Best Ship kits

My list-

Revell of Germany Cruiser Emden

Zvezda Dreadnought

Heller large scale HMS Victory

Heller large scale Le Soleil Royale

Trumpeter Lexington.

Revell big Cutty Sark. Smaller CW Morgan, Golden Hind, Viking ship.

Trumpeter San Francisco.

In addition to what you guys have listed.

Glad to here the Trumpeter SF made the list. I have it waiting to go on my bench- will start soon.

Tamiya 1/350 USS Alaska class cruiser... oh! sorry, I was dreaming.

Bronco 1/350 Kilo class SSK ;-)

I hesitate to get into this discussion.  I've been building ship models for - well, let's not get into how many years, but I've only seen a fraction of the kits available.  I haven't been buying many in the past few years, and I know I've missed some good ones.  There's no well-stocked (for ship enthusiasts) hobby shop near where I live, so I haven't had the chance to look at many newer kits in the boxes.  I haven't kept up with all the superb warships from Dragon, for instance, and I haven't seen anywhere near all the Trumpeter ones.  I know Revell Germany has brought out several fine kits in recent years, but I can't claim to have seen more than a few of them.  And I've never laid eyes on a Zvezda ship kit.  (Mr. Stauffer listed the Revell Emden and the Zvezda Dreadnought, for instance; I know from reviews and photos that they're excellent kits, but I haven't actually seen either of them.)  There was a time when I routinely bought new kits and put them in my considerable stash, but those days are gone; I can't lay out $100 on a kit that I may build someday.

With those caveats, here are 20 plastic kits that are among the best I'm personally familiar with:

Revell 1/96 Constitution

Heller 1/100 Victory

Airfix Wasa (I haven't seen the Revell one)

Heller La Reale

Revell Viking ship

Revell Golden Hind

Revell Mayflower (both scales)

Revell Charles W. Morgan

Dragon 1/350 Buchanan (and sisters)

Trumpeter 1/700 North Carolina and Washington

Trumpeter 1/700 Queen Elizabeth

Dragon 1/700 Essex-class carriers

Dragon Bismarck

Dragon 1/700 Arizona

Imai 1/125 Cutty Sark

Revell Flying Cloud

Tamiya 1/700 Yamato

Tamiya 1/700 Missouri (and sisters)

Trumpeter 1/700 Saratoga

Sealsmodel 1700 Mikasa (I haven't seen the 1350 Hasegawa one)

I haven't included any wood kits (because the quality of a finished one depends so much on the modeler rather than the kit), or resin ones (because I don't have much experience with them; I'll leave them to somebody else). 

I'm sure dozens of other styrene kits belong on the list.  I know quite a few from Dragon, Tamiya, Hasegawa, Trumpeter, Zvezda, and Revell Germany by reputation, but I have no personal experience with them - or, in most cases, the funds to buy them.  (To build the Hasegawa Akagi, with all the manufacturer's photo-etched detail sets, would cost close to $700.  To me, at least, that's not pocket money.)

Those 20 are just the ones I happen to know about - and can recommend with few, if any, reservations.  I reserve the right to add more when and if I think of them.

This is a very complex question given the vagueness of the word "best". For example, when I began my ship modeling at age 6, the old Pyro/Eaglewall Table Top Navy kits were ideal for me. They were affordable on my fifty-cents weekly allowance, they allowed my imagination to soar, and they were easy to put together. I could also extend the collection with the Renwal sets of 1/11200 scale American ships. I loved the box art as well, and I did not notice any of their many accuracy issues. In short, they were fun, hence, for me, they were the best.

As I got older, the Revell Picture Fleet, the Aurora ships, the Airfix ships, and the Renwal ships became more affordable, so these became what, for me, were the epitome of ship kits. A little later, the Heller kits and the Japanese waterline series came in vogue! I was euphoric!

Now, I don't know where to start. Revell is producing some very inexpensive kits for the younger crowd, and their old fare keeps getting re-released (I wish they would revert their Forrestal class kits to their original configurations!), but, WOW!, there are many outstanding kits out there for we adults who can afford them! I love the Trumpeter and Academy HMS Warspite and Queen Elizabeth in 1/350 scale, as I love the Aoshima 1/350 Japanese Kongo class battleships and Fuso and Yamashiro. The Hasegawa 1/350 Mikasa is outstanding!  There are so many ships from which to choose! However, as John says, their cost is a little prohibitive. The newer 1/700 kits have excellent detail at a more affordable price, but they are now too small for me to see effectively.

So, I don't know which is "best", but I am enjoying the ride!

Bill

Bill's points are, as always, well taken.  There's plenty of room for discussion about just what constitutes a "good" kit.                            

Good to hear from you, Bill.  I was starting to wonder what happened to you.

John,

I have been so busy with the school year and with helping lead the fight against corporate education reform that I have had little time for modeling. I hope that I am back, though. I really missed my hobby!

Bill

I forgot to mention another type of ship modeling that people too often ignore . . . paper-card ship modeling. The selection is vast, they are large scale, many are highly detailed, and they are inexpensive. HMV from Germany is the most expensive, but their kits are truly works of art! I have three, the WWI German battlecruisers Von der Tann and Derfflinger, and the WWI German battleship Baden. JSC from Poland is almost as good. I am enjoying learning how to build them and am having a lot of fun doing so.

So, which is best? It depends on how you define the term and place it in its context.

Bill

Of my all time favorites are the Revell 1/96 Constitution (one I dreamed about building as a kid with no money, waiting in my stash now), I could afford and did build both the smaller Constitution, and Thermopile.  I spent an entire summer rigging them. Thought I know they are now-a-days poor scale models, I have always liked the Pyro Staten Yacht, and Bomb Ketch.  As a teenager I thought they were the coolest models.  I still like them, even with their limitations, and also have those in my stash.  They are the ones that got me interested in model sailing ships, and full size sail boats.

I'd have to say the Revell 1/350 Bismarck is up there. I just received mine a week ago and it's pretty good. The only thing that's going to make it better, is the Lionroar PE kit I ordered for it.

And the worst, you ask? Why, the 1/570 Revell Titanic of course! Ha ha! Just kidding. It's probably not the worst, but a new thread pointing out the worst models would be cool too. Something for modelers to beware of.

I'm working on the 1/200 Trumpeter Missouri now. It has my vote for "greatest production ship kit ever" especially with the Pontos detail set added in.