News from Trumpeter

I think there are 350 ships kits planned for the near future. I have heard of a 1/350 Graf Zeppelin carrier, i think some time next year.

Bish, I imagine you meant "1/350" in your first sentence. If Trumpeter was planning 350 new ship kits, there would indeed be reason to rejoice!

I have to say I'm not wild about the Graf Zeppelin as a model subject. But I know there are those out there who are.

For me - German WWI U-boats and any other WWI subjects. How about HMS Lion....

There are two more years left in the World War I centennial. Can't some manufacturer bring us a new Lusitania - and maybe the U-boat that sank her?

Watched the 2016 All Japan Models and Hobby show and there was a 1/350 IJN Junyo Aircraft Carrier by Hasagawa.  Also a 1/700 HMS Illustrious to go along with the HMS Hermes that just came out.  Flyhawk is releasing a ton of P.E. for these kits also.

Ye, sorry, i meant 1/350. I am one of those looking forward to the Zeppelin, but i understand why others won't be. I was trying to find where i had seen it last night but couldn't. But just remembered this morning. Cybermodeller lists new kit releases. There are quite a few ship listed coming from Trumpeter, but no dates.

http://www.cybermodeler.com/special/kits/kit_naval_scale.shtml

Italian ships and American heavy cruisers! Love it.  And the Ranger (CV-4) in 1/350! This looks like a good year for 1/350 folks.

And a Belfast in 1/700. But scarcely anything else in that scale. If Academy wants to try to better the Tamiya Missouri...well, good luck. And I wonder if the Hasegawa 1/700 Mikasa will turn out to be a reboxing of the old - but superb - Sealsmodels kit.

I imagine that Revell 1/500 SS United States will be the old one from the early fifties.

Nothing to refute the stories that Dragon has gotten out of the ship game. I do hope those stories turn out to be wrong.

I was once optimistic that the Cold War navies would start appearing after Dragon released those excellent 1/700 U.S. CGNs of the Virginia class, their two different versions of the Long Beach, and the conventional Chicago and Albany to go with the Adams class destroyer.  However, nothing further developed.

I was hopeful that we would finally see a good 1/350 kit of the square-bridge Fletcher, perhaps even a 1/350 Adams class ship, but, oh well . . .

Yet, the recent releases of the Kennedy, Kitty Hawk, and Constellation have revived some of those hopes!

I would also love to see more 1/700 ships of the Dreadnought era.  John suggested the Lion; perhaps Tiger as well.  There is , however, a real option here.  Combrig has an outstanding and quite thorough selection of First World War ships and pre-Dreadnoughts in resin for very affordable prices.  I do have several of these, including the Tiger and Iron Duke classes.  The only drawback is that these are waterline only kits; I prefer full hull.

Manufacturers, if you are reading this . . .

Bill

Hobbyboss seem to be producing interesting kits, like the new "Danton" and the up-coming "Dunkerque" and "Strasbourg"  in 1/350. 

http://www.hobbyboss.com/index.php?g=home&m=article&a=show&id=73&l=en

I think they are connected to Trumpeter?  I've also read that Dragon are concentrating on other projects at the moment, but have at least produced a 1/350 "Scharnhorst" in 1941 guise.  So no need to give up hope yet :) . 

I have a real chance of not living for very long, so I have been concentrating on downsizing my stash, but it hasn't sopped me looking for and hoping for new kits :)

cerberusjf,

I am terrible sorry to hear about your health issues.  I hope that it doesn't come to pass!

I do have the 1941 Scharnhorst.  We also cannot forget about the recent HMS Ark Royal as well.  However, I have not heard of the 1/350 Dunkerque and Strasbourg until now.  Thanks for that information!

My LHS does have the Danton, and I have been considering it.

Bill

Hi Bill,

thanks for that,  just wanted to say that people shouldn't let thoughts of a limited life span stop them buying something they really want.  None of us really know how long we have left. But it does make you focus on what really interest you.

I concur!  I am considering retirement for that very reason.  Life is too uncertain and too short!

Bill

I really wish that there was a better effort to provide the High Seas Fleet in styrene, or any other SMS for that matter. I've always considered the Revell Emden/ Dresden to be a real little jewel.

Other than the recent ICM run of the Konigs there's been very little available.

100 years ago this past June, might have been the opportunity

Does anybody know whatever happened to the Dragon/CyberHobby 1/700 Enterprise (CV-65)? Dragon's website shows it as "expected Sept. 2016." The advertising and literature - even the box art - have been around for quite a while, but I've never seen one. Did I miss something, or did Dragon give up on it?

When it comes to German WWI ships, keep an eye on Flyhawk. The two German battlecruisers it's already released are real gems - right up there with the Trumpeter Dreadnought. And the Flyhawk British cruisers are getting rave reviews. Here's hoping a WWII series is in the works from that manufacturer.

Fabulous! A Derfflinger!

I'm seriously considering that one.

I bought the "Special Edition" Derfflinger. It came with a 1/700 German seaplane - with a plastic fuselage and wings and at least a dozen photo-etched brass parts. I can see them all right, but when it comes to sticking them together with superglue....Forget it.

The ship is exquisite. One great thing about it is that, though the initial price is steep, the kit contains lots of photo-etched parts - including a full set of railings. And a set of decals, including the white circles for the turrets. No need for aftermarket stuff. One of the best 1/700 kits on the market.

[edit a few minutes later] Yikes! Flyhawk now offers two aftermarket sets for it - one including brass barrels and deployed torpedo nets. You can also opt for a Lutzow, with a German torpedo boat as an extra. Here's a link: http://freetimehobbies.com/searchresults/?search_query=Derfflinger&Search= .

I hear the Flyhawk HMS Hermes is just as good.

Can the Lutzow be built as well? I would think so. We just moved to the seaside and downsized to house just for the two us us plus dog.

my model room is now a table in the back hall to the garage. Not a bad set up, but 1/700 is looking good.

I just edited my previous post; take a look. There's a link there that may make your mouth water.

Admiral Hipper wants to buy you a beer!

Wow this is great.

IMO those wood deck kits might not be such a great thing, btw.

I know I am on the record as a Luke warm wood deck fan. I have used a few, on 1/350, and fought them to a draw. 

On 1/700, a nine inch (oh heck lets be metric), 225mm plank would be .33mm. That's pretty small.

For those modelers who prefer traditional model sailing ships, Trumpeter offers little hope. They have issued only the English MAYFLOWER and a Chineser junk. All other subjects are modeling varities from the early 20th century onwards. This modeling company have great modern modeling subjects, but empty on traditional sailing rigs.

Happy modeling   Crackers    

That Mayflower is a terrific kit.  I do wish that Trumpeter would branch out to include more sailing ships, but they have been very prolific with new subjects, so, I am happy with that.  I believe that Zvesda is trying to keep this genre alive, and Revell has periodically made a release or two, but I wish that Airfix would take the lead with sailing ship modeling.  Let's face it; only Airfix among the major manufacturers has never released a fictional ship marketed as an historic ship.  We all know of Heller's proclivity to do so, with Revell close behind.  Zvesda released the so-called French Frigate Acheron, purporting it to have been an historic ship.  The list of offenders can go on.  The great thing about the Airfix range of sailing ships is that there was only one not-so-good kit; the Bounty.  All the rest represented the historic ships reasonably well, if somewhat simply.  I sincerely wish that they would get back into the market.

Bill

Trumpy have announced that they are also bringing out the Italian Heavy Cruisers such as the Pola. Also the Frensh Battleships in 350 are coming along with Merit doing a 200 Mikasa. I for one would love to see a 1-350 Andrea Doria. We can only wait and hope.....Cheers mark

Yes but...

Revell has also issued so many ships at the top of the list that maybe I would pardon their market reach in a minute.

Kearsarge.

I will bet almost no one, nobody had any idea of that battle.

CW Morgan.

Bounty.

Eagle.

GM,

I enthusiastically concur that Revell has released many of the best sailing ship kits on the market.  Their 1/96 and 1/196 USS Constitution is outstanding, as are their three kits of  their Cutty Sark, USS Kearsarge, HMAV Bounty, Wasa, Batavia, the various Flying P-Liners, etc.  But, their CSS Alabama, both kits of the Thermopylae, Seeadler, and Beagle are fraudulent.  My point is that, of all the major manufacturers, Airfix has been the only one not to play that game.  Hence, my kudos to them.

Bill

I was hopingthat they would put out a 1:200 scale Yamoto. I think there is or was a company that put one out but it's a hard find. Happy Mode;ing and thanks for keeping us up to date.

Pigboy,

Nichimo once produced a 1/200 Yamato.  I do not know whether or not it is still being produced. It was reasonably good in its day, but it was not up to today's standards. Also, Doyushu has produced 1/250 kits of the Yamato, Musashi, and Shinano. These have been described as "toylike". There are also paper kits of these ships at these scales that are quite good.

Bill

I would like manufacturers to follow through with ships they already have announced or shown.  I believe it has been over two years since Dragon announced a 1/350 USS Pensylvania in her 1944 fit.

And a new Midway and/or Forrestal class kit would be nice in 1/350