1:350 USS ENGLAND DE-635

1:350 USS England DE-635 – Trumpeter kit

An injection-molded plastic kit of a US Navy destroyer escort of the Second World War in 1:350 scale. The manufacturer is Trumpeter, a brand known for a wide range of ship models in exactly this scale. It is a classic glued model meant to be assembled and painted.

The real subject

USS England (DE-635) belonged to the Buckley class, that is, to the numerous family of escort vessels that the US Navy built to protect convoys and to fight submarines. She entered service in 1943. She went down in history in May 1944 in the southwest Pacific, when in twelve days she sent six Japanese submarines to the bottom. No other unit of the US Navy repeated such a result. At the end of the war, in May 1945 off Okinawa, she was badly damaged by a kamikaze attack and never returned to combat service.

Building and painting tips

Decide before the build whether you will set the model on a stand or into the water surface of a diorama — it affects the way you handle the hull. Clean and sand the joint between the hull and the deck before you start painting, because you will not reach it on the finished model. Apply the paint with an airbrush in thin coats, so that the fine details of the superstructures are not lost. American vessels of the period wore camouflage schemes in shades of gray and blue-gray; follow the scheme from the instructions and mask the areas in advance. If you add photo-etched railings to the model, fit them only after the deck is painted.

Who the model is for

• Collectors of US Navy ships of the Second World War
• Modelers interested in anti-submarine warfare in the Pacific
• Builders of smaller vessels in the uniform 1:350 scale
• Modelers who want to add their own details to the model

The model is supplied unassembled and unpainted. Glue, paints and accessories are not included in the package, unless stated otherwise.