My ship kit review webpage - updated 25/03

A nice site to browse around !

Nice going.

Julian

I've now uploaded a new version of the website. This has a completely new, frame-based layout with individual pages for each kit manufacturer. I've also added a handful of new reviews (Aurora Corsair, Airfix LCM and "E-Boat", Lindberg LCI and Rudderow DE)

UPDATE: The missing images have all been uploaded and the site is now fully working.

I really enjoyed browsing around this fine site.  It brought back quite a few memories - pleasant and otherwise - and I found myself agreeing with almost all the evaluations.  I particularly appreciated the diplomatic words about the Heller Soleil Royal, which surely must be one of the most controversial kits of all time.

I do think one point ought to be made about the old, old Pyro Monitor/Merrimac kit.  The available information about the Merrimac (or, more properly, C.S.S. Virginia) is sketchy enough that it's not fair to be harsh on any reasonable reconstruction of her.  But we do know with pretty fair certainty what the Monitor looked like, and it's clear that the Pyro version of her suffers from a huge mistake.  For some reason (I have no idea what plans - if any - the designers consulted), Pyro sited the turret a considerable distance forward of amidships.  The turret of the actual Monitor is located right in the geometrical center of the hull.  It's shown that way on all reputable plans (including the ones drawn by John Ericsson, the ship's designer).  I guess none of the existing photos of the ship during her service life clearly shows where the turret was, but there really isn't room for doubt about it. 

I agree that the level of detail in the old Lindberg plastic kit is lower than that of the Pyro version, but at least Lindberg put the turret in the right place.  So, to my knowledge, does every other Monitor kit on the market.  I can't imagine where Pyro got the notion that the turret ought to be closer to the bow than to the stern.

Thanks for the comments! I hope to add a lot more reviews in future (and "future" in this case hopefully doesn't mean a year and a half later - my last update was in 2007). 

The reviews are mainly written with modelling in mind rather than kit collecting or nostalgia - But if they bring back some memories that's a bonus! My main focus is older kits,  particularly in larger scales, which still have modelling potential today - so you probably won't see the likes of Revell's 1/720 USS Arizona, for example, added in future updates!  I also have quite a few reviews of more recent kits, such as Mirage's 1/400 range, that aren't covered so well by the main ship modelling sites. 

Regarding the Monitor/Virginia review, not spotting the misplaced turret is my fault entirely, I ought to have noticed this given that I have numerous reference books on Civil War monitors and ironclads! I'll revise this review in my next update. The turret error should be easy to fix when building the kit, though. 

I also need to revise the Soleil Royal review slightly, in particular I forgot to add any background history on the ship itself. I have several of Heller's better sailing ship kits in the stash - including Superbe and Belle Poule - which will hopefully be added to the site in the nearish future.