An aircraft modeler needs some help for a ship kit

I could swear that Revell did one many years ago in their old box scale lineup of kits. Not what would be cutting edge today, but it will look like the ship.

Trumpeter makes models of the Baltimore and Pittsburgh which are the same class of cruiser as the Saint  Paul, so it possible to build one of them while studying photos and see if any mods are needed to bring it up to Korean era fit, and change the bow number.

If I recall, last time I watched the Movie "In Harm's Way", the Saint Paul still even had her 40mm Bofors, or at least some of them in 1964 when the movie was made.

www.navsource.org is a great place for American ship pictures and brief statements of overhauls, refits and such.

Iron Shipwright makes a resin & brass kit in 1:350 scale Baltimore-class cruiser as the Pittsburgh

http://ironshipwrights.com/pages/pittsburgh.html

That will get you most fo the way there.  You may have to make some adjustments to the armament layout to represent the St Paul during the Korean War.    Expense is relative.   Its the only game in town,  and with a 1:700 kit  railing, radar and the like are aftermarket additions to the final cost.   With a resin & brass kit the "aftermarket add-ons" are included in the base cost of the kit.

Shaded hull number decals (Korean war vintage) are available from Gold Medal Models,  Hawk Graphics, and Yankee Modelworks

Thanks guys. From the look of prices of the 1/350 scale I will either go with the tiny 1/700 scale or just get him this T-shirt.

CA73USSSaintPaul2SidedPhotoTShirt 90 327.html?gclid=CMaSIW7m58CFQZfagod0jpAxQ

stikpusher

I could swear that Revell did one many years ago in their old box scale lineup of kits. Not what would be cutting edge today, but it will look like the ship.

As a matter of fact Revell has just reissued its old Baltimore-class heavy cruiser:  http://www.revell.com/model-kits/ships/85-0370.html .

Revell lists the scale as 1/481; that sounds about right.

Be warned:  this is a very old kit.  If I'm not mistaken it dates from about 1954.  To say that it doesn't represent the current state of the art would be to understate the case seriously. 

On the other hand, it does look about like the ship in question, the scale is about what MikeV had in mind, and the price, as such things go, isn't bad.  (Free Time Hobbies is selling it for $15.95.) 

This old kit might be just what you're looking for - for the particular purpose you have in mind.  Just don't expect it to compare, in terms of accuracy and detail, with the Trumpeter kits. 

jtilley

 

stikpusher:

 

I could swear that Revell did one many years ago in their old box scale lineup of kits. Not what would be cutting edge today, but it will look like the ship.

 

 

As a matter of fact Revell has just reissued its old Baltimore-class heavy cruiser:  http://www.revell.com/model-kits/ships/85-0370.html .

Revell lists the scale as 1/481; that sounds about right.

Be warned:  this is a very old kit.  If I'm not mistaken it dates from about 1954.  To say that it doesn't represent the current state of the art would be to understate the case seriously. 

On the other hand, it does look about like the ship in question, the scale is about what MikeV had in mind, and the price, as such things go, isn't bad.  (Free Time Hobbies is selling it for $15.95.) 

This old kit might be just what you're looking for - for the particular purpose you have in mind.  Just don't expect it to compare, in terms of accuracy and detail, with the Trumpeter kits. 

Thanks for the heads up. Is this Revell kit the only larger kit out there that is less than $100?

MikeV

jtilley:

 

stikpusher:

 

I could swear that Revell did one many years ago in their old box scale lineup of kits. Not what would be cutting edge today, but it will look like the ship.

 

 

As a matter of fact Revell has just reissued its old Baltimore-class heavy cruiser:  http://www.revell.com/model-kits/ships/85-0370.html .

Revell lists the scale as 1/481; that sounds about right.

Be warned:  this is a very old kit.  If I'm not mistaken it dates from about 1954.  To say that it doesn't represent the current state of the art would be to understate the case seriously. 

On the other hand, it does look about like the ship in question, the scale is about what MikeV had in mind, and the price, as such things go, isn't bad.  (Free Time Hobbies is selling it for $15.95.) 

This old kit might be just what you're looking for - for the particular purpose you have in mind.  Just don't expect it to compare, in terms of accuracy and detail, with the Trumpeter kits. 

 

Thanks for the heads up. Is this Revell kit the only larger kit out there that is less than $100?

So far as I know - yes.

I looked up the kit in Dr. Graham's book Remembering Revell Model Kits, this evening.  For once my senile memory was right:  the original release date was 1954.  When the book was published, the estimated value of the original kit on the collectors' market was $100-120.  Dr. Graham covers the period up to 1980; by then the kit had been reissued twice.  The 1960 release, under the name Helena, was estimated at $35-45; the 1967 one, labeled Pittsburgh, was $40-50.  I suspect some kit collectors fell on their swords when this latest reissue was announced.

In its earlier incarnations, I think, the kit came with a big sheet of decals, including numbers for the whole class.  (The Helena was CA-75; the St. Paul was CA-73.)

I just took a look at some photos of the St. Paul on the Navsource site (www.navsource.org).  By the time of the Korean conflict she apparently had had her catapults removed and replaced by gear for handling helicopters.  I imagine there were quite a few other modifications, but that was the most obvious.

Aurora used to make a Baltimore-class cruiser on 1/600 scale with the name St. Paul on the box.  It was, obviously, a little smaller than the Revell one; my vague recollection is that the level of detail may have been a bit higher - but not much.  It's been off the market for many years.  Aurora kits in general command pretty high prices on the collectors' market:  http://www.oldmodelkits.com/index.php .

I'm completely in sympathy with your desire to build a model of your father's ship.  I gave my dad a model of his attack transport, based on the ancient Revell kit, for Christmas once.  I'll never forget the look on his face when he got out his bifocals and started studying it up close.  Such gentlemen tend to be pretty forgiving of minor inaccuracies.

Good luck.

jtilley

 

MikeV:

 

 

jtilley:

 

stikpusher:

 

I could swear that Revell did one many years ago in their old box scale lineup of kits. Not what would be cutting edge today, but it will look like the ship.

 

 

As a matter of fact Revell has just reissued its old Baltimore-class heavy cruiser:  http://www.revell.com/model-kits/ships/85-0370.html .

Revell lists the scale as 1/481; that sounds about right.

Be warned:  this is a very old kit.  If I'm not mistaken it dates from about 1954.  To say that it doesn't represent the current state of the art would be to understate the case seriously. 

On the other hand, it does look about like the ship in question, the scale is about what MikeV had in mind, and the price, as such things go, isn't bad.  (Free Time Hobbies is selling it for $15.95.) 

This old kit might be just what you're looking for - for the particular purpose you have in mind.  Just don't expect it to compare, in terms of accuracy and detail, with the Trumpeter kits. 

 

 

Thanks for the heads up. Is this Revell kit the only larger kit out there that is less than $100?

 

 

So far as I know - yes.

I looked up the kit in Dr. Graham's book Remembering Revell Model Kits, this evening.  For once my senile memory was right:  the original release date was 1954.  When the book was published, the estimated value of the original kit on the collectors' market was $100-120.  Dr. Graham covers the period up to 1980; by then the kit had been reissued twice.  The 1960 release, under the name Helena, was estimated at $35-45; the 1967 one, labeled Pittsburgh, was $40-50.  I suspect some kit collectors fell on their swords when this latest reissue was announced.

In its earlier incarnations, I think, the kit came with a big sheet of decals, including numbers for the whole class.  (The Helena was CA-75; the St. Paul was CA-73.)

I just took a look at some photos of the St. Paul on the Navsource site (www.navsource.org).  By the time of the Korean conflict she apparently had had her catapults removed and replaced by gear for handling helicopters.  I imagine there were quite a few other modifications, but that was the most obvious.

Aurora used to make a Baltimore-class cruiser on 1/600 scale with the name St. Paul on the box.  It was, obviously, a little smaller than the Revell one; my vague recollection is that the level of detail may have been a bit higher - but not much.  It's been off the market for many years.  Aurora kits in general command pretty high prices on the collectors' market:  http://www.oldmodelkits.com/index.php .

I'm completely in sympathy with your desire to build a model of your father's ship.  I gave my dad a model of his attack transport, based on the ancient Revell kit, for Christmas once.  I'll never forget the look on his face when he got out his bifocals and started studying it up close.  Such gentlemen tend to be pretty forgiving of minor inaccuracies.

Good luck.

Thanks for all your help. By the way this is my wife's dad that I wanted to build it for not my dad who passed away in 2001.

My dad was a Marine and crew chief on Curtiss SB2C Helldivers at El Toro for a while. I built him a Grumman F8F Bearcat years ago as he always liked them and Corsairs.

One more thing. Since that old 1:481 scale Revell kit comes with decals for another Cruiser is there any decals out there that have the correct number?

Has anybody out there actually got one of these kits?  I haven't seen it. 

My suggestion is to get the kit - or find somebody who already has one - and see what's in the box.  In at least one of its earlier appearances it included numbers for all (or many) of the ships in the class; I have no idea what the current decal sheet looks like.

If you're representing the ship as she appeared during the Korean conflict, you'll want to use the big, "shadow"-style numbers.  (That's probably what's in the kit - as opposed to the much smaller, all-white numbers used during WWII.)  And during the fifties the ship's name presumably would have been painted on the stern.  (That also may or may not come with the kit.)

If the kit decals won't work, letters and numbers are available from several aftermarket companies.  There won't be any in 1/481 scale, but you'll be able to come pretty close.

i've got at least 6 of the helena  kits still wrapped in plastic as i have a total of 15 baltimore kits that will represent various baltimores including saipan & northampton.

ddp59

i've got at least 6 of the helena  kits still wrapped in plastic as i have a total of 15 baltimore kits that will represent various baltimores including saipan & northampton.

Would it be possible for you to open one and see what decals the kit has with it as was mentioned above?

Thanks

i opened up 2 different helena boxex, 1 from 98 & the other from last year. the decals have 14 names on them including st.paul & has 2 rows digits from1 to 0 with 1 appearing twice in eack row.

ddp59

i opened up 2 different helena boxex, 1 from 98 & the other from last year. the decals have 14 names on them including st.paul & has 2 rows digits from1 to 0 with 1 appearing twice in eack row.

Awesome! Thank You very much.

no problem.

The Trumpeter "Baltimore" is available in 1/700 for about $35 online. I'm sure he'd love it, but beware- ship models are the black hole of AMS!

You can say that again Bondo.... I am on my first ship build in almost 30 years and OOB the box just is so hard to stay with.

bondoman

The Trumpeter "Baltimore" is available in 1/700 for about $35 online. I'm sure he'd love it, but beware- ship models are the black hole of AMS!

I thought of that Bill but the 1/700 are so small.

The Revell is 1:481 scale and it is 16" long.

MikeV

  bondoman:

The Trumpeter "Baltimore" is available in 1/700 for about $35 online. I'm sure he'd love it, but beware- ship models are the black hole of AMS!

I thought of that Bill but the 1/700 are so small.

The Revell is 1:481 scale and it is 16" long.

The Baltimore at 1:700 scale is about 11". I will not consider it "so small".

Yes, it is small. But most of the WWII destroyer in 1:350 is about the same length. With some Lion Roar PE set, it will look very nice in a good display case. A 16" model is nicer if you can find the AMS to add enough details.

Thanks Keilau but I am not worried about adding any detail set or spending much money on it as my wife's dad probably wouldn't notice the difference anyhow. 

If you did happen to feel the urge to add fine detail, 1/481 is pretty close to 1/500 scale, where Tom's Modelworks has a USN BB/CA detail set in brass, Radars, Catapults, etc.

http://www.tomsmodelworks.com/catalog/popup_image.php?pID=160

At only $15 it would be a cost effective way to dress up the cruiser if you felt so inclined. They have several other sets as well to round it out: radars, rails, 20m gun shields, without breaking the bank.

MikeV

Thanks Keilau but I am not worried about adding any detail set or spending much money on it as my wife's dad probably wouldn't notice the difference anyhow. 

With or without the LR detail set, the Trumpeter kit should buildup a lot nicer than the old Revell. It does cost twice as much and is smaller.

You can easily add 1:700 scale WWII US Navy railing to the kit for a few dollars if so wish. Usually, the railings are the first item that catches non-modeler's attention on a small ship model. To be honest, I have never done a 1:700 scale railing myself.