Thanks Goldhammer, just looking though all my options here.

And I have no idea where the original poster went or if he decided on anything but all of you have been a big help to me so a hearty THANK YOU all around.

I have the Scharnhorst '43 and the '41.  I completed both and enjoyed them immensely. Yes, I felt that they were overengineered to some extent, but I also feel that that gave me a better model.  Granted, I have been building model ships since 1960; I should be able to deal with a little complexity by now.  

Bill

Have the Scharnhorst '43, and the booklet on her and her sister just flat out say that it is the best kit for her in 1/350, and yeah, lots of mini-kits in that box.

Gamera - Dragon also does the Benson class Laffey in 1/350.  Have her as well, not started but looked it over.  Looks like a winner with lots of fiddly stuff to swear at, but not as much as Scharnhorst.

Ed,

Granted!  I remember the reviews for their 1943 Scharnhorst, that the 20mm guns were kits in themselves.  Simplicity is the reason that I suggested the 1/800 line of carriers.

Bill

Nino

 

 

Gamera

I sat and watched the 'Dogfights' episode on the two ships on the USS Laffey DD-724 (the museum had a player and TV set up aboard her). Great episode, I picked up the whole series later. If I take the plunge I'll have to watch the DVD a few times to get myself good and inspired. 

 

 

 

 

 Speaking of DVD's and your FSM name (AKA Gamera), I have almost all the Godzilla movies. Grandkids Lov'em.  Especially  "Gamera the Invincible" .

     Jim.

 

Lol, I love the things- the more goofy the better. I've got all the Japanese Godzilla movies except the recent one. They make me feel like an eight-year old kid again. No real story behind the FSM name, I couldn't come up with a name and had watched a Gamera movie recently so I just grabbed it. 

Gamera

I sat and watched the 'Dogfights' episode on the two ships on the USS Laffey DD-724 (the museum had a player and TV set up aboard her). Great episode, I picked up the whole series later. If I take the plunge I'll have to watch the DVD a few times to get myself good and inspired. 

 

 Speaking of DVD's and your FSM name (AKA Gamera), I have almost all the Godzilla movies. Grandkids Lov'em.  Especially  "Gamera the Invincible" .

     Jim.

EdGrune

 

 

warshipguy

The Dragon 1/350 Destroyer kits are outstanding!  I like them better than the Tamiya Fletcher, although that is a nice kit as well.

 

 

 

The Dragon kits are nice indeed.  But, like many of Dragon's kits, they suffer from over-engineering.    Not recommended for a beginner.

Dragon seems to design by the mantra, 'Why do something in 5 parts when 20 will do!'

 

Thanks for the warning. I've built enough of their armour kits that I know exactly what you mean. If I take this path hopefully that's prepared me enough take her on. 

Thanks again Jim! 

Great reviews there esp the Tim Dikes one. 

I sat and watched the 'Dogfights' episode on the two ships on the USS Laffey DD-724 (the museum had a player and TV set up aboard her). Great episode, I picked up the whole series later. If I take the plunge I'll have to watch the DVD a few times to get myself good and inspired. 

warshipguy

The Dragon 1/350 Destroyer kits are outstanding!  I like them better than the Tamiya Fletcher, although that is a nice kit as well.

The Dragon kits are nice indeed.  But, like many of Dragon's kits, they suffer from over-engineering.    Not recommended for a beginner.

Dragon seems to design by the mantra, 'Why do something in 5 parts when 20 will do!'

Gamera

The only destroyer I've been on is the USS Laffey DD-724. I've seen that Dragon makes a 1/350th kit of her namesake DD-459 but I don't know how good the kit is but I'm assuming it's not nearly as good a kit as Tamiya's Fletcher. 

 

 Later edit...

  The USS Laffey DD-724 was a Allen M. Sumner class DD. The closest Dragon Model to that Class is the Gearing Class (Gearing, Knox, Chevalier kits).

Thanks Bill!!! That gives me another option. I usually buy a little something for myself at Christmas so I may go ahead and pick something up. I have so much armour and aircraft now I shouldn't even look at anything else though... 

I have a 1/350th Dragon AEGIS cruiser in my stash I won in a raffle but well, to be honest I just don't like the lines of modern ships as much as the Second World War stuff, just too boxy looking. It's an older Dragon kit but reviews seem to be pretty good.  

And a 1/700th resin kit of the LST my uncle served on that I bought just to have it. I've used resin but never built an entirely resin kit so I have a little trepidation on starting her. 

Steve: Hopefully everything goes well and you can get back to her soon. 

The Dragon 1/350 Destroyer kits are outstanding!  I like them better than the Tamiya Fletcher, although that is a nice kit as well.

Bill

Yeah, that is a fight to keep interest or being able to pick it back up. That's the problem I'm having with the Takao. I don't want to pick it back up and put it away again for a possible relocate to Texas for a lung transplant. Yet I want to get back to it, as well and the other sweet 1/350's my wife bought me for Christmas.

What a dilemma. 

PS has the OP been back to check on his thread???

Thanks Jim! 

The big issue with me to doing a battleship is burn-out. I'm not sure I can keep my interest up on putting on a zillion PE handrails, ladders, etc on something of that scale. I don't want it to end up either puting it  back in the box or forcing myself to work on it. That's why I was thinking maybe something in the same scale but smaller like a destroyer might be something I could finish instead of jumping in headfirst with a battleship. 

The only destroyer I've been on is the USS Laffey DD-724. I've seen that Dragon makes a 1/350th kit of her namesake DD-459 but I don't know how good the kit is but I'm assuming it's not nearly as good a kit as Tamiya's Fletcher. 

Gentlemen,

The discussion has focused so far on 1/700 and 1/350 ships, with some diversion into 1/720 and 1/540.  Yet, there is a nice selection of American aircraft carriers in 1/800 that compare favorably with any produced by Revell and Italeri.  The 1/800 ships were originally produced by Otaki, followed by Arii, KiTech, and Academy.  The Nimitz class carriers have some minor accuracy issues that can be easily corrected with sandpaper.  The America does not accurately depict that ship. However, the Midway, the Forrestal class ships, the Kitty Hawk ships, and the two versions of the Enterprise are quite excellent.  Coupled with the Monogram Kennedy and sanding off the Aegis panels on their Nimitz class ships, a very nice collection of the American super carriers can be built at little expense.  And, the kits are not overly complex, and are quite fun to build.  I have scratch built complete hangar decks for each of mine.

Bill

I Hope I'm not over-doing the advice but it's been raining in Philly so I can't paint the house and my rattle-can paint job on a Pyro Racing Yawl ain't dryin' so good. So...

Roald wrote:
"I'm looking for advice on a good kit for a beginner. I have a fair amount of experience building 1/48 and 1/72 aircraft, but I've never built a ship.
I'm looking for something that fits well and is not overly complicated. I prefer WWII and modern subjects, no sailing vessels. Price wise, I'd like to keep it under $50.  Any advice?"

   Roald,  

     Dragon, Tamiya, and Trumpeter have pretty good kits. Take a look some old posts with coments from some FSM 'resident experts': GMorrison, Jtilley, Tracy White, and Warshipguy. 
http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/7/t/106771.aspx
http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/7/t/155224.aspx
http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/7/t/167267.aspx

Oh, and Surface Ships are a bit different then Aircraft. You will find you need to Paint almost everything first.  See the post dated 9/6/17 @8:52AM  at : http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/7/p/176308/1973555.aspx#1973555                                                                                     Quote: " So one of the things I noticed when I went to start painting is that I should've painted the deck before I put all the photoetch on..."

Gamera wrote:
"At least in my case though I've been on the battleships USS North Carolina, Wisconsion, and Alabama about a dozen times all together and would like to build one of them someday. I figured building a destroyer would involve the same skills as a battleship- just simpler since it's so much smaller. I'd think a carrier would be a little different and a sub a lot different. "

Gamera,   

      Possibly your best choice for just Getting Your Feet Wet with a ship, might mean a kit of one of the Ships you've visited .  There are kits for Alabama and North Carolina, and  Wisconson.  You will want to 'Google'  for Reviews . And ask Here too!

     If you folks do decide on a destroyer type kit, the Fletcher has been mentiond several times and also the USS England.   If you have a Local Hobby Shop, ask if they can order or try Ebay, if you are game.  Currently many USA based "internet"  stores are Out Of Stock. However,   SCALEhobbyist  has the  1/350 Tamiya USS Fletcher for $26.88 and 1/350 Trumpeter USS England for $23.39   +S&H.

Check out the History of USS Fletcher and USS England- good stuff.

Some things for new ship-modellers to consider for the Future...

Full Hull or Waterline? ( Important if starting a  "Collection")

What scale for display? (1/72 PT looks good with 1/72 aircraft)  

A specific ship? Museum ship? (Seems a likely prospect for you, Gamera.)
    

        Jim.

GM (Bill),

I also wondered when I first opened Revell's modernized version. The first thing I noticed was that the flight deck was not shaped correctly, with no prominent extension on the port side both on the elevator and the flight deck immediately aft of the elevator.  That caused me to search more thoroughly. . .

There are no Sea Sparrow radars for the starboard launcher.

The JBDs are neither shaped nor aligned correctly.

The Engine Stand area on the fantail lacks detail.

The approach lights and the Azimuth Dome for the SPN-41 radar are missing.

The Air Wing is very deficient.

The forward boat deck on the port side is not enclosed.

The forward Mk 56 Gun Directors in the catwalks need to be removed.

The flight deck contains six arresting cables and two barricades; the modernized Forrestal has four cables and one barricade.

The hanging lights from each corner of the flight deck should be left off.

The shape of the lower hull is wrong in that the bow is too sharp.

The propellor shaft supports are depicted as single supports instead of being "V" shaped.

There are many other detail items that need correcting on that model.  However, it is better that the one released by Italeri.

Bill

Thanks again guys! 

At least in my case though I've been on the battleships USS North Carolina, Wisconsion, and Alabama about a dozen times all together and would like to build one of them someday. I figured building a destroyer would involve the same skills as a battleship- just simpler since it's so much smaller. I'd think a carrier would be a little different and a sub a lot different. 

Funny that, Bill. I wondered.

I've got a "started" Saratoga that I picked up for near free on eBay, for that Midway hull project. When I opened it, I was startled at how poorly detailed it is. I gave away the aircraft, and am seriously considering tossing the rest from the waterline up.

In contrast, I had fond memories of the earliest release, which I built several times. The one with the John Steel painting of her in some Arabian port.

Bill

GM,

Revell's Forrestal class ships are also quite nice.  The original releases (1950s) are far more accurate but their modernized versions are fixable.

Jim,

I appreciate your comments!

Bill

As far as aircraft carriers, the 1/500 Renwal Shangri La was re released by Revell. It's out of production, and you would need the 1/542 photo etch made for the Revell Essex ships.

I'm not a big fan of that, but it would be satisfying.

other possibilities OOP. Revels Midway, or the "Midway" carrier which is the Hornet.

Great. And thank you for teaching HISTORY! My kids learned it ( and I keep reminding them and their friends of it) but many folks today seem to completely forget it. ie: "doomed too repeat it" ( watch the news...). And that's why I think it important to keep History alive even if it is thru Planes ,Boats,"n Trains (and Tanks) models.

     My oldest Grandson is building a Revell "Jules Verne Nautilus". Already has a good looking Seawolf SSN-21 on a shelf. His Dad is in the USN but except for OCS, he has limited Naval History. I picked up the 15 vol History of the United States Navy in WWII. Hope to get him to read a few Vols.

      Jim.

Jim,

Thank you for your very kind offer!  It will be awhile now that the school year has started. I teach high school History and the grandsons will be busy as well.  But, I will contact you when we come down!

Nino

CapnMac82's idea with a DD converted to carry a Catapult and a Kingfisher also adds into the Aircraft idea.

While it's a middling simple conversion--it's more of a "second model" level sort of thing.  Patricularly for the items like moving a 40mm gun to the fantail and replacing the "heart shaped" sheild around the 20mm mounts, and similar fiddly bits.  Not hard, but, you'd want to be comfortable with hull/deck/superstructure painting first, not "while."

USS Pringle probably has the most photos for getting reference info.  Also, all three of those ships were converted back into "regular" fletchers--which makes for a cool opportunity to build Before & After versons (which would make for a cool 3rd model, fo adding in later versions of AA fit and radars and the like).

_______________________

*Despite the fact that 175 Feltchers were built by USN, they actually form 4 sub groups within that 175.  Originally, they all had round bridges with no weather deck other than wings either side.  The Round bridge was not found to make the ships any faster, and operations were better, so they recieved a "square" bridge (which was actually more trapezoidal).
In case that is not enough confusions, east coast built ships had significant visual differences from West Coast built ships.  In addition the Bethlehem (San Diego & Philadelphia) introduced a time saving measure of making the funnels slab sides, so as to bend fewer sheets of steel.
So, modelers have to take some care to carefully examine refernce photos, as the details matter as much as calling a Bf 109F a Bf 109G matters.
Shapeways has 3D printed changes to meet this level of detail, just sometimes for the price of the entire kit for one part.

warshipguy

Tell me about your Franklin project.

Ah, commo error.

"My" Franklin project is a 6-7 building garden apartment complex in the Boston suburb of Franklin, MA.  It will be my reason for traveling from north Texas to the Boston area.

My previous reasons for Boston travel were in Marlborough and Stoneham, MA.

warshipguy

Capn,

That is the next trip with my grandsons.  The Navy bug has hit them since the Fall River trip.  We will then drive south to Philadelphia/Camden to visit the New Jersey and Olympia, stopping at the Intrepid along the way.  They also loved the Nautilus here in Groton and they have all tried on various items of my old uniforms, especially my Chief hats.  Tell me about your Franklin project.  Indeed, in keeping with the basic idea of this thread, it's somewhat surprising that nobody has mentioned aircraft carriers as a first ship model.

Timmy,

Revell makes excellent submarines in 1/144 scale.  They also produce two or three U-Boats in 1/125 (give or take) and the USS Lionfish, both of which are very plain.  Trumpeter also has a few in 1/144.

Bill

 

Capn,

That is the next trip with my grandsons.  The Navy bug has hit them since the Fall River trip.  We will then drive south to Philadelphia/Camden to visit the New Jersey and Olympia, stopping at the Intrepid along the way.  They also loved the Nautilus here in Groton and they have all tried on various items of my old uniforms, especially my Chief hats.  Tell me about your Franklin project.  Indeed, in keeping with the basic idea of this thread, it's somewhat surprising that nobody has mentioned aircraft carriers as a first ship model.

Timmy,

Revell makes excellent submarines in 1/144 scale.  They also produce two or three U-Boats in 1/125 (give or take) and the USS Lionfish, both of which are very plain.  Trumpeter also has a few in 1/144.

Bill

How about a sub? Low parts count and simple paint ( unless you go with the German "Splinter scheme.... which I believe is way cool !)

Revell makes some Exellent subs.

warshipguy

Battleship Cove in Fall Rive

I was kind of shocked to see the amount of paint just hanging down on Kennedy last year.  But, all the vessels there needed a good scraping and repainting.  Massachusetts probably needs some drydock time, too, as it's been better than three decades since she's been out of the water.  Massachusetts looked much better from Kennedy, than up close.

When we get our Franklin project going, I'm going to wrangle myself a trip over to see USS Salem.