USS Essex Set and Gold Plus USS Essex Set
Gold Medal Models 1/350

By: John Rich

Pros; well designed, relief etching And excellent fit. Cons; Both sets can cost as much as the kit itself.

With the recent release in the last few years of at least three significant model ships in the "real ship scale"(1/350), ie. USS Arizona, USS Hornet and USS Essex, it has been well noted that the manufacturers involved have designed these kits in conjunction with the major makers of photo etched accessories and in some cases have even omitted some parts completely.

Producing photo etched sets for ship modellers since 1985 Gold Medal Models have once again excelled with their Essex detail set (GMM 350-22) and Essex Gold Plus set (GMM 350-22A). Designed and fitted to actual kit parts in pre- production tests, the parts on each of the 250mm x 170mm frets are etched and relief etched in GMM standard 0.005" brass and fit extremely well.

Gold Medal Models as per usual have done their research well, there are two and three bar railings, in particular I must point out that there are dedicated sections of rail for certain areas of the ship. Bow rails, stern rails, flight deck rails (bow and stern), elevator rails just to name a few. All of these have angle-bracing, cutouts for chocks (where appropriate) leadsman's platforms- you will even see the sections of chain if you get your magnifying glass on the job. A little tip - something I have found useful when working with photo etched parts is to lay them onto a piece of black card. This makes things so much easier to see, also a black or white ceramic tile with a smooth surface makes an ideal cutting plate- but back to the review.

The deck edge elevator bracing looks great and matches the kit part E31 perfectly, watertight doors (14 of each starboard and port), vertical ladder stock, inclined stairs (4 types), floater net baskets, SK/SK-2 radar mast platforms- two styles and mast top for the same, Mk37 directors radars, radar bases and supports. The five flight deck radio antenna masts with separate ladders even have their own spreaders; the antenna mast screens with their relief etching look great. When deciding on which era to model your project in there are a lot of options to choose from. L.S.O. platforms with two different styles of wind screens are there, four cable reels, life rings, crane hooks, all radars and antennas for the conning tower. There is even an Admiral R.A.Spruance. Correctly a two piece funnel cap grill is included as well as fore & aft yardarms with doublers.

The more you look the more you see, moving on to the Gold Plus fret it's more of the same, all the catwalks you could possibly want- perforated! Early and late tripod mast bracing, forward and aft dual 5" gun platform extensions, replacements for kit parts E12 and E13 dual 5" gun platforms, accommodation ladders in the stowed condition only.1MC speakers (4 styles) with mounting brackets and boxes, the second whaleboat rudder & cradle (all you have to do is find another whaleboat as there is only one in the kit). Boat crane with hooks, arresting gear sheaves and crash barrier supports with tiny holes for the cables! 20mm gun details (excellent!). Also on this fret are the 40mm quad bofors details with alternative early/late wartime rear guard rails, as with all the parts that require folding, the shields for the 40mm quad bofors all have fold lines etched in the correct locations (cool).

In closing what else can be said, the Gold Medal Models Essex detail set and Essex Gold Plus set are, in my opinion, just outstanding. GMM have covered nearly all the angles, from comprehensive instruction sheets right down to the bridge wind deflectors and support brackets. I know when the time comes for my own Essex project to be fitted out, that together with a little patience and time, Gold Medal Models Essex details & Gold Plus sets will help me achieve a result that will really stand out. Many thanks to Sandle Hobbies who supplied the review sample.

Good luck and above all have fun modelling.

Copyright © SMML 2004