Gold Medal Models 1/480th Scale Yorktown Class Photo-etch
$50 MSRP at time of purchase
Review by Devin Poore

Gold Medal Models has been producing photo-etched accessories for decades. One of their specialties is producing sets for one-off and older model kits. Their set for the Revell Yorktown class kits fits both of these bills, and is — to the best of my knowledge — the only set ever designed specifically for this kit.

The set, GMM480-4, is for all versions of the the Revell Yorktown class carriers, and includes parts for Yorktown, Enterprise, and Hornet. Even though you can choose any of those three carriers to detail with this set, the set will only has enough parts for one model.

The basics are all there, such as vertical ladders, inclined ladders, railings, parts for small boats, aircraft propellers, and two-dozen or so crewmen. Ship propellers, stack grates, and various radars are also included. Armaments are covered with 20mm guns, .50 cal mounts, as well as bases and trunnion supports for the kit’s highly inaccurate 5″ mounts.

One of the major inaccuracies with the Revell kit is the island, in that it doesn’t really represent any of the ships at any given time. This Gold Medal set provides parts to replace bridge faces, primary and secondary flight positions, and other details to model CV-5 and CV-6 in 1938-1940, CV-8 in April of ’42, CV-5 in June of ’42, and CV-6 in 1944. For items not provided to represent specific dates, such as directors, walkways, etc., suggestions are given for scratch-building these items.

This detail set goes a long way towards correcting the problems with the old Revell kit. The general details such as ladders, railings, and the like are welcome as they’re specific to the odd scale of the kit, but the specific replacement bridge and crane parts, applicable to only the Yorktown class, really make this set a winner.

~July 2013