BY BILL ENGAR

HIGH-SPEED DASH:  ATLANTIS MODELS / AURORA 1/600 USS BAINBRIDGE NUCLEAR-POWERED GUIDED MISSILE FRIGATE A717 -- ASSEMBLY KIT -- 82 STYRENE PLASTIC PARTS MOLDED IN GRAY -- GLUE (REQUIRED) AND PAINT (OPTIONAL) SOLD SEPARATELY -- LENGTH OF COMPLETED MODEL 11.75" (NEARLY 30 CM) -- RECOMMENDED FOR BUILDERS AGE 14 AND UP -- MSRP (2025) $US 24.99

Atlantis recently negotiated rights to use the Aurora brand on its boxes.  The Bainbridge is a trip down Memory Lane for fans of original Aurora box art.  Stay tuned; in our Bonus Features for this article we'll contrast the boxtops of Atlantis' new release and the original version of the model kit.

The Bainbridge was a US Navy experiment to build a nuclear-powered frigate/destroyer-sized ship to accompany a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.  Such a ship could steam at high speed along with the carrier for extended periods without running out of conventional fuel.  An example would be a long-distance rapid fleet deployment of the type that could occur in wartime.  While the Bainbridge, the only ship of her class built, enjoyed a successful career with the US Navy, additional ships were not ordered.  While a handful of other nuclear surface ships (other than aircraft carriers) were built by the Navy, advances in turbine design made conventional ships more economical.

Atlantis' USS Bainbridge in 1/600-scale.  The model has 82 parts.

Aurora first released the 1/600 Bainbridge in 1964.  Nuclear-anything was cool in those days and modelers were interested in nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers.  Since it was the first nuclear powered frigate/destroyer, the Bainbridge was considered an advancement of state-of-the-art.  After not being available for over a half-Century, Atlantis Models has re-released the historic Bainbridge kit in a box resembling that original Aurora release--and with the Aurora name and logo to boot.

The back of the box includes a number of views of the Bainbridge as built by Jeff Smedley.

Aurora's Bainbridge was rendered in 1/600-scale.  Airfix had a number of 1/600-scale ship models and there are 1/600 kits of the USS Enterprise (CV65) available.  So there are plenty of ways you can display your Bainbridge in a collection.  1/600 is halfway between 1/500 and 1/700, so you could display it with models in those scales as well (Atlantis has a number of interesting ship model kits at or close to 1/500).

A closeup of the hull and forward deck.  It's a vintage ship model, but done very well for the period in which it was engineered.

The bow of the Bainbridge was flared and Aurora caught this feature well.  Note also a separate sonar radome.

Make no mistake, this is a vintage ship model, but parts are nicely detailed and there will be no surprises for any ship builder who has experience with similar kits.  It does have molded-in railings.  Nowadays, contest ship modelers like cutting off the kit rails and replacing them with photo-etched replacements which are generally considered to be much more realistic in appearance.  A company called ArtWox makes 1/600 photo-etch railings for U.S. ships at a very reasonable cost if you like that sort of detail work.  Or, the model will look great on your shelf built right out-of-the-box with a nice paint job and some simple weathering if you prefer the quicker route to finish your model.

One small parts sprue includes the stand-base.

A closeup of the stand with raised lettering and atomic symbols!

We didn't note any bad sinkholes or anything that will detract from a nice build.  There is a small amount of flash and typical mold parting lines that the intermediate or advanced modeler will diligently clean up.  The model is molded in gray plastic and the Bainbridge had gray-colored decks.  The modeler desiring a quick-build could leave the model in its natural plastic.  Parts such as missiles and boats would be painted white.  Below the waterline would be anti-fouling red.  We like to mix our own paint for this; if you use Testors enamels, for example (in those little 1/4-oz bottles), you can stir a little brown paint into a bottle of red paint until you get the shade that looks right to you (it doesn't take much brown to come up with that perfect shade).  The Bainbridge had a black boot topping stripe above the red hull; Jeff Smedley executed this on his build portrayed on the back of the kit box.

Another (of four) small-parts sprues has fantale, stand-uprights, prop shafts and radars.

This sprue has props, boats, davits and antennae.

The decal sheet for the Bainbridge is a simple affair with ship's numbers, a safety-circle for the missile pivot-field and a helipad.  The original release didn't come with the ship's name which goes on the transom, just below the stern railing.  Atlantis is now including collector cards with some of its kits (see picture).  To see the back, you're going to have to buy the kit!

New to the decal sheet is the ship's name, which should go on the transom (rear panel of the hull).

Atlantis includes a new feature -- this cool collector-card with the Bainbridge!

Atlantis printed instructions to the Bainbridge on high quality glossy paper, 8-1/2X11" single sheet.  They utilize original Aurora artwork.

We were delighted when Atlantis announced that they were bringing back this historic kit!  Comparing it to our original version, we're impressed with Atlantis' execution.  As usual, Atlantis does a superior job when it comes to packaging, decals and features--at a value price!

Gluing is required to build this kit and there are some small, fragile parts.  Newer builders will appreciate at least a little experience with a similar kit.  There is enough detail to satisfy experienced modelers and those who want to add things like photo-etched railings.

The 2Modeler Guys give this kit Four Enthusiastic Thumbs Up!  You'll be happy to add it to your collection of historic ships!

BONUS FEATURES
A COMPARISON OF ATLANTIS' BAINBRIDGE WITH THE ORIGINAL AURORA VERSION

Once in a while, we enjoy comparing a fresh release of a model kit with an original version.  I happened to pick up an original Aurora USS Bainbridge at a model contest vendor's area in 2011.  It was a model that I'd wanted for a long time.  I had a number of USS Enterprise (CV65) kits including one in 1/600 and Revell's 1/508 Long Beach and was interested in building the famous Task Force One.  This nuclear trio of US Navy ships is famous for their un-refueled "Operation Sea Orbit" which circumnavigated Earth in 1964.  This occurred the same year that Aurora's Bainbridge was first released.

Compare Aurora's original 1964 release of the Bainbridge to Atlantis Models' 2024 re-release (yes, it's been 60 years!!!)

Atlantis Models has its own style for kit boxes, but once in awhile, they'll do a "retro" box that captures that of the original kit.  Recently, they negotiated use of the original Aurora name and logo and they've celebrated that with a retro-version of the classic Aurora box art for the Bainbridge.  We love that the boxtop is almost exactly the same dimension of the original style Aurora box.  The Atlantis box is deeper than the Aurora version.   There are some subtle differences between fonts and layout but it certainly catches the vibe of the original model.  Note how Atlantis uses the same "stars and bars" look as Aurora -- many of their kits use this aesthetic.  Atlantis is headquartered in Deer Park, NY on Long Island, not at all far from West Hempstead, location of the former Aurora Models.

Compare the view of our 60-year-old "archive kit" (at top) with the freshly-opened Atlantis version.

The new Atlantis box (at top) is deeper than the original Aurora version.  Note that the Aurora version has the paper overlay glued to the box top after it is assembled, a traditional model kit box.  You can see the box bottom has pasted corners.

We took a close look at the plastic between the 1964 and 2024 releases of the kit.  We wanted to see if a determination could be made which had better molding.  Overall, there was no appreciable difference.  We could tell that Atlantis had cleaned and prepped the mold.  Registration between mold halves is almost perfect.  There were some areas where scratches on the original mold had ben polished out.  We've noted this before; Atlantis releases of the same kit decades later look as good and sometimes better than the previous issues of the kit from the original manufacturer.

Atlantis' decal sheet is on the left.  Overall, it's much better quality than the original Aurora sheet (from 1964) pictured at the right.  Printing technology has certainly improved in 60-odd years and Atlantis always includes superior-quality decals in its kits.

THE BAINBRIDGE

"Operation Sea Orbit."  At top, the USS Bainbridge steams at full speed with the Long Beach and Enterprise, known as Task Force One.  To circumnavigate the globe at sea, these ships traveled over 30,000 miles.  The trip took over two months.  The ships sustained speed over 30 knots.  There is simply no way a conventionally fueled ship could have done this.

An aircraft carrier is a symbol and manifestation of Naval military power.  However, it needs a network of support ships including nimble destroyers to provide protection.  Nuclear power was first applied to submarine technology with the USS Nautilus (also available as an Atlantis kit!) 

After the Nautilus proved that a submarine could run successfully on nuclear power,  the innovation was applied to the aircraft carrier with the Enterprise (CVN-65) being commissioned in 1961.

U.S. Navy decided to see if adding nuclear powered propulsion to a smaller surface ship would provide a carrier escort that could keep up with the carrier during a sustained high-speed cruise.  The Bainbridge (DLGN-25) was commissioned a year after the Enterprise.

While the Bainbridge enjoyed a successful 35-year career, the U.S. Navy decided not to build such ships in quantity due to much higher cost.  There were a handful of nuclear-powered cruisers built (most notably the Long Beach) during the Cold War but advances in gas turbine technology created significant improvements in efficiency and reliability and these economical developments made nuclear propulsion for tactical surface ships too expensive.

Atlantis has a model of the USS Nautilus, the first nuclear submarine.  That's our model on the box and we provided assistance with the decals.  Atlantis provides the most accurate markings the kit has had in its history.  It's another historic subject from Atlantis that you'll want to add to your ship collection!