Armor/aircraft guy wants to try building a ship

You are on the right track (pun intended) in my opinion.

I had a long spell of building armor, before the current crop of mega part count super kits. Like when the Tamiya Sd.Kfz 9 with the quad AA gun and all those guys in winter uni's cost $ 20.00 and seemed extravagant.

A couple of things I recall was that a lot of assembly happened before any paint went on, that models didn't take too long to put together, and that masking wasn't a big issue. Also that weathering was really critical.

Also at that time multi-media wasn't a big part and scratchbuilding was not common.

Skipping to ships; sailing ships are the polar opposite of all of those points. To a certain degree modern commercial ships are too.

WW2 Navy ships are much more like armor, and they also have big guns and look fierce, in general. Plus they can be painted for the most part after major sub assembly.

Tamiya is like armor, their kits are mostly older, but they are still great kits. Revell makes good ones now too, as do most of the other companies. I think a 1/350 Bismark would be a great model for you. It'll take a lot of experience to get it right, but it's awesome, and not too hard to paint up well. The Revell Bismark is very highly thought of, I think.

I use CA almost only, as I tend to prepaint a lot. And PE is a must, but you've no doubt got those techniques down.

Welcome aboard (I hope) and look forward to what you decide.

 I gonna suggest your first build should be  a Revell  1/72  U Boat. Big enough to be impressive when done and easy to add detail. No complicated rigging or railings. Several aftermarket decals to individualize your sub. Excellent reference material available online. And lots of weathering to be done. After you're done...WOW! Hope that helps.

Ask yourself "how much do I want to spend"?

The 1/350 stuff can be pricey, especially after you add all the after market photoetch, improved brass  gun barrels, wooden decks, brass propellers etc.

I would approach it this way: find a warship (most popular type among ship builders) and get a simple one. Not a snap together but one that peaks your interest, has some detail (like guns) and will familarize you with the various sub assemblies. I'd keep away from sailing ships, aircraft carriers, and the big ticket resin kits until you've built a  simple "prototype". For example, an inexpensive, introductory  model would be Revells PT 109. Not a great kit but a good first kit. You'll have to assemble hull to deck, add on the weapons, judge how you want it painted (Gray or WWII naval green), the sequence in how to paint a ship model  and figure out how to display it (use the kits display stand or mount it on brass pedestals on a nice finished wood board). Do you want to display it in a weathered condition or like a "museum display" model?

With an inexpensive kit you'll feel free to experiment with building techniques and paint finishes that a more sophisticated $70.00 model might inhibit you from. What you'll learn fom a "cheapie" can be carried to the next ship model you buy , and at some point you may wish to tackle that Bismarck, or USS Enterprise with all it's aircraft or a large well rigged sailing ship. The one thing ship building teaches is PATIENCE, even the most seasoned  modeler can't complete the Cutty Sark in a week!

There's a lot of folk on these boards that can offer advice in your build and a LOT of info on real ships and boats via the internet. It's a great time to be a ship builder, just figure out what appeals to you and how much you want to sink (no pun intended) into a ship model.

Good luck!  

Something like the Trumpeter 1/350 USS England destroyer escort would be an ideal choice for a first warship in that scale. It's a moderate size, well-engineered and well-detailed, complex enough to be satisfying but with limited numbers of fittings types, so you don't feel like you're spending your whole life cleaning up two dozen identical gun mounts. It can also be dressed out in a fair variety of color schemes, from simple 1- or 2-tone measures to eye-catching dazzle, if you so choose.

Thaks for all the replies!

I'm not a huge fan of those big submarine kits. A carrier is out of question as well, not to mention a sailing ship.

I'm kinda leaning towards one of the Trumpeter ships: My LHS has an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer (USS Momsen) and the kit looks really nice as far as I can tell. The Momsen is priced at 40€ while the Bismarck (Tamiya) costs 60€. The latter in on sale though, which reduces the price to 45€...  The Bismarck doesn't look too complicated as well... What do you think?

I'd like to weather my model a bit, just to make it look less factory-fresh...

Have you thought about the Tamiya PBR? It is in 1/35 scale, although technically a boat and not a ship.

If you like a warship that has a tank like appearance a pre-dreadnought battleship is the best. 1/350 is huge and expensive. Best scale to start with is 1/700.  

Let me echo Greg's comments.   The USS England is an excellent choice as a first "learner" ship kit.

Consider -

1)  The price of entry -  smaller subject means a smaller kit price and a smaller price for aftermarket PE.   A battleship may be twice the cost for each.

2)  Size - 1:350 is an optimal size to learn on.   The sizes of parts are manageable until you teach your 15 dancing thumbs to do what you want them to do.   The parts in 1:700 are much smaller.   Scales 1:144 and larger - the round items are etched as flats.    The 1:35 PBR is a tank without treads -- it is not a "ship".  You will not learn ship modeling skills.

3)  Compexity - With a 1:350 sized destroyer-sized subject you will be able to see progress.  You are not doing a lot of repetitive assembly of small detail parts (i.e. dozens of 20mm guns).  You can see progress as the model stands up in a short time.

The Tamiya Fletcher is another good option.   The Trump USS The Sullivans is not recommended as there are many detail problems to deal with.    The Dragon Benson/Livermore destroyers are likewise not recommended - poor instructions and overly detailed for a novice.

Thanks again for your help. I'll buy the USS England when I'm back in Vienna (I hope my LHS has it in stock)...

Another kit that is very tank-like is the USS Monitor.  There was an old kit (I think it had both Monitor and Merrimack) that wasn't much of a kit, but is a start. It was from someone like Lindberg, I believe.

A much better kit is from Bluejacket.  This I believe is a wood hull kit with mixed media for other parts. It is reasonably priced for a wood kit.

I like the idea of first trying out a 1/350 smaller class of ship before taking on a battleship.  If you have a penchant for the Kriegsmarine, both Trumpeter and Dragon have several Z class WWII destroyers to choose from.

regards,

Jack

Hi :

   I have read this with much interest .From it ,I gather of course ,you are not in the U.S. So , if you get to your LHS see if they have older REVELL kits in stock . The H.M.S. Cambelltown comes to mind ,as does their same scale version of a " Buckley " class D.E.  The Cambelltown is a WW1 type " four " stacker Destroyer . She's still in her American trim though . I checked against pictures I have and REVELL did Not execute the changes that would've made her look like a German ship . These are not real small . I think about 1/192 scale so they are bigger than 1/350 , but they are very forgiving for a beginner  .I used to recommend the " Lindberg " ships like their large Bismark or Hood for first timers .they take P.E. well are fairly simple and can look very good with some patience .If you insist on 1/350 the the England is an excellent choice .Just Don't paint her " Blue " like I did . The detail then seems to disappear ! There's room for P.E. and she's a neat little ship anyway .Hope this little input helps .    Tanker- Builder

Unless I am mistaken,the Tamiya 1/350 Fletcher class destroyer is a great kit for new ship modelers.At least that is what I was told on several occasions.I however went with the Trumpeter Roma.That build taught me a whole new meaning of patience.It's my opinion that everything I built after the Roma is better than it would have been had I built it before.

I am getting ready to also start my first ship build, and the Tamiya 1/350 Fletcher was suggested to me by many folks when I asked the same question.  I just cracked open the box, and it does look like a straight forward build.  

-Steven

Another bit of good advice I got was to build UP AND OUT!

Since your comfortable with airplanes build an aircraft-carrier. ;-)

I think Seasick actually has a pretty good suggestion, but if you start with a carrier, go smaller scale where you have single-part aircraft.  The Italieri series of aircraft carriers are actually pretty fun builds.  While they lack some on detail (and in many cases have incorrect masts, etc.) if it's a first ship build it's easy, provides lots of little different sub assemblies without building 100 AA guns, they offer a chance to do a little rigging, and they're super cheap so you aren't afraid to experiment.  They also have the added benefit that you can just paint the aircraft without wanting to chuck them all into a shredder.

Groot

Yeah, that's what I thought about the Sara....  :D