This is the latest 1/700 scale kit from Loose Cannon East, USS Albemarle AV-5, of the Curtiss Class large AV’s. The model represents Albemarle after her 1944
Boston refit in the Measure 32 ,5AX Dazzle pattern. I built the kit as an ‘out of the box’ model, but I did add some rigging. The Mariners aircraft & ship’s boats are
all cast “full hull, but I water-lined most of them for the build.
The kit comes with a choice of cast resin or photo-etch yardarms. I did the foremast with the cast resin yardarms, but I think they look too thick & clunky, so I did
the main mast with the photo-etch version. I think that it looks a lot better. Then I broke the foretop mast off while putting the “protective” glass case on and had to
reglue it. I did a lousy job of the reglue, but I was afraid to mess more with it, figuring I’d just make it worse. This was fun to build, even if I’m not in the same
league as most of the other postings I’ve seen on Steelnavy. I do like the look of the various Dazzle patterns, even if they are a bit of work to get done.
The paints were ColurCoats Enamals, except for the black, that is Vallejo Black Grey. I did late war kits of both ships in the class, Curtiss AV-4 & Albemarle AV-5.
(Editor's note: Well known Cavite Cat Dave has not yet updated the Loose Cannon East web site to reflect the availability of these seaplanes tenders but it is a little
toasty where he lives with and average high temperature in April and May of 102 degrees F, so we will give him a break.)
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