Dragon 1/350 Arleigh Burke Class

The Dragon Arleigh Burkes are the old Panda kits (Burke, Cole, Churchill).   

All those myriads of pimples on the hull, sand them off.  They are supposed to be inhaul padeyes; little "U" shaped wire bits welded to the hull and used for tying off people working over the side.   The bumps on the Panda/Dragon kit are way too much.   

The big-old honkin' bilge keels are too angular.  They should be nothing more that sheet steel.   

The bulkhead hatches are inconsistently sized and there is little to no additional other detail,  fire hoses, fire nozzles, manifolds, etc.   

The flight deck has raised markings (humps really) for the deck markings.  

The kit's photoetched railings are coarse compared to the offerings from aftermarket suppliers, or even what now accompanies the newer Dragon destroyer kits (i.e. Buchanan, Gearing). 

Overall, not the best of kits from Panda/Dragon, but at the time they were released about 5 years ago it was the only game in town.   Trumpeter's new Burkes are better all around

 

 

EdGrune wrote:

The Dragon Arleigh Burkes are the old Panda kits (Burke, Cole, Churchill).    All those myriads of pimples on the hull, sand them off.  They are supposed to be inhaul padeyes; little "U" shaped wire bits welded to the hull and used for tying off people working over the side.   The bumps on the Panda/Dragon kit are way too much.    The big-old honkin' bilge keels are too angular.  They should be nothing more that sheet steel.    The bulkhead hatches are inconsistently sized and there is little to no additional other detail,  fire hoses, fire nozzles, manifolds, etc.    The flight deck has raised markings (humps really) for the deck markings.   The kit's photoetched railings are coarse compared to the offerings from aftermarket suppliers, or even what now accompanies the newer Dragon destroyer kits (i.e. Buchanan, Gearing).  Overall, not the best of kits from Panda/Dragon, but at the time they were released about 5 years ago it was the only game in town.   Trumpeter's new Burkes are better all around

Wow...that was a buzz-kill...

Try this then, a review of an aftermarket prop set copied from the Trumpeter props (I.E. not really worth it for those with the trumpeter kit):

http://www.modelwarships.com/reviews/misc/gfactor/gf35003-burke/gfactor-review.html 

The Dragon/Panda props are incorrectly shaped... noticable once you know what the real ones look like.

Man, that took the wind out of my sail...........LOL

Mansteins revenge wrote:

Wow...that was a buzz-kill...

and

M1Carbine wrote:

Man, that took the wind out of my sail...........LOL

You want a review, its gotta' be honest.  

I'm sure that Tracy will agree with me on this.

 It does no one any good blowing smoke up your skirt.  

Well Ill just have the make the best out if it and make a nice clean build and have some fun with some photoetch parts.  Ill post the progress when I get done with the current project.

I view it as a spectrum.... on one side, you have the "have fun with it" and on the other the "build accurate." We all fall within different parts of that spectrum, and for certain, some people's idea of have fun is to build accurate.

I don't think many of us have any problem with "have fun," but at the same time we can't just sit back and say "it's all good; it don't matter!"

So the reviews and information aren't meant as a buzz kill, just to inform. Modeler's decision whether or not they care or want to.

It's a hobby and the weight of the world should not be on anyone's shoulders.

I agree with Tracy

"It's a hobby and the weight of the world should not be on anyone's shoulders."

I am amazed at the detail, painting, accuracy and the amount of work some put into their model ships.   I have only built a half dozen warships.

I am amazed at the number of parts that the manufacturers put into the model ships.  Then, I read about the number of detail parts modelers add to the model ships.  The total is almost beyond comprehension.  Then there is the putty(corrections to the ship), painting, etc to complete the ships.

I am an amateur compared to the "Real Experts".  I just want my ships to look nice.

The first two ships I built, I wasn't even aware of photo-etch brass.  On one ship I used "N" gauge railroad rails for the railing on the model ship.

The next group of ships I built, I choose the "wrong" scale (1/300).  Even with the wrong scale, I enjoyed the challenge of assembling, painting, photo-etch and adding things.  I even found brass photo-etch SPS-49 radar (1/350 scale) that looks OK.

Now, I am working on a group of Nichimo 1/200 Japanese warships.  I love the brass propellers that come with the kits.  I am even putting in the motors.  The "Experts" will hang me for doing that.

But like Tracy said, I am having fun with it.

 

ENJOY !!   It's only a hobby.

Exactly right ... this is a hobby ... not brain surgery. There is no "exactly right or it's completely wrong." I build for the joy of the journey. Do I try for a reasonable degree of accuracy? Sure, because for me, the research and finding out all the niggling little details about the subject at hand are what make each build so darn interesting. And fun. And time consuming (an important one for me).

Take my current project, a Haskell-class APA I'm doing as the USS Lenawee prior to her first overseas deployment in WW II. Do I know that the Lenawee was at that exact pier in San Francisco loading that exact cargo with all those other naval craft cluttering up the pier on such-and-such a day, with a brightly-colored fishing boat cutting across her bow? Heck no! But it's going to make for one heck of a nice little display when I get it done, and I plan on sending some pics to the Lenawee crew reunion in October.   

 

 Hello --TRACY : I want to say ,iI find your remarks right on and apropo . I am not always on a rampage ,but , it was kept bottled up for so long ,sorry . You know well that I do like many of the offenders kits . The fact is at todays prices ,I don,t like getting blindsided ,thats all . I am still wondering ,Is there a U.S.S. BUCKLEY in my future . ?? As I said take your time , It will get a good home . P.S. does the P.T.117 bear any resemblance to the REVELL ,HIGGINS boat ?? I don,t know and this is what has held me back on this one . I have to have it if it is a HIGGINS . (someday I will say why ) The ELCOS are done by about everyone and I would like to see how anyone could do an L.C.M. 6 . That,s a hull I get a lot of requests for . I only have the one prototype . It was intended to be a model for CLEAN BAY of CALIFORNIA but they decided against it and gave me all their plans . Someday I will build the "SQUEEGEE" and post pics . Any how nice to hear from you .    tankerbuilder