happy new year: I need help, with a project: I have friend whose daughter is stationed about the ross as a corpsman, and she would like a model built for her. I have some photos she gave me. The only burke currently out there is the new kit from dragon uss momenson ddg92. Which is a newer version I beleve a flight IIa and the ross is flight I. So here is my question, what is needed to backdate the dragon kit, other then smoke stacks .
thanks
Hi Armyrn,
Got to the kit reviews section at http://www.modelwarships.com/reviews/index.html
There is exactly what you want to know about this newly released ship model of the Arleigh Burke DDG’s.
The review speaks for itself.
Good skill to you!
Tony
The reverse of this question was asked when only the Panda Flight I {Burke} and the Flight II {Cole} kits were available and modelers wanted to build a Flight IIa. It is not as simple as slapping on (or in your case removing) a helicopter deck and hangar.
Yes the stacks were changed in later Flt IIa ships, plus the mine hunting gear hangar was added. These need to be changed. Also in the change from Flight I/II to IIa the aft face of the bridgehouse was raised to increase the clear field of view for the SPY-1 radar panels. They need to come down about 1 deck level. Fore & aft there were CIWS guns. The later ships have Rolling Airframe Missile launchers in their places. The aft Vertical Launch System cells also changed shape, location, and number of cells going from the I/II to the IIa ships. The latest units have a different forward gun also.
Backdating a late Flight IIa Burke to a Flight I or II ship is a serious undertaking. You may be better served finding a Panda Burke or Cole. Fortunately the differences between a Flight I and Flight II are largely internal and electronics
Thanks ed , I had that sinking feeling, it was going to be alot of work. Being deployed here in Iraq, I have limited resources. So if it was a simple fix, I could have done it. I will keep an eye out for a panda kit, but if anyone has one and would like to donate one to our group here in Iraq please contact me at bruce.wheeler1@us.army.mil, thanks again for the help.