Hasegawa released one in 1/350.  The manufacturer, S Model, has previously released some injection molded Imperial Chinese Navy vessels in 1/700.  I believe this is their first foray into World War II, and their first American ship. 

Overall, this kit is a mixed bag. On the plus side, it's an injection molded Casablanca class, the flight deck is (mostly) terrific, and the 3D printed parts, which appear to be well done, are a nice bonus.  On the negative side, some the plating and strakes on the hull are over-scale, the arresting gear wires are also overstated (both of these could always be removed), the weapons (outside the 3D printed 5in gun) are pedestrian, and the aircraft are junk.  No photo-etch is included, but Tom's Modelworks has just released set 7122, USN CVE Railings, which will come in handy for this model.  Recommend, with some reservations, for those who really want a Casablanca-class carrier in your scale model fleet. 

This is S Model Models 1/700 USS Casablanca CVE-55, kit number PS7000055.  The kit is available from various sellers on eBay, which is where I procured mine. Prices vary, depending on the seller, shipping costs, etc.