Carrier Deck Section

Italeri has a not-so-sterling reputation among the modeling community, and this kit is the poster child for how they earned that reputation. The detail on the kit is above average - and is pretty spot on compared to online reference photos of a Nimitz class carrier deck catapult - but that’s where the good part of the review ends. The demerits to this kit is as long as the carrier deck of the USS Nimitz itself. For starters, there are ejector pin marks EVERYWHERE - if there is a visible, hard to reach spot that needs filling, Italeri has gleefully put one there for you. Exactly how many ejection marks needed to be placed on the blast deflector is simply astounding - major demerits! The second issue is that of engineering - assembly is easy, but lining up the deck plates to the blast section was designed by Someone who hates modelers: I cannot fathom a flimsier way of aligning the plates than the method they chose (‘outside of leaving the “guising” tabs out). The final coup de grace are the decals themselves - which are either too short (again on the blast panel outline), or they simply don’t adhere to any surface without the use of decal setting solution. If you need a 1/72 carrier deck to display your lovely kit ready to take off, then sadly, this is the only game in town. I easily spent three times as much time on this kit fighting pinhole ejection marks than it would have taken to assemble it. I certainly hope Italeri’s newer kits are better than this.