first ship

Alot of people in this forum have mentioned the 1/350 Tamiya "Fletcher" class destroyer. I haven't done this one (yet!). But as an alternate I would suggest a 1/350 "Spruance" class destroyer. I am working on 3 now, 1MiniHobbyModel (MHM) USS Spruance (VLS) version (Motorized). And 2 Dragon/DML, 1VLS (USS Spruance) and one ASROC version (USS Ingersoll). Of course I have a bit of bias here. I was stationed on one of each during my time in the US Navy. But from what I see of the kits so far, their not too difficult, and fairly accurate in their represention of the ships

These ships are a little hard to find in hobby store. I found all 3 of mine on e-bay. And paid less than I would have in a store. Like any ship you might do, you should consider getting a Photo-etch kit. Any ship done now days would look barren without it. Especially the railings.

If you just want an EASY ship to build you could always do a Revell/Monogram WW2 Battleship (I think 1/720 or 1/700 was the prevalent scale). Good luck.

It also depends on how much modeling experiance you have . If you don't have any @ all I would reccomend a fairly simple revell or tamiya kit that you can build that won't involve a large investment. Also I would reccomend the books "Building Plastic Ship models" & Mike Ashey's boks on ship modeling. Build something that will help you to advance.

i have built armor plane and car models since i was 6, now im 13 and i have no trouble putting togeather some of those tamiya cars and tanks so...... whitch should i build with that amount of experience?

Hey Junior,

Welcome to ship modeling.

If you have some experience building already, then there's several options you can choose...here's what I would recommend.

1/72 Revell S-100 Schnellboot - Great kit, decent size, affordable (about $20)

1/350 Spru-Can (Spruance Class) from DML/Dragon/Shanghai : Easy build, affordable at $20-$22.

1/350 Fletcher: Good kit, no fit troubles, but a bit pricey at $25-$32 retail.

If you have any other questions, stop on over to Modelwarships.com and take a look at the models in the gallery. You can see various examples of the models I've mentioned above.

Regards,

Jeff Herne
Modelwarships.com

Jeff pretty much backed up what I said. Just here's the key point to remember (this applies to not only ships what whatever you model). Pick something you have an interest in otherwise you are WASTING YOUR TIME. Good luck, and keep us informed. I would like to know what you decide on. Buy the way I also model Racecars, and Warplanes (I have a lot of interest in them too).

Tim H.

do u mean radiocontrolled cars? i am thinking on the 1/350 spru-can.

No. I'm talking about 1/24 NASCAR Models (I'm a HUGE fan) and 1/48 and 1/32 Aircraft, mostly WW2 planes. As much as I wanted to get into R/C cars and planes. Their cost (on top of my other models), required room to fly, and the fact that I spend 50 to 60 hours a week driving 18 wheelers is enough going on in my life right now.

you should get a nitro rc car. when your at the truck pits u can pull it put and ride it!