3D-WILD USS Lexington (CC-1)

[MartinJQuinn]

An in-box review of the 1/350 3D-WILD USS Lexington (CC-1) has been posted.

Add your comments here and join the conversation

[ModelFunShipyard]

Martin, thank you for your honest review. I just wanted to chime in on a few points to clear a few things out.

When mentioning the deck pattern, you said it's "inconsistent at the bow and stern", and attached a picture. What do seem like other butt end lines to you are actually printing layers, that give a somewhat rougher pattern to the deck. It is an issue that can crop up sometimes, due to the particular angle at which the bow deck rises. It does not look pretty, I agree, but it has nothing to do with the actual design. Could be solved by reorienting the print somewhat.

About the finger print marks, at least they seem to be to me as well, but if they are, it happens but should not be a big deal. I suggest after cleaning the supports, before priming or doing any putting/glueing, to gently scrub the hull with isopropil alcohol or the like. It should neatly remove all finger marks and other eventual oily residues from printing.

It does indeed seem the casemate (not casement, sorry not sorry ) deck has been damaged at some point, as before the #3 barbette the pole to string part of the wireless fit on should be double that height. Seems to be a one off, but you could always ask for a replacement. (Also thanks for pointing the bulkhead thing out, I was unsure whether to include that or not, and in the end I went with what I did because I reasoned that you still wouldn't see anything inside - and thus through the opposite side of the hull without lighting - I hadn't thought about looking at the mount directly from the beam. We will implement it in further designs.)

Just one FYI for all: I am not particularly versed in small boats, because it is so difficult to get hold of good quality drawings of them, so sometimes I've got to improvise or reuse what I have, rather than leaving the spot empty. That's addressing your comment on the Royal Navy boat. But if someone knows how to point me in the right direction for better sources, I will definitely use them. It's not always I get a set of drawings of the boats included with the ship plans as happened with the Renown, for which I taylor made most of the boats (because I had not yet built a kit using them).

Sorry if it's tedious to have the bollards separate, but we made the design choice to include the base on the model so you won't go mad trying to properly fit them - maybe a small problem to be worried about, but hey, could be worse! Could be the individual tracks to assemble from a Takom model, with the track pin and rubber pad separate. For each of the 100+ links to assemble...

I do appreciate all up front feedback I have received by you all in my (for now) brief stint with 3D-Wild as a designer. I understand there are things that can be improved, and we try to do so. I'll also forward some feedback to them about the print quality issues highlighted here. As being a designer is my only job, I will always try to provide you with the best product I can - sometimes it works, sometimes doesn't.
If any of you has any other feedback or comment, we will gladly listen to them. Or just your opinion on things.

[MartinJQuinn]

It does indeed seem the casemate (not casement, sorry not sorry )

[Not_so_COB]

Anyone have any experience on how long its taking to get you CC-1? I ordered about a month ago and haven't heard a peep...

[Guest]

Anyone have any experience on how long its taking to get you CC-1? I ordered about a month ago and haven't heard a peep...

3D Wild has some terrific models but their fulfillment of orders leaves much to be desired.

I ordered their Wasp on 1/13/25 and didn't receive it until almost Memorial Day.

They were very responsive to emails, though. Use the email address on their web site.

HTH

Steve O

[BB62vet]

After reading over Martin's review, I think he's given a fair assessment of the kit overall. I have had intentions of purchasing one of the tripod versions of this kit and modifying it to my own ideas about how it might have been modernized as many of us discussed in the LEX thread earlier last year. So, as a small diversion of time/energy from other modeling stuff, I went ahead and 3D design/printed all the parts I would need for this including the aircraft crane and boat cranes as I envisioned them - good thing I did, as those 3D files are now history due to my own lack of understanding Win. 11 file directory when I upgraded my computer last year (live & learn )

Anyhow, here are photos of my 1/350th scale cranes -

I know that I have much more time for designing parts than the commercial guys do and I'm not criticizing 3D Wild, just pointing out that highly detailed parts CAN be printed and this improve the overall appearance of the model. I sometimes have surprised myself with what can actually be successfully printed at the smaller scales!

I would add that if 3D Wild does make improvements to the kit, they should consider redesigning their cranes especially as these are quite prominent in the overall appearance of the model.

Hank

[MartinJQuinn]

Update: In my review I mentioned that my casemate deck had some damage. I reached out to 3D-Wild, with photos, and they promptly sent me a replacement, which arrived today. It has no visible flaws and appears to be - outside of the damage - a better print overall than the original part.

I just wanted to acknowledge the great customer service by 3D-WILD, and thank them for the quick response!