Looking for advice

Bish - Dont rule out LuckyModel, the sales they have (specially in some brands like Bronco and HobbyBoss) make up for whatever shipping charges they have... and several of their PE lines are shipped FREE AIR worldwide....  I just ordered the Legend F-100D detailing set for Monogram, 60-70 USD via regular online sites, 32 USD and free shipping from LuckyModel (on sale). you can sign up for their sales via email, you may get lucky with your PE/AM hunting :) cheers 

As posted elsewhere -- we're getting both.   Ignore the 'box art',  its not a "modern" ship.  The kit is still in the design stages with the researchers correcting details in the CAD work.

EdGrune

You want German?    Here you go,  Dragon just announced this at the Nuremburg Toy Show, a DKM Z-39 destroyer.   If its anything like their current US destroyers it will be excellent.   Its probably a mid-summer release.

They've also announced a 1943 Scharnhorst and an Independece-class Light Carrier.   Prices not set,  but likely less than the 21700 Yen (240 USD) manstein will be paying for his beloved Shokaku.

Whoa!  Elsewhere in the Forum, Ed has posted a photo of a 1/350 U.S.S. Independence that is in fact the new, "littoral stealth" ship.  Which is it?  Dare we hope for both?

EdGrune

You want German?    Here you go,  Dragon just announced this at the Nuremburg Toy Show, a DKM Z-39 destroyer.   If its anything like their current US destroyers it will be excellent.   Its probably a mid-summer release.

They've also announced a 1943 Scharnhorst and an Independece-class Light Carrier.   Prices not set,  but likely less than the 21700 Yen (240 USD) manstein will be paying for his beloved Shokaku.

That's a darn handsome tin can!

EdGrune

Yes, WWII.  Thats a CAD image.  They haven't even done box art yet

Bish

Cheers for the sdvice guys. JMart  I am in the UK, so with postage it wouldn't be worth it. I do order from the US, but usually just stuff i can't get over here. I am a bit of a PE freak, so if and when i do get it, i will look at what there is out there.

Bish, check out http://www.luckymodel.com/, they are out of Hong Kong, and I can get kits shipped to me in Canada, cheaper than from the US. Takes a little longer, but I'm not cracking out the kits very fast, either!

Yes, WWII.  Thats a CAD image.  They haven't even done box art yet

The box reads "modern...".  I s that a WW2 German destroyer???

You want German?    Here you go,  Dragon just announced this at the Nuremburg Toy Show, a DKM Z-39 destroyer.   If its anything like their current US destroyers it will be excellent.   Its probably a mid-summer release.

They've also announced a 1943 Scharnhorst and an Independece-class Light Carrier.   Prices not set,  but likely less than the 21700 Yen (240 USD) manstein will be paying for his beloved Shokaku.

Fujimi Shokaku...

Check with White Ensign Models.  They're UK based.   They manufacture and sell their own line of PE (nothing for the Tam Fletcher however),  and also carry Gold Medal Models (USA),  L'Arsenal (France) and other manufacturer's items.

You want a small "learner" kit -- try the Trumpeter USS England destroyer escort paired with a PE set & other details from White Ensign to make a RN Captain-class frigate

Cheers for the sdvice guys. JMart  I am in the UK, so with postage it wouldn't be worth it. I do order from the US, but usually just stuff i can't get over here. I am a bit of a PE freak, so if and when i do get it, i will look at what there is out there.

another ditto for the RG Bismark (or Tirpitz). LuckyModel sometimes has them on sale. Some good PE sets exist to go as far (or not) superdetailing as you want.

If you want to explore outside the German navy, the old Tamiya 1:350 Fletcher is still the king of "entry" level 350 kits, again, with plenty of PE available for all tastes. And you can do the cool naval camo schemes :)

cheers

I would second the recommendation on both Revell (Gr.) and Trumpeter.  Hasagawa kits can be pretty good too. For vintage ships (sailing ships) the larger scale Heller are great.  Their big Victory and le Soleil Royale are a couple of the best sailing ship kits ever.

The Bismark is at the top of my list so of course i been checking which kits are out there and seen the Academy, tamiya and Revell kits on the Hannants site. I didn't know the frist two were the same kit and alot older.  But despite the price i was already 90% set on the Revell kit. I have just seen the post on the new Spee from Academy, that prompted me to post thsi thread.

Well, you seem to have come to the hobby at exactly the right time.  The Revell Bismarck & Tirpitz kits in 1/350 are excellent and a great deal of after market material can be had to make them even more spectacular.  The Trumpeter Prinz Eugen and Hipper are very nice kits with plenty of after market attention as well.  For a Graf Spee you can buy either the Trumpeter version, a bit pricey or the Academy version, each suffers somewhat from minor faults that create endless discussions on this board and others.  You really can't go wrong with any of these choices.  You may be tempted by the Academy Bismarck/Tirpitz clones but don't do it as they are what appear to be copies of the same ships from Tamiya, which are extremely old molds, not terrible but not up to todays standards.  WS