New ship modeler looking for first model

An excellent one to start with is the Tamiya U.S.S. Fletcher. It's nicely molded, generally very accurate, and makes up into a beautiful model. You can decide for yourself how much effort (and money) to put into it. I looks good straight out of the box, and several companies make aftermarket detail sets for it. A particularly good one is the set from Gold Medal Models, which includes such things as guardrails, radar screens, depth charge racks, etc.

Good luck. It's a great hobby.

My first choice, anything Tamiya, stay away from the clones such as Nachimo and Modelcraft.

Second, Trumpeter - I'm kinda wondering how inaccurate your Arizona was, so far, other than a very high priced resin kit, it isn't too bad with some second hand PE.

Scott

Scott,

Thanks for your input. By the way, the Arizona model is by Banner. It's all plastic. I wish it was the resin kit, but I don't have $250.00 to spend on one.

Thanks,
Jesse

The Banner kit is not a bad model, however, to make the full hull version requires some adjustments since this kit (reboxed Trumpeter and Modelcraft) was set up to be motorized.

I have started this kit and so far am really enjoying the fit except for the deck seams, which a thread at Model Warships discusses how to overcome, along with installing the PE from Tom's Modelworks.

This is far better than the old Revell kit, which has a lot of out of scale features and a ton of flash.

I have checked out the old Blue Water Navy resin kit and WOW, a lot of work involved but a very fine kit, however, I cannot justify the price.

The Banner/Trumpeter/Modelcraft kit isn't bad if you're willing to put some effort into it.

I recommend the Revell of Germany S-100 Class Schnellboot as a first kit...it's a gem straight from the box, you don't need photoetch, and it's a big model when finished. Best of all, it retails for $20.

After that, the Tamiya Fletcher.

Jeff

Thanks all for your input.

I wasn't trying to say that the Banner kit was bad, I just don't think I have the "ship" modeling skills right now to do the kit justice. I really need to improve my skills first before I tackle that project.

Thanks again,
Jesse

I built the Banner Arizona too. It didn't think it was too bad, as it gave me a chance to try out a lot of new techniques. It was also my first real experience with photoetch (Tom's) and it came out really well until my cat got ahold of it. A few minutes of despair and a few hours of careful refolding and painting got the mast spars back, but I can still tell where they were damaged. Still it's a decent kit.
Welcome to the high seas, bucko!!

Hi, my name's Sam and I'm new, like Jesse, to ship modeling. All I've ever done is Level 2 and 3 Revell hot rods. I'll have to say that most of them are pretty amateur jobs with little or no care or patience given to them during to building process exept for my last few ones. I've always loved to whole modeling scene and have always wanted to get into building either WW2-era aircraft or watercraft or both. I thought I'd just get used to the basics by doing about 15-20 or so cars and over the course of about 6 or 7 years I'm getting pretty good at it and my last few are looking good. So now that I've got the basic fundamentals of modeling down, I'd like to move on to building ships and/or planes. I don't know any of the lingo and hardly any of the companies that sell these models and so I don't know what's the best buys out there. I've aquired a knack for this and now have a pretty skilled hand so I think I could start out at a relatively tricky level, but y'all might think otherwise so don't be afraid to tell me if I'm just being foolish wanting to start at a high level. Any help would be greatly appreciated and I look forward to building my first non-car model. Thanks.

The Tamiya Fletcher (1/350) makes a great first (2nd or 3rd) ship model to get your "feet wet" in.
Try one then come back to the Arizona. You'll be pleasntly suprised.

Thanks a lot. Do you know the website that I could find them at?

Pick your flavor:
http://www.greatmodels.com/
search: Tamiya Fletcher
or
http://www.squadron.com/SearchResults.asp?ScaleList=350&TypeList=9&ManuList=TM&Key=+Destroyer&Submit=Go

Scott

I am looking for a model kit of the aircraft carrier USS Oriskany....Anyone know where to get one??????

All these kits would show the Oriskany with angle deck and hurricane bow.

Revell made a 24" kit , along with Essex, Lexington, Wasp, and Hornet through the years. ebay has them from time to time but they tend to go through the roof on price. I've built these kits many times, but feel they are a real pain as far as scale, detail, and molding quality.

Aurora, and later Lindberg made a small, around 1/600 kit, again, pops up on ebay from time to time.

Jim Shipley made a 1/700 scale resin kit of the the Oriskany. This kit was a limited production kit and if you find one, expect to pay a Ben Franklin for it.

Panda had rumored about releasing a 1/350 scale "Vietnam" Essex class carrier, but so far, no dice.

Other than those, that is about it.

Scott

The PT 109 boat from Revell / Monogram is great