Many of the most popular warships from World War Two started appearing as plastic kits in the 1950s, in an assortment of scales. Aurora and Airfix used 1:600, Renwal and Frog 1:500, Heller 1:400, while Revell and early Japanese kits were produced in all sorts of scales designed to fit in a standard box size. Although Revell and Renwal jumped in to produce modernised, angled deck Essex class carriers, only Lindberg produced one in a World War Two fit. By the late 1960s and early 1970s multiple kits appeared in 1:720 scale by Revell and then the standard waterline 1:700 scale by Hasegawa. Hasegawa ruled the Essex roost for a third of a century. This dominance ended a few years ago when new Essex kits were produced in 1:700 scale by the Chinese firms of Dragon and Trumpeter. Additionally Trumpeter has produced Essex class kits in the far larger 1:350 scale where there is no competition for them.
The modeller has a number of choices in this scale range. Neptun produces the best detailed but also the costliest of the Essex class models. More economical but less detailed are 1:1200 scale models of a short-hull and long-hull Essex class produced by Superior and available from Alnavco Models. Around 1960 plastic Essex models in 1:1200 scale appeared under the Eaglewall label in the UK and Pyro label in the US. Superior and GHQ produce Essex class carriers in 1:2400 scale.
NEPTUN/NAVIS TICONDEROGA
1:1250Scale