JSC

1/400 Willift Eagle flo-flo Heavy Lift Vessel

Kit Number: 90

Reviewed by  Greg Perry, IPMS# 45865

MSRP: $7.00 Website: store.jsc.pl This kit represents the Willift Eagle transport ship. This is called a flo-flo ship which means "float on - float off". The carry deck can be submerged to facilitate loading and unloading. This particular ship was built from an obsolete single hull oil tanker. The model comes in A4 book size and is computer drawn. There are 12 pages of parts. Instructions are provided in Polish and in English. Laser cut detail parts are available as an extra detailing option. There are actually three different versions of this ship that can be built from this kit: Full hull, waterline, waterline submerged. It is unique among JSC kits as it appears to be the only kit with a full hull version to allow its use with JSC's dry dock. The waterline versions can be used with JSC's Bredford Dolphin Kit #94, for additional diorama possibilities. The kit was computer generated and fit well. No major build issues were evident. Build time was about a three weeks. The basic ship outline built up relatively quick. The forecastle, main and poop decks contained most of the detail, while the carry deck was almost devoid of any small detail parts. Some details are optional while some have simplified or detailed versions to choose from. I built the detailed versions for this review. To give you on some insight on how some of the parts are formed and fit together, I have included some pictures of the model in progress.

The instructions were well written and provided a very good outline of how to build this model in conjunction with the provided drawings. If one were to want to try out a full hull paper ship model, this model would be a good choice as a first project. There are some detail antenna parts to be made from wire. In 1:400 scale, the model measures out to about 19.6 inches. I really enjoyed this build and would definitely recommend it. I would like to thank IPMS with the opportunity to provide this review and also thank JSC for publishing another unique and well designed model. Happy cutting.