1/700 starter warships

I would go along with those who recommend a 1:350 kit to start with.  There are some real differences between ship modeling and things like planes, cars and armor.  Most ship models take considerably longer to build than kits of other genre.  I would also say that 1:700 are harder to build than 1:350 kits because of the very small size.

Tackling a new genre of models and one with very small parts may be too much for a first build.  I know many modelers who have tried a ship model after years of building other genres, and giving up before finishing.  To start with a simpler, larger kit increases the likelihood of success, in my opinion.

Likewise, don't worry about adding PE on your first kit.  I know there are some modelers who have successfully completed a very difficult ship for their first effort, but I think the statistical odds are against this.

If you're not adding PE, then by all means go straight to your preferred subject in 1:700 scale.  Newer Fujimi kits are good, as are newer Aoshima.   Older kits were rather crude.  Hasegawa, PitRoad, and Tamiya are all pretty good, but some of the Tamiya kits are reboxes of old PitRoad ans may be sketchy.   PitRoad and Trumpeter of China seem to have a marketing deal in 1:700.  Same plastic in different boxes,  PitRoad has sales priority in the Orient while Trumpeter sells in the West.  I don't do a lot of 1:700 shopping online,  but Hobby Link Japan [hlj.com] seems to have a good selection of various Japanese manufacture plastic ships and aftermarket.

If you are going to add PE, I'll add a bit to Don's response.  Its all about muscle memory.   In 1:700 scale railings are going to be about 3mm (1/8 inch) tall.   In 1:350 the same rail will be 6 or 7 mm (1/4 inch) tall.   For a beginner, the railing is physically larger and you are able to teach your 15 dancing thumbs how to bend it and make it do what you want it to.   Its a learning experience.  With some experience you can move down or up in scale as you please.

Well then if its about size, why not start in 1:200 or 1:144 scale?  Its more economical to start in 1:350.

Well, why start with a small subject if I really want to do a cruiser, battleship, or carrier?    The destroyer is smaller with fewer things to repeatedly build, 5 gunhouses, less than a dozen 20mm guns, etc.   You will see progress.  The model will be completed rather than lanquishing in a box while you feel that you HAVE to do another 20mm gun assembly for that big project.

Lastly, variety.   Fletcher destroyers were painted in many varied and colorful camouflage patterns.   No offense intended,  but most IJN ships were rather a dull monotone gray.   The dazzles of the Fletchers can be eye-catching.

forgive me if i didnt clarify but the reasons why im interested in 1:700 is because of wide variety of choices, much simpler looking yet elegant when finished IMO and lastly , cheaper and the most important, its a space saver.... im also aware of how difficult is to build a 1:700 but patience and motivation is part of my psyche so thats no problem for me..... and lastly, i have also plans to make historical fiction ww2 dioramas and making warships will be one of them :D

There are also some Dragon kits, either new releases or modified older kits from the likes of Skywave/ Pit Road. I'm surrently building the CL-51 USS Atlanta kit. It has a limited amount of PE in the box. 

 A few small updates added for clarity on 6/17/19

Welcome to the forum!

RX79-G

...forgive me if i didnt clarify but the reasons why im interested in 1:700 is...its a space saver....

As I read those who suggested other scales, I suspected that that might be the reason you were interested in 1/700.  That's a big reason that I build 1/700 scale ships, too.

I disagree that 1/700 is harder to build than other scales.

The brands suggested above are good ones to start with.  I've got a number of kits from the Waterline series, the collaboration among Tamiya, Hasegawa, Aoshima, and Fujimi.  Yes, simple on detail, compared to today's kits, especially compared to kits in larger scale.  But they're good kits to practice your skills.

Do you need photo-etch?  Not necessarily, though it does improve on the molded details, especially for railings and for things like radar antennas.  You could try some, just to get used to working with it, if you want to use PE eventually.

I do get aftermarket aircraft sets to replace the kit aircraft, for my carriers.  Trumpeter puts them out, in clear plastic.  That is such an improvement over using the opaque planes that come with the kits, and when I first saw them, I wondered why no one thought of doing that when I was a kid back in the Seventies.  I put the Trumpeter aircraft on the flight deck, and stick the kit aircraft in the hangar, where they're not that visible.

I hope that helps, and I look forward to seeing your builds!

Best regards,

Brad

I should add that Trumpeter's 1/700 Saratoga is a nice kit to start with, too.  Not too complicated, and they provide a nice vacuform base in clear blue plastic.

Speaking of Trumpeter's 1/700 Sara, Don has just started this thread to share his build of the same kit:

http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/7/p/182216/2069995.aspx#2069995

You might be interested to follow it and see how he tackles the kit.

And while I'm thinking of other 1/700 kits that are out there today, Hobby Boss' 1/700 USS Arizona (1941) would be a good kit to practice on.  You can find it cheap-I got mine for ten bucks-it's very basic, details are soft, but you can practice on it, and if you mess up, you can feel that you haven't lost a lot on it.

For 2¢, if you want a "simple" 1/700 kit, you might want to look atHMS Rodney or Nelson (Tamiya, IIRC).  Nice sparse deck layout, and no wide panoply of 20mm guns to fit up

Downside is that you have 9 mainarmament rifles to sand to identical shape (they are very near each other, and even slight differences ware very noticable).  You gave the 12 (IIRC) secondary guns in six turrets, which are also close together.  And, then, there's the larger bugabear--of gettign the RN colours right (we in the modeling community can barely agree on IJN & USN colors).

But, those are good ships, of a good size to work on; reasonably sized for experimenting with "dazzle" camo, if you wish.

Will it be a show stopper?  Dunno--first attempts at things an sometimes not come off as well as a person wants.  Will a hundred or so on aftermarket make the kit better?  Maybe the second kit, but generally not the first.  Just like with other aftermarket stuff.

The suggestion to try out one of the IJN light cruisers above, is also good.  They can "feel" frustrating for having so few parts OOB.  But, there's lots of real estate to work with, which is handy on such a tiny kit.

For a different 2¢, consider chasing down Sywave's Harbor set, which is of Japanese carbor craft, all in waterline format.  Some of the tugs have woodgrain deck moulded in--note that the "planks" work out to around 2-3' wide.  But, the painting and detailing of these small craft can really help hone skills on 1/700 kits.