Reviewed by Timothy Dike
| The Jean Bart was a French Richelieu
class battleship laid down in 1936. She was not completed when war broke
out and was hurriedly rushed to Casablanca, Morocco to prevent capture.
She did not even have all of her guns installed. In November 1942 during
the Operation Torch landings she engages US Battleship Massechusetts and
took several hits from the BB and aircraft. She later opened up on the
USS Augusta and recieved another round of bombs fron aircraft flying off
the USS Ranger finally silencing her. After the Vichy forces surrendered
she was considered for a refit in the US, but this was not practical. Little
was done until after the war when she was finally completed. She saw service
in the Suez Canal Crisis in 1956 but did not engage any other ships. Finally
she was placed in reserve in 1957 and scrapped a few years later.
Trumpeter has released this interesting battleship in her final 1955
fit. The kit is similar to the Richelieu but includes several new sprues
to make her in the post war fit.
|
|||||||||
| HULL PARTS | |||||||||
| The hull is molded waterline style with a separate lower hull or flat waterline plate in red plastic. The fit looks good with the upper and lower parts. The hull features molded on portholes with rain gutters and closed chocks along the edges. The latter has recessed openings that can be drilled out for realism. | Click images
to enlarge |
||||||||
 |
|||||||||
|
|||||||||
| SPRUE A | |||||||||
| This sprue features various decks located on the upper superstructure. Molding looks good on the range finders. Some of the various walls and shields have a little too much taper on them. This allows the part to be ejected from the mold easier, but give a somewhat unrealistic look to the parts. |  |
||||||||
|
|||||||||
| SPRUE E | |||||||||
| The deck has some nice planking detailing and plenty of deck gear molded on. There are mounting holes for many of the separate parts. The anchor detail is molded on unfortunately and simplistic in detail. Most modelers will probably replace this anyway so it is not really a big deal. This sprue is different than the Richlieu one. |  |
||||||||
|
|||||||||
| SPRUE F | |||||||||
| The uppers decks are molded with an abundance of mounting holes for the various guns and parts that locate here. Splinter shields here also have excessive taper. This too is a new sprue for this version of the kit. |  |
||||||||
|
|||||||||
| SPRUE G | |||||||||
| The two main guns are included on this sprue. The molding looks good and slide molding has been used to mold more detail onto the turrets. |  |
||||||||
|
|||||||||
| SPRUE K | |||||||||
| Gun tubs and platforms are featured on this sprue. The splinter shields are fairly thin and the details are pretty good overall. A Jean Bart name plate and other ship specific details are included on this sprue. |  |
||||||||
|
|||||||||
| SPRUE L | |||||||||
| Superstructure parts are included on this sprue. Most of the walls are molded separately to allow for more detail without using slides in the mold. Detail is pretty good and the doors are hatches appear consistent for these Jean Bart parts. |  |
||||||||
|
|||||||||
| SPRUE M (x 2) | |||||||||
| There are two of these sprues with the weapons and other fittings. The gun base for the main turret is also included. Ships boats are also included as well as propellers and other fittings. |  |
||||||||
|
|||||||||
| SPRUE P (x 2) | |||||||||
| There are also two of these sprues with the light anti-aircraft guns included. The 40mm guns are not bad, but the 20mm guns are not very detailed with the whole gun assembly molded as one part. |  |
||||||||
|
|||||||||
| DECALS | |||||||||
| Two French flags are include in straight and wavy format. |  |
||||||||
| DISPLAY BASE | |||||||||
| The standard black plastic ship base is included for full hull display. |  |
||||||||
| INSTRUCTIONS | |||||||||
| A nice color profile is included showing the ship camouflage with painting notes. The instructions are an extensive 8 page booklet with all kinds of exploded views. They are step by step and cover all the assembly steps. |  |
||||||||
|
|||||||||
| Conclusions: | |||||||||
As I mentioned before, this kit is a better rendering of the Richelieu than the 350 version. It also has a waterline option so you don't have to cut the hull down. While I am not an expert on French Navy ship, this kit looks very good and it should be an enjoyable build right out of the box. It can also provide a really nice base for superdetailing. This is kit number #TSM-5752 1/700 French Jean Bart Battleship 1955 with a list price of $39.95. Not a bad price for a ship of this size. Thanks to Stevens International for the review sample. They are the exclusive importer for Trumpeter kits in the US. If your hobby shop does not carry Trumpeter kits have them contact Stevens International or try their Hobby Shop Locator to find one. |
|||||||||
