Dragon1/350 USS Laffey DD 459

Price at Dragon/Cyber-Hobby, the folks who have done the initial online sale of the Buchanan and the IPMS/Nats sale of the '45 Buchanan is 355 Hong Kong Dollars.   That converts to about 50 US Dollars.

Review with sprue shots & comparisons with Buchanan kit on SteelNavy here

http://www.steelnavy.com/DMLLaffey.htm

 

Also one here on ModelWarships.

It's 42.95 at DragonUSA.com

http://www.dragonusaonline.com/item_detail.aspx?ItemCode=DRA1026

You can also get the upgrade set for an additonal $2.50. It is listed as the Buchanan set, but fits the Laffey too.

 

The ever present question.... Buy and stash for 5-10 years... or wait and get it much cheaper down the road... or skip and buy a better kit down the road.... Or skip and never see it again, ever, except on ebay at 5x the original price.

Does anyone find the "bundled" cyberhobby PEs any good? I mean, for 2$ you cant go wrong I guess.. I am thinking of pulling the trigger on the Buchanan

The bundled PE includes railing which is made to measure for the Buchanan/Laffey,  curves & breaks where needed.   Theset also includes a pre-formed radar array for the MK37 director,  along with etched formers for the back of it.  Can't go wrong for 2 bucks

Otherwise the basic kit includes almost everything else needed for the build,  except the aft searchlight lattice & basket.   The kit also includes some PE formers for some of the more unique pieces,  liferaft brackets,  screw guards, etc.

For $2 you can't go wrong, at the very least it'll give you some decent spares. However, there are a couple areas that other manufacturers do better. The Gold Medal Models set, for example, has the correct cut out in the railing netting for the chocks; CyberHobby just covered them and it looks a bit odd to me. Your mileage may vary.