rethinking

modelbuilder wrote:

Well I think the Enterprise may be too ambitious of a kit for me to tackle right now. Think I may try my had at the USS New Jersey in 1/350 scale from Tamiya. Wanna try to stick to a OOB build if possible. Is it with this kit?

No. 

If you want to stick with an OOB build and don't want to be struck by the "Oh My Gosh" moment when you see the size of the kit and all the small parts -- go for the Tamiya USS Fletcher (DD) or Trumpeter USS England (DE kit).   Either of these kits would be a good introduction to ship modeling (OOB or with aftermarket add-ons).   The molding is better and more up-to-date than the old Tam kits.  They are physically smaller and as such have fewer parts and not the 'OMG' moment which often accompanies the larger kits.  

The sole rap against these kits seems to be is that they are 'just destroyers' -- not a big important capital ship (tell that to the sailors who served on them).

As a NOOB ship modeler seeking to do an easy OOB build I would not recommend the Dragon Buchanan/Laffey destroyer kits.   These are probably the best ship plastic ship models made, but they are  much like Dragon's armor kits -- why do something in 5 parts while 20 will do.   They have a lot of little fiddley bits which might bring an OMG moment to a NOOB.

EdGrune wrote:

modelbuilder wrote: Well I think the Enterprise may be too ambitious of a kit for me to tackle right now. Think I may try my had at the USS New Jersey in 1/350 scale from Tamiya. Wanna try to stick to a OOB build if possible. Is it with this kit? No.  If you want to stick with an OOB build and don't want to be struck by the "Oh My Gosh" moment when you see the size of the kit and all the small parts -- go for the Tamiya USS Fletcher (DD) or Trumpeter USS England (DE kit).   Either of these kits would be a good introduction to ship modeling (OOB or with aftermarket add-ons).   The molding is better and more up-to-date than the old Tam kits.  They are physically smaller and as such have fewer parts and not the 'OMG' moment which often accompanies the larger kits.   The sole rap against these kits seems to be is that they are 'just destroyers' -- not a big important capital ship (tell that to the sailors who served on them). As a NOOB ship modeler seeking to do an easy OOB build I would not recommend the Dragon Buchanan/Laffey destroyer kits.   These are probably the best ship plastic ship models made, but they are  much like Dragon's armor kits -- why do something in 5 parts while 20 will do.   They have a lot of little fiddley bits which might bring an OMG moment to a NOOB.

Ed

Can you tell me what the problems are with the New Jersey? I have this kit, the Missiouri, and the Enterprise. All 1/350 from Tamiya. Theyve been in the stash for years and I have just recently gotten the bug to build one of them. I am normally an armor/aircraft guy. Also, if i do build it, where can I find turned barrels for the main guns and secondary guns? Thats the one thing I always change on a kit. Nothing looks better than a hollow, one piece barrel

Greetings:

I have built the Tamiya Missouri and it took me several months of part time work to complete. I don't know of anything wrong with the kit that I remember. I did use the (2) photo etched sets made by Gold Medal Models to add a great amount of detail. This really improved the looks of the kit as just adding the railings alone vastly improved the overall effect. I don't know of any brass barrels for it but Yankee Modelworks makes a resin replacement set of turrents for the main and secondary guns that is reasonably priced in the twenty dollar range. The barrels provided with the kit aren't brass but are white metal. My barrels weren't round but were oval in shape so I used the Tamiya kit barrels instead. They are solid enough that you could drill the ends out with a pin vise. Take a look at the Free Time Hobbies website (freetimehobbies.com) which carries everything one could need for scale ship building. You could build your New Jersey but it will just take time depending on the amount of detail you add or don't add. I hope this helps.

Sincerely

Michael Lacey

modelbuilder wrote:

Nothing looks better than a hollow, one piece barrel

Which is true, but, at sea, everything over 1" bore or there abouts gets a tompion (sometimes spelled tampion) to close off the bore, so seawater or stormwater cannot collect there.  The tompions for major calibers (call it 8" and up) will have decorative items on them, occasionally the ship's name, too (way too much detail at 1/350).

Now, in heavier weather, the tompions would get covers lashed on over them.  This is going to be aesthetically unpleasing in model form--but would be prototypical.  I've seen plastic bags rigger-taped over the muzzels of modern 5" rifles.

To my eye, it is better to have round barrels than drilled out ones.  If drilled, I think it behooves a person to bore the end to something close to the correct caliber, too--naval rifles should not show paper-thin sidewalls at the muzzle.

But, that's my bias; others' differ.

CapnMac82 wrote:

modelbuilder wrote: Nothing looks better than a hollow, one piece barrel Which is true, but, at sea, everything over 1" bore or there abouts gets a tompion (sometimes spelled tampion) to close off the bore, so seawater or stormwater cannot collect there.  The tompions for major calibers (call it 8" and up) will have decorative items on them, occasionally the ship's name, too (way too much detail at 1/350). Now, in heavier weather, the tompions would get covers lashed on over them.  This is going to be aesthetically unpleasing in model form--but would be prototypical.  I've seen plastic bags rigger-taped over the muzzels of modern 5" rifles. To my eye, it is better to have round barrels than drilled out ones.  If drilled, I think it behooves a person to bore the end to something close to the correct caliber, too--naval rifles should not show paper-thin sidewalls at the muzzle. But, that's my bias; others' differ.

Just as a note for anyone else looking, I just found some sets of 1/350 scale brass barrels for both the Missouri and New Jersey from Tamiya. You can buy the 16"and 5" as seperate sets or get them as one set. I found them over at White Ensign Models and the company is BMK