1/350 USS Guam CB-2 1945 (Hobby Boss)

The USS Guam (CB2) was the second of what was originally to have been a class of six “cruiser killers”, originally designed in the late 1930s and considerably modified before being authorized in 1940.  Inspired by the “pocket battleships” of the post-World War I German Navy, the treaty cruisers of the IJN and designed to counter light battleships such as the Scharnhorst and what were thought to be similarly sized Japanese warships then being planned (apparently, this was erroneous information), these Large Cruisers were equipped with nine 12-in. guns in three triple turrets, and were otherwise enlarged versions of the projected Baltimore class heavy cruisers, with a standard displacement of 27,000 tons and just over 800 ft. long.  Only the first two of these hybrid heavy cruiser/battlecruiser models were completed – the USS Alaska (CB1) and the Guam; the latter did not see combat action until early 1945 and spent a total of only 29 months in service following her commission.  Construction of the third member of the class, the USS Hawaii, was stopped in 1947 and this ship, about 84% complete, was eventually scrapped, as were the Alaska and Guam, in 1960-61. The other 3 ships of the class were cancelled before their keels had been laid.  By the time the two Large Cruisers entered service, their projected opponents – heavy cruisers of the German and Japanese navies – had nearly all been sunk, mostly by air attacks and submarines.  Therefore, they merely supplemented the standard US battleship and cruiser fleets for shore bombardment and air defense of the carrier task forces.

Hobby Boss has produced a beautiful kit of a beautiful ship; the USS Guam was sleek, powerful and fast (33 knots top speed).  The kit, which has its own photoetch frets of railings, ladders, masts, cranes and radars, was ably and extensively augmented (and almost entirely replaced) with Infini Models' very extensive brass upgrade set, which includes a 20B dark blue wooden deck. resin blast bags for the 12-in. guns, and anchor chain more suited to a destroyer or light cruiser.  The Infini assembly instructions are thorough but sometimes a little frustrating, in that the illustrations of often complicated assemblies, despite step-by-step diagrams and photos, can be a little too small to clearly see how the many, often tiny, parts go together.  A few of the part numbers are incorrect, though those parts are not difficult to find and correctly install.  The supplied frets have a few extra pieces in case some small ones are lost or broken, but there are also some parts that are not used at all – these may have been intended for the similar but not identical USS Alaska.  It is important to put together those assemblies in the order shown; for example, the fourteen quad 40mm Bofors gun mounts are each composed of about 50 separate parts that all have to go together *just so*. The model was completed in MS22, with IPP 5-N Navy Blue, Model Master 5-H Haze Grey, and a mixture of Tamiya Hull Red and Flat Red for the lower hull; I made my own simulation of 20B dark blue (needed for Infini's' brass decking at the bow and stern and the gear/floater baskets) by blending several Tamiya colors, mostly Dark Sea Blue (I discovered that I had run out of true 20B); what little rigging was needed was made from stretched black sprue.

Gallery updated 10/21/2020

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