Timmy C wrote:
Dragon's releasing an updated version of their 1/700 Zumwalt kit with 3D printed parts to incorporate the modifications to the superstructure post-delivery:
https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10743131This kit has been released and is shipping. Mine arrived last week. Dragon #7148, USS Lyndon B. Johnson, DDG-1002.
DDG-1002 is still under construction in Bath, Maine. Well-documented technical challenges with the first two ships of the class indicate that armament and radar suites are still in development, so the current fit of the Zumwalt Class is rather hard to pin down at the moment.
All parts for the initial release are included. No changes to the superstructure molds, so the superstructure tiles remain over-scale and must be addressed. Four-bladed propellers are incorrectly included in the Zumwalt and Johnson editions of this kit.
What's new are 3D printed parts for the top of the superstructure, radars and Bushmaster guns for above the stern flight-deck. Nicely detailed, but a tightly packaged glassine envelope for these parts distorted the small antennae for the top-of-superstructure piece.
In effect, this kit, despite box art referencing DDG-1002, is only a correct fit for the Zumwalt itself (I'm not up-to-date on how the Monsoor was fitted or what is planned for the Johnson).
New instructions. Several openings on the superstructure are meant to be filled before installing 3D parts.
Basic decals for all three ships of the class.