Atlantis (Aurora) U.S.S. Bainbridge

[Ron Bell]

Here's the U.S.S. Bainbridge, Atlantis most recent renovated "oldie" ship kit. The model represents her as she was launched, as a nuclear powered guided missile frigate. Later she had a rather extensive rebuild topside and was eventually designated a cruiser.  Now, I'm no naval expert, so let's not get into the weeds about what's accurate or not. Remember, this kit dates from 1964. The kit is in 1/600 scale, somewhat of an oddity at the time of its release with, I believe, only Aurora doing ships in that scale in the U.S. The moldings are from the 60's and simplify many things, but that was Aurora's way. Simplifying made their kits easier to build and theoretically more appealing to the younger modelers and it also made it possible for them to offer their kits at a lower price point than their competitors. The kit has a one piece hull and a top fitting deck rather than one inserted between two hull halves, left and right. This makes assembly easier and minimizes any seam problems. Probably the biggest shortcoming of the kit is that the masts and radar are molded as solid parts with the structure shown as raised detail. I used a left over PE mast from another kit modified to represent the foremast and built the rear platform mast from rod stock. The radar is just a piece of PE grid cut to size. The other piece I modified was the ASROC launcher which just didn't look right so I redid the upper part of the launcher. I drilled out the portholes and added some water tight doors to break up the rather plain exterior. Finally, I removed the molded in railings and substituted some generic PE railings. All in all it was an enjoyable project.  P.S. The nameplate was pretty cool on its own. 

Edited February 2, 2025 by Ron Bell

[VMF211]

OUTSTANDING!!!! She looks good, well done Ron!!

[Mark Deliduka]

Wow, what an Amazingly outstanding result on that old ship kit! I built one of these awhile ago but only did it out of the box. You truly made this come to life! I always wished Aurora had done more ships in 1/600 scale.