Part 1: First Look

MSRP: $22.95 Thanks to Dragon Models USA for supplying the review kit. USS Juneau CL-52 The antiaircraft light cruiser Juneau, CL-52, was famous for being lost with all five brothers from a single family - the Sullivan brothers. The tragedy provoked a ruling in the armed services that brothers cannot all serve together or all serve in combat roles (thus spurring the raison d'etre for the movie Saving Private Ryan). A Fletcher-class destroyer was named The Sullivans to memorialize their fate, and a modern Aegis DDG is named The Sullivans. Juneau's fate was intertwined with the class leader, Atlanta, as they were built side-by-side at Federal Shipbuilding in Kearny, New Jersey, were launched within seven weeks of each other, completed within eight weeks of each other, served together in the Solomons, and both were lost on Friday the 13th of November 1942 in the First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. The Juneau was the second Atlanta-class light cruiser, and commissioned on February 14, 1942 in the wildly complex, dappled Measure 12 scheme, similar to Atlanta. She experienced the same working up problems as did the Atlanta, which were rectified in a March 1942 refit, when radars and extra AA guns were added. After a refit in May 1942, which set her final appearance, she was sent to the Pacific in August 1942 after blockade and convoy duties in the Atlantic. During this refit, Juneau had her hull repainted into her final guise, as depicted accurately in this kit. Juneau helped rescue survivors when the Wasp was torpedoed and sunk, and then participated in the Battle of Santa Cruz Island on October 26, 1942. During the chaotic night battle off Guadalcanal on November 12-13, 1942, Juneau took a torpedo on the portside in the forward boiler room, losing power and gunnery direction. She withdrew with a heavy list to port. The next day, as US forces were retreating, the I-26 fired three torpedoes at Juneau, and one hit in the same spot as the previous torpedo hit. Her forward magazine apparently detonated immediately, and she disappeared in 20 seconds. The rest of the force continued on without stopping to look for survivors. Delayed rescue efforts saved only 10 sailors. Juneau earned four battle stars. A later extension of the Atlanta-class was named the Juneau II (CL-119) class to commemorate her loss, and her name lives on with LPD-10. Dragon has reissued the older Skywave molds of the Atlanta-class cruisers and backfitted the kits to early war appearance and armament for the first three ships in this class - Atlanta, Juneau and San Diego. Until Dragon issued these kits, there were no kits of the 1942 fit of the Atlanta class. Now we have three of four. The Skywave kit depicted the San Diego in her 1944 refit, and Dragon has included new parts and instructions to enable building the early Atlantas. The first four ships in this class went through 3 renditions - as built, an almost immediate refit to their initial wartime appearance, and then a mid-war refit in late 1943 (only for San Diego and San Juan). Dragon has parts to build either the as-commissioned (February-May 1942) or as lost (June-November 1942) appearance. Dragon's kit of the Juneau is identical to the earlier Atlanta and San Diego kits (note: the San Diego kit review is available on the IPMSUSA website). However, there is one important difference with the kit I received - it did not contain the photoetch fret with quad 1.1-in antiaircraft gun mounts as found in the San Diego Premium Edition kit. Since Juneau was lost in 1942 while carrying 1.1-in quad mounts instead of 40mm Bofors mounts, this is an annoying problem, and uncharacteristic of Dragon. Research on the web located two other reviews of this kit, and both of them showed pictures of the MA7052 photoetch fret with 1.1-in gun mounts. The kit I received had MA7066 fret, which did not have 1.1-in guns, so that is what I will review. First-Look Box Review: Kit Characteristics: Premium Edition kit from Dragon Models USA, updating older kits with new details - in this case, their earlier Atlanta kit (7017). New guns, fittings, decals and photoetch. Injected plastic (polystyrene) kit with full hull or waterline options, with a stand included for the full hull option, and (oops) a nameplate for Atlanta, not Juneau. 10 sprues, with six being two types of weapons and fittings only - a real bonus with plenty of extra parts for other USS WW2 warships. Four of these sprues are labeled as Essex-class, and the other two appear to be the original Skywave USS WW2 weapons set. An 8-page instruction booklet with 12 Steps is in five languages with pictures of each sprue and hull pieces. Exploded view drawings clearly show part numbers and their locations on the model. Sequence of assembly looks right.

Photoetch sheet with fittings for 1942 fit, and a decal sheet for the first four ships of the Atlanta class are excellent - the railings even have the diagonal supports, and are sagging too - a nice touch. Unfortunately, there are no specific instructions for placement of the railings to put the diagonals in the right places.

The radars supplied in the photoetch set are correct for this ship and time period, but they are missing from the Marking and Painting Guide, even though Steps 1 and 12 show where they go. Juneau definitely had radars after her May 1942 refit. However, 1.1-in quad AA guns were not included in this kit, and worse, the instructions clearly showed using 40mm quad and twin mounts instead of the 1.1-in quad mounts. This is an inexplicable error since the fate of the Juneau is well-known and photos right before her loss clearly show no 40mm mounts, and only 1.1-in mounts. After getting San Diego right, how could Dragon miss this easy mark? Parts are sharply molded with virtually no flash, and packaged well to prevent damage during shipping. Only a few problem seams are apparent - the main foredeck, and the major superstructure pieces. Otherwise, very little sanding and filling of seams is needed for this kit. The hull is two pieces, with a bottom plate including the armor plate hiding the seams. The superstructure pieces are few and have excellent detail. Splinter shields for AA guns are a little thick, but not bad considering the scale.

If you are building the full hull version, be aware that the three-bladed props supplied with the kit were rapidly changed to four-bladed propellers, which is what Juneau had when lost in November 1942. The Marking and Painting Guide is accurate, and even shows the 1.1-in quad mounts (again, making it difficult to fathom why they were not in the kit or instructions). The crazy Measure 12 camouflage scheme was unaltered above the hull, and both hull schemes look accurate.

Hull length scales out to 542 feet, very close to the 541 feet actual. Hull beam (width) scales out to 53 feet, right on the actual 53 feet. Thus, the proportions are accurate. Paint guide lists GSI Creos and Model Master paints. The GSI paints are sometimes difficult to find in the US on hobby store shelves, and their numbers for Model Master paints do not correspond to my bottles of US Navy colors. Better paints with correct US Navy designations are from Floating Drydock enamels, Testor's Model Master acrylics, Polly-S acrylics or White Ensign enamels. Quick Fixes In order to fix this kit so that Juneau is in her November 1942 fit, add the radars as per instructions, but do not use part A4 for the boat deck - use part A14 with the 20mm gun mounts. Leave off the ships' boats on the boat deck, and do not put liferafts as indicated by the instructions. One will need to consult references to get it right, or copy the San Diego kit instructions. However, the need for four 1.1-in quad mounts remains. I found three viable aftermarket solutions. First is ten white metal 1.1-in mounts from Paper Lab of Germany available from Pacific Front Hobbies. These require no assembly, are very detailed and are the easiest option. Second is five resin 1.1-in mounts in two pieces from Loose Cannon (again available at Pacific Front Hobbies). These would be fine if the Paper Lab mounts were not available. Third is the exquisitely detailed White Ensign Models photoetch set (six mounts per set). There are six pieces for each mount, and they are an eye test, as I can attest to after building other 1/700 scale White Ensign weapons. They look perfect, but be prepared to take some time building them. I could not find photoetch sets including 1.1-in quad mounts from Classic Warships and Naval Works - they are unavailable. You could always cannibalize the Tamiya Enterprise or Hornet kits and permanently borrow their plastic 1.1-in mounts for a quick fix (until you want to build the carriers).

Another problem with the Skywave molds is the lack of hawseholes in the bow. Pictures show the anchor holes had a raised lip, and the upper prow had obvious holes - the box art is a good guide. The anchor holes need a ring cut from a tube, and the other holes need to be drilled out. The little touches greatly improve the realism of this kit. With these few fixes, this kit becomes a more accurate rendition of Juneau in either her February-May 1942 appearance or afterwards. Summary Dragon has put out the original Skywave/Revell Atlanta class kit as the Juneau Premium Edition with new pieces for the early bridge, a photoetch set and decals for early war fit (1942). This kit should be an easy build, as was the San Diego. The proportions are accurate, the parts are sufficiently detailed, the photoetch is outstanding, and the camouflage schemes are accurately pictured. Unfortunately, it appears that Dragon copied the instructions from their earlier Atlanta kit, which did not have photoetch and wrongly used 40mm mounts instead of supplying 1.1-in quad mounts. The Atlanta kit is in the as-commissioned look, with extra lifeboats and a unique disposition of liferafts, which Juneau did not carry after May 1942. Thus, built out-of-the-box, this kit would not accurately portray the Juneau in November 1942 at the time of her loss. However, it would accurately depict the Juneau as commissioned. Your choice. If you can get some 1.1-in quad mounts, this kit can turn out fine. Still the best (and only) 1/700 scale kit for Juneau. Highly recommended. References · Arnold GR. Warship Perspectives: Atlanta Class Cruisers in World War Two. WR Press, New York, 1998. · Campbell J. Naval Weapons of World War Two. Conway Maritime Press, London, UK, 1985. 0-85177-329-X · Dickson R. USS Juneau CL(AA)52. The Floating Drydock, Kresgeville, PA, 1993. · Ewing S. American Cruisers of World War II. A Pictorial Encyclopedia. Pictorial Histories Publishing Company, Missoula, MT, 1987. ISBN 0-933126-51-4 · The Floating Drydock. United States Navy Camouflage 1 of the WW2 Era. Part 1. The Floating Drydock, Kresgeville, PA, 1976. ISBN: 0-944055-01-X · Friedman N. U.S. Cruisers. An Illustrated Design History. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, 1984. ISBN 0-87021-718-6 · Kurxman D. Left to Die: The Tragedy of the USS Juneau. Pocket Books, New York, NY, 1994. ISBN 0-671-74874-2 · Terzibaschitsch S. Cruisers of the US Navy 1922-1962. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, 1984. ISBN 0-87021-974-X Websites: A Google® search will find many sites for information about the USS San Diego, but my favorites are: · www.dragonmodelsusa.com/dmlusa/prodd.asp?pid=DRA7066   (company website describing kit) · http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Juneau_(CL-52)   (history) · www.geocities.com/Pentagon/4072/CL-52_Juneau.html   (history) · www.geocities.com/Pentagon/4072/actionrpt/junaction.html?20071   (Action Report for November 12-13) · www.geocities.com/pentagon/4072/hartney/hartney.html?20071   (Survivor's story) · www.hazegray.org/danfs/cruisers/cl52.txt   (history) · http://hazegray.org/navhist/cruisers/ca-cl2.htm   (brief history) · www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-j/cl52.htm   (history & photos) · www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ships/CL/CL-52_Juneau.html   (history & photos) · www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ships/dafs/CL/c152.html   (history) · www.navsource.org/archives/04/052/04052.htm   (excellent photo gallery) · www.shipcamouflage.com   (Snyder & Short's website on official USN colors)

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