Which is the best 1/350 Arizona Kit?

I am pretty sure they are different boxings of the same kit. Just put out under different labels.

stikpusher

I am pretty sure they are different boxings of the same kit. Just put out under different labels.

Not to steal from your LHS, but you'll find plenty of them on line for $ 35- $ 40 plus shipping. And you do want to save your pennies because the PE costs more than the kit!

I think Toms Modelworks makes the most affordable PE for this kit.  I paid under $40 at a LHS for my Arizona a couple summers back.

A bit of kit history:

Back in 2001 a Chinese plastic company - the Wasan Moulding Co - came out with a new 1:350 scale kit of the Arizona under their then new label 'Banner"  (as in red banner?).  This kit was introduced at the 2001 IPMS Nats in Chicago.  retail price then was $80 USD.     Reviews at the time were that, while it was not a direct pantograph of the 1:426 Revell Arizona, it did have some of it in its parentage.  The folks at Banner fixed some of the Revell problems and introduced some of their own (i.e. forward turret spacing).    I looked at the kit at the time and said that it was not an 80 dollar kit.

Subsequently,  the Wasan Moulding Co changed the name of their top of the line brand to Trumpeter (bad ju ju with Red Banner?).    The Banner Arizona was now sold under the Trumpeter label.    Still not an 80 dollar kit.

Wasan also came out with another brand - MiniHobby Models or MHM.    MHM was the branch of the company which sold blatent pantograph rip offs.  They ripped the Tamiya Bismarck,  the Tamiya Yamato, the 1:700 Tamiya Enterprise/Hornet, and a few others.   Quality was really down there.    You guessed it!  Wasan/MHM also sold their good old Arizona under the MHM label.   Thats the one I got for about 20 bucks.

More recently the good ol' Banner/Trumpeter/MiniHobby Models Arizona kit has been relabel once again by HobbyBoss.  

So, is the Banner kit a good kit for 50 bucks.   Probably not.  You can find the same plastic cheaper if you choose to shop around.

Back to the original question,  what is the best 1:350 scale Arizona kit?    Probably the Toms resin & brass.   Its now being produced bty Iron Shipwright.

The best 1:700 scale Arizona is the Dragon.  Get the ultimate boxing with the included PE.

As a certified Arizona nut, I can say that there is no accurate Arizona kit; they all have at least minor issues. However, any of them will LOOK like Arizona when built. The questions is "how much time and money do you want to put into it?"

Tracy White

As a certified Arizona nut, I can say that there is no accurate Arizona kit; they all have at least minor issues. However, any of them will LOOK like Arizona when built. The questions is "how much time and money do you want to put into it?"

Is the Trumpeter 1:200 scale Arizona any better?

Yes it is the best out there although it does have it's own inaccuracies. Having built the Revell and having the Banner/Mini Hobbies, TOM's , ISW and the Trumpeter 1/200 versions, go with the Trumpeter. Hope this helps you out. Jon

Echo210

Yes it is the best out there although it does have it's own inaccuracies. Having built the Revell and having the Banner/Mini Hobbies, TOM's , ISW and the Trumpeter 1/200 versions, go with the Trumpeter. Hope this helps you out. Jon

It is sad that there is no accurate, modern tooling USS battleship in 1:350 scale.

For German battleships, the Revell Bismarck and the Dragon Scharnhorst are very good at $100 or so.

For Japanese battleships, Hasegawa Nagato is supposed to be excellent, but expensive. Tamiya is releasing an all new tooling Yamato soon, expensive too.

The Tamiya USS BB kits are old. The Trumpeter kits are not up to the standard of the above mentioned kits.

keilau

Is the Trumpeter 1:200 scale Arizona any better?

From the main deck up YES, it's a good kit. The hull itself is extremely wrong; it still looks like Arizona, but is too far and shaped wrong. I covered it a bit on the ModelWarships "At 'em Arizona Fans!" thread (page is linked to so you don't have to look).

Tracy White

keilau:

Is the Trumpeter 1:200 scale Arizona any better?

From the main deck up YES, it's a good kit. The hull itself is extremely wrong; it still looks like Arizona, but is too far and shaped wrong. I covered it a bit on the ModelWarships "At 'em Arizona Fans!" thread (page is linked to so you don't have to look).

Thank you for the link and very interesting readings. I would never get to page 55 without your link.

My question on the 1:200 Arizona is just a curiousity question. My real interest is finding a 1:350 scale late war USS BB as the "flag ship" of my collection.

If you don't like any of the plastic fast battleships (North Carolina, South Dakota, and Iowa class kits), then Dragon may have your answer; there is a BB-38 Pennsylvania 1944/45 kit that should be out hopefully next year.