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I find this announcement from Academy interesting: http://www.squadron.com/ItemDetails.asp?item=MH14104 .
An attractive, important ship and a kit containing all the goodies - photoetched detail parts, turned brass gun barrels, and even wood deck components - at a price that normal mortals like me can almost afford!
I did some digging about the Graf Spee a few years ago; I have to say that, on the basis of the photos, the kit appears to be an excellent representation of her as she looked just before the war started (after the radar set on top of the superstructure had been installed, but before the crew got fed up with the aircraft recovery "sail" and threw it overboard. It looks like Academy even includes the "Coronel" nameplate on the front of the superstructure as an etched brass part.
I've always had reservations about wood decks on this scale; almost by definition the wood grain has to run across the "planks." But I have to admit that the deck in those photos looks mighty good. And I've long thought that the two-piece (port and starboard) hull, with a groove along the waterline inside, was the best solution to the "waterline vs. full hull" problem.
Looks like Academy has decided to become a serious player in the 1/350 warship game. The relatively low price in itself should make the kit a success.
Youth, talent, hard work, and enthusiasm are no match for old age and treachery.
Looks sweet...........
Manstein's revenge Looks sweet...........
I agree. But the price is too much for me.
jetmodeler I agree. But the price is too much for me.
EdGrune had some interesting comment on the Academy Graf Spee. It was the plain version that he saw at the 2009 IPMS Nats. The molding does not seem all that good according to EdGrune.
With wood deck and PE, the price is much lower than similar Japanese package. As Tilley said, "at a price that normal mortals like me can almost afford!" I will love to see some serious in-box review to comment on the quality of the kit.
Interestingly, the specific points Ed mentioned all seem to have been rendered moot in the "delux edition." The planking widths on the new wood veneer deck look about right to my eye, and the bitts and chocks apparently are now separate parts. One has to wonder: is it conceivable that Academy deliberately molded those to a lower standard on the "cheap" version, as a means of encouraging people to buy the more expensive one? Probably not; that attributes a level of fiendish intelligence to those people that they probably don't deserve. (More likely scenario: the people responsible for the "upgraded" parts just operated to a higher standard - or knew the subject better.)
The price is too high for me too; in any case, I've already got a model of this ship and don't plan on doing another one soon. But if this kit heralds a downward trend in prices for fully-equipped 1/350 warship kits (i.e., with etched and turned metal parts included in the basic price), it's to be welcomed. I'll be very interested in what this company does next.
Greetings:
TimmyC posted a few pictures of this kit on the Modelwarships forum and it does indeed look very nice. If I wasn't presently out of work I'd buy one in an instant! A wood deck, set of brass barrels and pe make a nice complete package. I think Timmy said he got his somewhere for around a hundred dollars. I believe it was ordered from overseas such as from HobbyLinkJapan. It doesn't appear to be common here yet but I expect someone like FreeTime Hobbies will stock it sometime soon and the price will be reasonable. I just checked Squadron and there're listing it for around $121.00. which isn't too bad.
Michael Lacey
Wow!
I'm from the government and I'm here to help.
very VERY affordable... some peple forget the time factor when calculating time/hobby/money ratios. You may spend more money (say 4X of equivalent 1/35 armor, or 5X warbirds), but you get 10X the building time (or aggravation ;)
Some people have spent 120$ USD just on add-ons for kits such as the Nagato or Kongo!
I DO like the idea of "premium" editions; saves you the hassle of tracking down a handful of AMs from a handful of vendors...
I know what I will be asking Santa to get me this Xmas ;)
PS - Both Sprue Brothers and GreatModels have it at about 100$ !
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