News from Trumpeter

WE Carrier Modellers are blessed with new Kits and if like me, not enough room. With Trumpeter announcing a 1-350 Ark Royal and Dragon with their 1-700 1965 USS Enterprise we are indeed in happy times.....Cheers mark

GMorrison

I would like to see a model of the Moshulu in Philadelphia.

Our friend Raider Hall is building a Constellation from the Kitty Hawk kit.

See his WIP

 

With regards to any new plastic sailing ships kits. Zvezda has released a wonderful series of Elizabethan/Armada era warships. Sadly, they are proper 1/350. I built their new little "Santa Maria", and was plain giddy that somebody did a model ot the ship based on recent studies, but again, 1/350 (and based upon the smallest Santa Maria interpretation, so downright tiny). I was hoping that Zvezda was planning on doing a larger model. Sadly, apparently not in the cards. 

GM, you lost me. What's the connection between an early-twentieth-century merchantman and a modern aircraft carrier? I must have missed something. 

I would like to see a model of the Moshulu in Philadelphia.

Our friend Raider Hall is building a Constellation from the kit.

See his WIP

Those two were considerably smaller - and cheaper. Ditto the other two in that Aurora series, the Hartford and Sea Witch.

One more that probably does belong on the list of big sailing ship kits: the Marx/Lindbergh Sea Witch. 

Actually John, remember Aurora had a few too. The BHR and the Wanderer, I think?

You are entirely forgiven if you've managed to put those out of your mind.

Egad!

Mike, I agree with you completely - and I've got quite a list of sailing vessels I'd like to see kitted in large scales. (American clipper, American whaler, seventeenth-century English warship, any American frigate other than the Constitution, etc., etc.) But I'm afraid the chances of getting our wishes fulfilled are slim to none. If I'm not mistaken, the Heller Victory was the last large-scale (and large-sized) plastic sailing ship to come on the market - and it was initially released more than thirty years ago. Heller hasn't released a genuinely new sailing ship since. Revell USA has been out of the sailing ship business for about forty years (about twice as long as it was ever in it). Revell and Heller, remember, are the only companies that have ever produced three-foot-long sailing ships. And they only made a handful: the Revell Cutty Sark, Kearsarge, and Constitution, and the Heller Soleil Royal, La Reale, and Victory. All the other big Revell kits (Thermopylae, Pedro Nunes, Alabama, and United States) are modified reissues. (I'm not counting that "Spanish Galleon," which isn't a scale model of anything.) I think Imai may have made one or two that approached that size, but Imai's been out of business for well over thirty years.

Revell Germany has released a few smaller sailing ships since Revell USA got out of the game (the Pamir and Wasa, for instance), but those have been few, far between, and, apparently not exactly big sellers. Trumpeter, apart from a couple that, as I understand it, were reissues of kits from some other Chinese company, has never made a sailing ship kit. Zvezda made a couple a few years ago, but seems to have dropped out of the market.

I'm afraid the plastic sailing ship market is just about dead. Anybody who wants to get into the sailing ship model hobby needs to look carefully at switching over to wood. The number of good wood kits isn't exactly overwhelming either, but there are enough out there to keep people like you and me busy for the rest of our lives.

I'd like to see Trumpeter, Zvezda, Revell, Heller, or any plastic ship kit maker come up with a 1/96 or 1/100 74 gun French ship of the line that would be well researched, heavy with correct blocks, dead eyes, etc., and have literate, easy to read and understand instructions in English. Even with my optivisor I find working with small scales extremely challenging these days. I have Heller's 1/150 Le Gorieux in my stash but because of several problems with that kit that have been discussed several times before on this site I may never get around to attempting to build her.

Am I wishing for too much?

An example of the type of ship to which I refer:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventy-four_%28ship%29#/media/File:Achille_mp3h9307.jpg

Sorry if this is a bit off topic.

Mike

Several posts above refer to the U.S.S. "G.W. Bush." There is no such ship. There is, however, a carrier named U.S.S. George H.W. Bush.

We need to get in the habit of being careful about those names. George H.W. Bush is the father; George W. Bush is the son.

Tanker, if you go to Shapeways.com and look up "sapguy", he's advertising a Enterprise beehive island in 1:350. Cost is $109.00. 

I tried to post the link but my phone isn't cooperating. 

Tanker . . . Don't forget the Gallery Models 1/350 USS Intrepid (CVS-11). It is a beautiful model of an Essex class ship that can be converted quite easily into one of the CVA variants.

I, too, am hoping for a Vietnam-era Midway class model. I would prefer the Coral Sea.

Bill

Oh Yeah !

    The thing is I just want a 1/350 Essex or Midway (late Viet Nam ) for my collection . I still need a 1/350 1944-45 fit U.S.S. Iowa-Missouri-Wisconsin-New Jersey ! One of any of those would work .

   I have the makings of an early battle group and a late war battle group with a lot of " Little Guys' in it ! On G.W.Bush there's a lot of ways you could go there

You could light the hangar deck and nav lights and have a kick butt night light with that -for sure !   T.B.

      My only wish is for a lucky find of the " As Launched " 1/350 Enterprise with the unique " Beehive " island . Remember she was the only " Super-Carrier " with that feature !

How about a 1/200 Titanic? I think ships that have some sort of unique history or look are always top sellers.

He is lucky to have lived so long! Many of his compatriots did not make it past their 20s! Piloting torpedo planes in combat was not conducive to a long life span.

Today is his 91st, BTW.

Last I read, the Texas was supposed to be released at the end of the 1st quarter 2015. Guess they forgot. lol.

Hey tankbuilder, as long as we are dreaming big, why not a 1/200  U.S.S. G.W. Bush. Wouldn't that take a bit of shelf space !

I thought the U.S.S. Texas was supposed to be release this month.

Gee !

Why not a 1/200 U.S.S. New York !

Freetime now shows a Trumpeter 1/350 John F. Kennedy available for pre-order.

Later edit: I goofed. It's from Merit International.

Thanks Tracy. The last time I checked Freetime Hobbies site, it was still a pre-order. I've already got the 1/200 Missouri in my stash, and the large scale is good for old guys like me who are now relegated to doing most of his modeling with an optivisor.

There's a 1/200th Nelson on the shelf at my local hobby shop.

I think I heard that an updated / more modern than 1975 Nimitz class release was in the works as well.

I'm bummed that they still aren't releasing their 1/200 Hood and 1/200 Nelson. I have seen them on pre-order, but it sounds like they still won't be  out for a while.

I forget who manufactured this set, but it is a detailed hangar deck with bulkheads set for the Revell 1/720 USS Enterprise.  Also, Tom's Model Works manufactures a Hangar deck for the Tamiya 1/350 USS Enterprise, when added to the various photo etch sets out there for that ship, really add to  the detail level and accuracy.  There are also photo etch etch sets for the Trumpeter 1/350 USS Nimitz.  I really don't see a problem with someone manufacturing update sets for any ship, let alone the Trumpeter 1/350 Nimitz. I imagine that it would be a nice seller!

Bill

You'd think somebody would put out a resin set full of sponsons and the replacement for CIWS and sat domes as an update for the Trumpeter Nimitz.  The White Ensign update set already has later versions of the big antenna mount behind the bridge.  They could also put out a replacement bridge set for those Nimitz' that don't use the bigger kit version.  

I would like to see one of the latest of the Nimitz class.

Wow! That, and the new J.F.K. from Merit International, would go well with the Tamiya USS Enterprise and Trumpeter USS Nimitz! Now, if we could get a new 1/350 USS Midway and Coral Sea, as well as the Forrestal class to bridge the gap with the USS Intrepid . . . hmmmmmm!

Bill

subfixer

 I would really like to see the Forrestal class represented in 1/350, too.

Well ;

    With the detail set I'll need , guess there goes half of my S.S. check