The first 1/350 ship model you ever built

Surface ship. Academy's Graf Spee. Subs- Dragon's twin set of USS Dallas vs Soviet Alfa Class. Since around the early 1980s when Tamiya introduced their big battleship line, 1/350 has indeed become the standard "big scale" for warship kits in injection molded plastic.

It's been a while, but maybe Tamiya's Fletcher or Banner/MIniHobby/Trumpeter's Arizona. I'd done ships for a while before that, but they were all box scale, and it's harder for me to pick out my first 350th kit because of that.

Does anybody know which came first? The resin 350th lines of the Tamiya kits? Before that the biggest common scale line was 400 scale from several European companies.

No 1/350 as yet but I plan to grab-up one of those USS Texas as soon as it’s released.  In fact the only vessel I have done is a 1/700 Type VII U-Boat.  The Texas will probably be my only 1/350, all other vessels in my stash are 1/700.

Tracy White

It's been a while, but maybe Tamiya's Fletcher or Banner/MIniHobby/Trumpeter's Arizona. I'd done ships for a while before that, but they were all box scale, and it's harder for me to pick out my first 350th kit because of that.

Mine was the Dragon/DML USS Ohio (SSBN 726).  Then, I used to build and sell them while I was stationed on the USS Maine (SSBN741) during off-crew periods, building them as whatever boat the buyer wanted.  I charged $300.00 for each one and made a small fortune before retiring.

Bill

As others have said, the box scales of old make it hard to remember which one was the first 1/350 th. However , most recently was the Trumpter USS Nimitz that I gave to a friend's son who served on her while in the Navy.

I don't have it anymore,but it was the Tamiya 1/350 Yamato back in the 80's

I have since built it again,perhaps in the early 2000's

Hi , " G " .

   I would have to say the first " True " 1/350 ship was the U.S.S.North Carolina ( The Trumpeter Kit ) This one was the reason I now build , kit wise , 1/350 mostly . My scratch built stuff is rail-road scales of 1/87 , 1/48 , and 1/160 . All my R.C. ( what few there are now ) are 1/96 and 1/72

Mine first 1/350 ship was the Mini-craft Titanic for my 11th birthday in 1980. Second was the Linberg Bismarck. Gotta say we have it pretty good now.

Back in the late-70s/early-80's I bought a Gulfstream Models  USS Bainbridge (DD-1)  resin & brass kit mastered by John Ficklen.  Bought it at the Squadron Shop retail store in Wheaton, MD

That same kit has been re-released in one manner or another by Blue Water Navy,  Yankee Modelworks, and most recently by Blue Ridge Models.   Somewhere along the line the add-on white metal stacks were incorporated into the upper hull casting

My first was the Tamiya Bismark back in the 80"s. I didn't have an airbrush at the time, so it was all hand-painted. Took a long time to complete, but looked great. It was lost in a battle with a cat a couple of years after it was completed. Who'd have known that a housecat could so easily destroy the pride of the German fleet! Cats are now permanently banned from my home.

Hi,

I don't think I've actually built a 1/350th scale ship yet, though I did buy a 1/35th scale Kniaz Suvarov (pre-dreadnought) model a year or so ago that I hope to eventually get started on.

Zvezda one, right? There's been a recent build log by Swannie here, will be useful to you. That was probably my third.

EDIT: brain function returning. Many moons ago I built the Tamiya Bismark, oh maybe in 1982. But then a very long period called getting married, having a kid, education, house, move etc.

USS Missouri with my dad.  I've built 2 thus far.  Neither has survived.  Round 3 is in the stack (though this time I'll be going full camouflage).

Groot

EdGrune,

I remember that shop from its opening on Sligo Avenue in Silver Spring and its move to Wheaton.  After leaving the D.C area in 1975, I would visit that shop every time I visited family there, and was extremely disappointed that it closed. Thanks for the memory!

Bill

Tamiya Bismarck, Lost at sea during a move in 1999.

My first is the Trumpeter HMS Dreadnought which is still sitting on the Ways. If I don't finish it pretty soon it will take me longer to build her that it took to build the original!

Steve

My first 1:350 was the Tamiya King George V with Gold Medal PE. I saw an article about it and someone's build in Scale Ship Modeler Magazine and had to try it. I still have it in a display case I made for it along with my DKM Bismark. They have to be at least 15 years old

Doc

My first was the  Lindberg KMS Tirpitz built back in the late 70's as kid.  I did paint it, but, I built it for play. At the time, to me, it was the greatest kit ever made! lol

Though I hesitate to label them "scale" models, I built the Lindberg Bismarck and Hood when I was a teenager. The only other 1/350 kit I recall building isn't a ship. When my wife went to Japan she brought me back a Doyusha 1/350 Osaka Castle. I had a great deal off fun with it.

I always wanted to build the Tamiya or Trumpeter Bismark but never could come to grasps at spending the money on one.

Then, back in 2004, I got two Trumpeter knock offs, I think Min-Hobby, of the Arizona and Bismark from Hobby Lobby for I think $10 for the Arizona and $25 for the Bismark.  I built both over a two year period and had quite the experience.  Both had a number of tooling defects and issues to overcome but came out in the end nice looking models.  It was also my first experience with using PE in 1/350 and found it a bit harder than 1/700, why, I do not know.

Except the bow and stern on the Bismark was so far off from looking real so I rebuilt the stern but left the bow, due to almost going crazy on the stern.  This was a bummer for me because the one feature I admired of the Bismark was the raked bow.

Due to their size, I really do not have the room to display these ships, so they stay tucked away in a closet away from cats.

I did get hooked on 1/350 and would love to do an aircraft carrier someday.  Just that my house will not allow any room to display one.

Tamiya USS Enterprise (CVN-65), mid 80s. Still have it.

My first 1/350th was the I.J.N. Musashi followed by the Mikasa.

Tamiya 1/350 USS Missouri.

How did you paint the Missouri?  I've been looking at various options including wood decks and have even found blue wood which means some variety.

I depicted her in measure 32, circa 1944.

I'm not exactly sure what the scale of the kits I built back in the mid to late 50's was. The one I know for sure is first 1/350 kit I built was the Dragon Gleeves class destroyer U.S.S. Buchanan DD-484 as the U.S.S. Duncan DD-485 for a friend whose dad was lost on board the Duncan in the Battle of Cape Esperance on October 11th and 12th 1942.

In 1956 or '57 I had built a hospital ship the scale of which I'm not certain. I have just found an old photograph from that time when I was 13 or 14 of yours truly standing in front of the mantle in our living room in the apartment in New York where I grew up. It shows - albeit without any detail - the ship to which I refer to my right. Looks like an unpainted viking ship's bow section to my left.

Mike