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Question for Some Older Ship Modelers

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  • Member since
    June 2003
  • From: Rowland Heights, California
Posted by Duke Maddog on Saturday, June 4, 2005 9:34 AM
MBT70, yes! Big Smile [:D]

Actually, I was referring to older people who build ships because they would be most likely to remember the kit I had mentioned. However, anyone with helpful information is definitely welcome to add to it.

Someone once started a thread called "What is Your Holy Grail of Modeling?" I think I found a new 'Holy Grail'! Approve [^]
  • Member since
    March 2004
  • From: Pacific Northwest
Posted by MBT70 on Friday, June 3, 2005 4:22 PM
Do you mean people who are older and build ship models or people who build models of older ships? Or maybe older people who build older ships ...
Life is tough. Then you die.
  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Friday, June 3, 2005 3:03 PM
USS Oak Ridge, ARDM-1 was a floating drydock. Classified as a Medium Auxiliary Repair Dock she was launched in 1944. At 536 feet in length and 81 feet in width with a capacity of 3500 tons she could easily have handled a Fletcher Class destroyer. Sorry, don't know where you could get a model.

Al Blevins
  • Member since
    June 2003
  • From: Rowland Heights, California
Posted by Duke Maddog on Friday, June 3, 2005 2:17 PM
Thanks Jeff! I really appreciate your help. I only wish I'd been able to get it while I had the chance! I'll be watching to see what you come up with.
  • Member since
    January 2003
Posted by Jeff Herne on Tuesday, May 31, 2005 11:42 PM
Nah, LSD are pretty conventional looking vessels. I'm still looking...

Jeff
  • Member since
    April 2005
Posted by ddp59 on Tuesday, May 31, 2005 10:34 PM
i wonder if it might be a lsd- dock landing ship
  • Member since
    January 2003
Posted by Jeff Herne on Tuesday, May 31, 2005 3:57 PM
The ship you're looking for is most likely an ARD, ABD, ABSD, or ARDC. These were all capable of lifting a DD-sized vessel (or larger) out of the water.

I've combed through John Burn's KIt Collector guide and have found nothing about the model you're looking for however.

I don't ever remember seeing one in styrene, but if I stuble across something I'll let you know.

Jeff
  • Member since
    June 2003
  • From: Rowland Heights, California
Posted by Duke Maddog on Tuesday, May 31, 2005 11:36 AM
Thanks seasick. That wasn't what I had in mind, as the drydock I remember was definitely styrene. Still, it is good to know about. I can keep an eye out for one on E-bay or somewhere. I appreciate the info very much.
  • Member since
    June 2004
  • From: 29° 58' N 95° 21' W
Posted by seasick on Monday, May 30, 2005 10:39 AM
There is a 1/700 resin floating drydock from Corsair Armada that is out of production.

Chasing the ultimate build.

  • Member since
    June 2003
  • From: Rowland Heights, California
Posted by Duke Maddog on Monday, May 30, 2005 10:18 AM
jtilley, thank you for answering. I was hoping that you would see this and offer your vast knowledge. Good point on the Skywave drydock; however, that is not it. I have the Skywave drydock already, and have it built. Again, my memory isn't the best either anymore, but I do remember it was around the time of 1976-78 or so, give or take a year. I remember holding the box; it was about a foot to a foot and a half long, so I believe it was bigger than 1/700 scale. I also remember that the box art showed the drydock in the middle of the ocean, not against the shore, and that the box had said 'floating drydock'. I cannot specifically remember the name of the ship, but USS Oak Ridge does have a familiar ring to it.

Also, I can't be sure it was Aurora who released it; that was just a guess based on the fact that I remember most ship kits seemed to come from Aurora. It may well have been a different company. I'd still love to get the Aurora book, as well as the Monogram one that is supposed to be out there too to go with my Revell book.

Thanks again for the replies everyone, I appreciate hearing this. If there is anyone else who may know something, I'll be watching this Thread with all eyes.
  • Member since
    May 2003
  • From: Greenville, NC
Posted by jtilley on Sunday, May 29, 2005 10:32 PM
My memory of such things is generally fairly good but spotty. I have to say I have no recollection of a floating drydock from Aurora - or anybody else. I'm not suggesting for an instant that my memory is a definitive arbiter for such discussions. It may well have missed something.

I'd be particularly surprised, though, to learn that such a kit came out in the late seventies. That's when I was working part-time in a hobby shop, and I was keeping up with new kit releases pretty carefully. If I'm not mistaken, it was at about that time that Aurora went out of business.

The bible on Aurora kits is the history of the company by Thomas Graham, which, I believe, contains a complete list of all Aurora kits. I don't have a copy and I think it's out of print; maybe another forum member has one.

I just had a memory flash that just might be relevant. Is it possible that the kit you're talking about was a 1/700 one from Skywave? One of the very first kits that company made was a Fletcher-class destroyer. It was, of course, a waterline kit. I think it first appeared in about 1977 or 1978. Shortly thereafter Skywave released a "drydock set." It wasn't a floating drydock; it was a set of diorama parts - including one or two underwater hulls to fit the waterline destroyer kits. The box, I think, was roughly square-shaped, and the picture on top was a bow view of a destroyer from the vantage point of the bottom of the dock.

My memory is a weird thing. Sometime in the middle of the night it may recall another kit that fits the description better. At the moment, though, that's the best it can do.

Youth, talent, hard work, and enthusiasm are no match for old age and treachery.

  • Member since
    June 2004
  • From: 29° 58' N 95° 21' W
Posted by seasick on Sunday, May 29, 2005 6:20 PM
I rember seeing a kit of a floating dry dock kit in the late seventies (@1978-1979). I remember that I wanted to build it and was saving up to buy it, but ended up buying Revell's 1/72 B-52D.

Chasing the ultimate build.

  • Member since
    June 2003
  • From: Rowland Heights, California
Question for Some Older Ship Modelers
Posted by Duke Maddog on Sunday, May 29, 2005 12:50 PM
Way back in the 1970's or thereabouts, I remember coming across a model kit, possibly put out be Aurora, but I can't remember. I saw it while shopping at the Edlin AFB PX with my mother. I do remember that it had a picture on the box art of a destroyer inside a larger ship, and it was called a floating dry dock. My faulty memory keeps pulling up and image of this ship: ARD-19 / ARDM-1 Oak Ridge, and if I remember correctly, that is the name of the ship on the box as well. I saw pics here:

http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/6701.htm

and this is exactly what I remember seeing. My memory also recalls that the box art incorrectly shows the ship underway with a destroyer in the repair bay, but I could be wrong about that. The image was bow-on though, that I do remember

So, am I hallucinating, is it a faded dream, or did I really see this kit? I remember wanting to buy it (I was about 10) and didn't have any money.

If this kit did exist, I'd appreciate any help in tracking one down, as I've always wanted to build one ever since that long-ago day. Thanks in advance.
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