This is a commission build of the Shiloh, from the Dragon Mobile Bay kit. It will be one of a trio of CGs (Shiloh, Yorktown, Lake Erie) for the same customer as my trio of Burkes. Unlike last time, I am going to do these one at a time, having not enjoyed the work in triplicate last time.
Like the burkes, this will be toned down a bit, no PE, no crew, no weathering, waterlined, but not on a sea scape, all at the customer's request obviously.
The Dragon kit is rough, to put it nicely, and shows it's age. Appropriate parts will be upgraded with veteran accessories, spares from a trumpeter Burke donor kit, and my own resin and / or scratch built enhancements.
My first impressions of the kit are not good. Aside from soft details, there are some very serious fit issues right off the bat. Worst of these is the fit of the foreward superstructure to the deck, there should be a flush fit on teh sides, but this one has a very considerable lip that is going to have to be overcome.
I replaced the stern deck with blank styrene, deciding it will just be easier to start from a clean slate rather than sand off the marking lines and deal with the kit part.
the plastic itself is brittle, the hull cracked right in the middle from only minor work on it.
