AMT 892/12 U.S.S. Akron / U.S.S. Macon U.S. Navy Airship — 1/520 Scale plastic kit round 2

Manufacturer: AMT / Round2 Models

Kit number: 892/12

Subject: USS Akron or USS Macon

Scale: 1/520

Finished length: approximately 457–460 mm (18 in)

Moulding: grey plastic

Skill level: 2

Options: build either Akron or Macon

Decals: markings for both airships

Display stand/cradle: included

Type: Static plastic model

Original kit: AMT, 1976

Modern reissue: Round2/AMT

Current status: Discontinued at a number of retailers, although remaining/secondary stock exists.
Manufacturer — AMT

AMT, originally Aluminum Model Toys, is one of America's historic plastic model manufacturers.

The company began in the 1940s and became particularly famous for its automotive kits. AMT was instrumental in establishing the American plastic model industry, especially through its extensive range of automotive promotional models.

Over the decades AMT's catalogue expanded into:

aircraft;

spacecraft;

military subjects;

science-fiction subjects;

ships;

unusual vehicles;

and historically interesting subjects such as large airships.

AMT's aircraft range has always contained some unusual subjects that were not necessarily covered by the major aircraft-model manufacturers.

The Akron/Macon is an excellent example.

Rather than producing another conventional fighter or bomber, AMT chose one of the most unusual American aircraft of the inter-war period.

The 892 tooling subsequently disappeared from production for many years before being revived by Round2 Models. The 2016 reissue is specifically documented as a re-release of the original 1976 AMT 1/520 kit.
Kit contents

The kit is relatively straightforward for its physical size.

The main components reproduce the enormous rigid-airship envelope and its external structures.

The documented features include:

The Akron/Macon is an excellent example.
Kit contents

The kit is relatively straightforward for its physical size.

large airship envelope;

lower gondola;

four tail surfaces;

eight propellers;

associated engine/propulsion structures;

display cradle;

decals for either Akron or Macon.

The kit is moulded in grey plastic and requires normal modelling supplies including:

plastic cement;

paint;

modelling knife;

sprue cutters.

It is not a complicated multi-hundred-part aircraft kit. Its size comes primarily from the enormous dimensions of the airship envelope.

One particularly useful feature is the ability to choose between the two sister ships without having to purchase two separate kits.
Scale and finished size

At 1/520, the real Akron/Macon's enormous dimensions are reduced to a manageable display model.

The kit is approximately:

457 mm / 18 inches long.

The Japanese catalogue gives approximately 45 cm finished length and a kit/package weight of approximately 414 g.

The scale is particularly appropriate because it is also used by AMT for its Hindenburg kit.

That makes it possible to build a small collection of the great rigid airships in matching scale.
The real USS Akron

The USS Akron (ZRS-4) was one of the largest rigid airships ever constructed.

It was built by the Goodyear-Zeppelin Corporation in Akron, Ohio, under the American Navy's rigid-airship programme.

The Akron entered service in 1931.

Its purpose was substantially different from the earlier wartime German Zeppelins.

The US Navy regarded large rigid airships as long-range reconnaissance platforms.

Their extraordinary endurance and ability to remain airborne for long periods offered potential advantages for maritime reconnaissance.

But the Akron was more than simply a reconnaissance aircraft.

It was designed as a genuine flying aircraft carrier.
Akron as an aircraft carrier

One of the most fascinating aspects of the Akron/Macon design was its internal aircraft-handling system.

The airship carried small aircraft internally.

A special trapeze mechanism allowed aircraft to be launched and recovered from beneath the airship while it was airborne.

The aircraft were known as F9C Sparrowhawks.

This transformed the rigid airship into a type of airborne mothership.

The idea was to extend the reconnaissance range of the airship by sending the small fighters/scouts ahead.

After completing their mission, the Sparrowhawks could return to the airship and engage the trapeze mechanism.

The concept was technically remarkable, although operationally complicated.

This feature also explains why later modellers have produced aftermarket aircraft sets specifically intended to accompany the AMT kit. A model-industry report from 2016 records a Shapeways 11-aircraft HTA unit intended for the AMT 1/520 Akron/Macon.
The USS Macon

The USS Macon (ZRS-5) was the sister ship of Akron.

She entered service in 1933, shortly after the Akron disaster.

Although externally very similar, the Macon incorporated improvements based upon experience with the Akron.

The two ships therefore make an interesting pair for historical comparison.

The Macon continued operating with the US Navy's Pacific Fleet and performed reconnaissance and fleet exercises.

Like Akron, she operated F9C Sparrowhawk aircraft.
Dimensions of the real airships

The Akron and Macon were enormous.

The ships were approximately:

785 feet / 239 m long

approximately 132 feet / 40 m maximum diameter

approximately 6.5 million cubic feet / 184,000 m³ gas volume.

That means the real aircraft was longer than two modern football pitches placed end-to-end.

At 1/520 scale, the 239 m length becomes approximately:

460 mm

which corresponds remarkably closely to the AMT model's approximately 45–46 cm finished length.

This is one reason the stated scale can be independently checked from the real aircraft dimensions.
Propulsion

The Akron and Macon were powered by multiple Maybach engines.

The propulsion system used engines installed in external engine cars around the airship.

Each engine drove a propeller.

The arrangement provided the thrust required to manoeuvre the huge airship despite its enormous mass.

The eight-propeller arrangement is faithfully represented by the AMT kit.
The airship carrier system

The aircraft-carrier capability is arguably the most unusual aspect of the entire Akron/Macon story.

The airship could carry several Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawk aircraft.

These small biplanes were deliberately designed around the requirement to operate from the airship.

The pilot would approach the airship from below and attach the aircraft to a trapeze suspended beneath the hull.

Once attached, the aircraft could be drawn into the airship's internal hangar.

The process required considerable skill.

It effectively made the Akron and Macon enormous airborne hangars.
USS Akron disaster

The Akron's operational career ended in tragedy.

On the night of 4 April 1933, the airship encountered severe weather off the coast of New Jersey.

The ship was lost.

The accident killed the majority of those aboard and became one of the worst disasters in the history of rigid airships.

The loss also exposed the vulnerability of enormous rigid airships to severe weather.
USS Macon disaster

The Macon survived longer.

On 12 February 1935, while operating off the California coast, the Macon encountered severe weather.

The ship suffered a structural failure and went down in the Pacific Ocean.

Unlike the Akron disaster, improved procedures and the use of life-saving equipment allowed many of the crew to survive.

Nevertheless, the loss of the Macon effectively ended the US Navy's large rigid-airship programme.

The Navy subsequently abandoned its plans for further aircraft-carrier airships.
Why the Akron and Macon matter

The two ships represent one of the most ambitious experiments in naval aviation.

The concept combined:

airship + long-range reconnaissance + airborne aircraft carrier

in one machine.

The idea was technologically extraordinary but arrived during a period when conventional fixed-wing aircraft and aircraft carriers were developing rapidly.

The flexibility, speed and practicality of conventional aircraft ultimately made the enormous rigid airship increasingly difficult to justify.
The Hindenburg comparison

The Akron and Macon are sometimes overshadowed by the LZ 129 Hindenburg, but the American ships were comparable in overall physical scale.

AMT deliberately produced its Akron/Macon and Hindenburg models in 1/520 scale, allowing collectors to compare the three famous airships directly.

The Akron and Macon were military machines rather than passenger airliners.

Their purpose was:

fleet reconnaissance;

scouting;

communications;

aircraft deployment;

long-duration operations.

The Hindenburg, by contrast, was principally a commercial passenger airship.
Original full-size aircraft selling price

The Akron and Macon were government-owned military aircraft, not commercially marketed aircraft.

Their construction was undertaken for the US Navy, so there is no normal historical retail "selling price" comparable with a civilian aircraft.

Construction costs are reported in historical sources, but because the programme included development, infrastructure and related equipment, it is important not to mistake the total programme expenditure for the selling price of one airship.

For your catalogue I would therefore record:

Original full-size selling price: Not commercially sold — US Navy government construction programme.
Current full-size value

Neither the Akron nor Macon survives as a complete aircraft.

Therefore:

Current full-size market value: N/A — no surviving complete airship.

There are surviving artefacts and wreckage, particularly from the Macon, but these obviously do not represent a complete aircraft that could be purchased.

The Macon's wreck site was rediscovered in the Pacific and has significant archaeological and historical importance.