USS Cole DDG-67

1:350 Scale Model from .Trumpeter.
Model Number 04524.
Model Build Details.

The Cole is named in honor of Marine Sergeant Darrell S. Cole, a machine-gunner killed in action on Iwo Jima on 19 February 1945, during World War II. The ship was built by Ingalls Shipbuilding and was delivered to the Navy on 11 March 1996.
On 12 October 2000, the Cole was attacked by Al-Qaeda terrorists who committed a suicide attack in the Yemeni port of Aden; seventeen sailors were killed and thirty-nine were injured, and the ship was damaged.^[1] On 29 November 2003 Cole deployed for her first overseas deployment after the bombing and subsequently returned to her homeport of Norfolk, Virginia on 27 May 2004 without incident.
Cole is one of 62 authorized Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers, and one of 21 members of the Flight I-class that utilized the 5"/54 caliber gun mounts found on the earliest of the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. In addition to her guns, Cole carries nearly 100 missiles of various types aboard two separate Mk 41 VLS magazines. Her superstructure features the AN/SPY-1 radar indicative of the Aegis combat system, which allows the destroyer to track over 100 targets simultaneously.^[2] She also has two Phalanx CIWS gun mounts located aft and stern which are intended to protect Cole against enemy missiles that manage to evade the ship's anti-missile missiles. Cole was launched on 10 February 1995.

This model comes well packed in its colourful box. Great care had been taken to protect the various sprues which contain many small parts from damage. Particular attention was taken to protect the very fragile bow section which was in its own  cocoon of plastic and tape.

There are 481 parts to this build plus photo etch and decals. The mouldings are as you would expect from a newly tooled project are of the highest order, crisp and clean although some care must be taken when separating them from the sprues as the tolerance is close and will fly if not contained.

The hull and main deck are one piece and the option to build as a waterline ship is available with two separate lower hulls moulded in red styrene. This colour seems a good idea at first but you soon realise that when the rudders and shafts are fitted the lower hull will still need painting.

The assembly is straight forward although I found it necessary to enlarge all the holes in the deck so as to comfortably insert the many small parts.

I would also suggest that the hull and deck be joined at an early stage so as clamps can be used to hold the components together when gluing without the hinderance of deck fittings.

The assembly directions are clear and I followed the sequence as detailed without any trouble.

I was impressed with the way the ships mast and associated pieces came together and made what could have been a tedious task easy.

The photo etch  railings were fixed to the model using Gator Glue which works really well. I also used this glue to fix the transparencies of the wheel house which it did without any decolourisation .

The decals I found to be a problem. Mainly the one for the helipad. It is in one piece and I found it too large to handle in such a small and cluttered area. I mucked it up completely and had to use some symbols from a lettering sheet I had. The result isn`t too bad.

Trumpeter provide a colour full sheet of the ship and the recommended colours to use

Which has the numbers for Humbrol, Tamiya. Model Master and Vallejo.

As I am a current fan of  Lifecolour and had them to hand I used LC26 for the deck and UA117 for the hull and superstructure. The below waterline colour was Red oxide primer from Power Plus (Auto car spray) works well.

The finished model was sprayed with 3 coats of Estapol Matt to give it protection from marks and handling.

Finally I used Tamiya pastel chalk for the weathering plus some graphite touches here and there.

It finishes as nice model of a modern and sophisticated warship with an unfortunate history but still sailing today.