More new ship kit announcements

I'm still awaiting an announcement on the release of a 1/350 scale HMS Hood......................!

From somebody!

PLEASE!

When will they reissue the USS Susquehanna? That's the Imai kit I'm waiting for.

I am looking for a 1/350th scale of a Coontz class leader destroyer ship, namely, the U.S.S. Macdonough, DLG-8, in plastic form with some instructions what did FRAM
modification means when it undertook circa 1973-74.

WE WANT HOOD! WE WANT HOOD! WE WANT HOOD!!!!!!

Another vote for the Susquehanna!!!!

-Bill

Jtilley
These kits are the Imai molds. The Cutty Sark Imai/Monogram/Ertl kit is a very nice kit. The deck is definte very nicly.You can find them a lot of times on Ebay a lot cheaper than the $150.00 price.I've got one kit that has the 1982 price on it. It was $17.00.Can you say Inflasion.
Rod

I first encountered that Imai Cutty Sark in 1978. I remember the location well: a fine hobby shop (alas, no longer in business) called Maritime Models of Greenwich, a few hundred yards away from the actual ship. I was so impressed with the kit that I bought it on the spot and, since it was too big to fit in my suitcase, paid extra to have the proprietor ship it to me after I got back to the U.S. I didn't get around to building it before, in 1980, I moved from Ohio to Virginia. At that time I sold a bunch of unbuilt kits - including that one. I've regretted that decision many times.

We've discussed the kit in this Forum a couple of times. It's quite clearly based on the plans drawn by George Campbell, who supervised the restoration of the ship. The kit suffers from a couple of amusing - and minor - errors that probably can be blamed on language problems. (The Campbell plans have quite a bit of text on them; it's pretty clear that the kit designers didn't read it.) But in my opinion it edges out the big Revell kit for the title of best representation of the Cutty Sark in kit form - plastic, wood, or otherwise.

Incidentally - over on the Drydock Models forum we had a discussion of those plans recently. They're being sold at an extremely reasonable price by the gift shop on board the ship. An American member of the DDM forum ordered a set via the web, and got them in less than two weeks. I strongly recommend those plans to anybody attempting a model of the Cutty Sark. Go to www.cuttysark.org.uk/ , then click on "Shop" and scroll down to "Plans." The price is only 7.50 pounds for all three sheets, plus 3 pounds for overseas shipping. (That's about $19.00 U.S.) And the money goes to a good cause.

Jtilley
Thanks for the info on the plans.I'll be ordering a set real soon.I built this kit about 8 years back.I have a couple in my collection right now.I'm thinking of doing it full sail cutting to the water line.Sounds if these plans will be a tremendous aid.
Rod

Millard - You'll enjoy the Campbell plans a great deal. It will take you at least an evening to read all the text on them.

For a good laugh, take a look at the note next to the drawing of the cargo winch, and compare the drawing to the relevant parts in the Imai kit. Then get out your xacto knife. Also, compare the Imai rendition of the "booby hatch" aft of the mizzen mast to the plans - and to any photo or perspective view of the real thing. The kit rendition matches the side and overhead views on the plans perfectly, but looks utterly ridiculous from any other angle. Ten minutes' work with a knife and some sheet styrene will fix it.

HOOD, HOOD,HOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

John T,

Are the plans of a good print quality or a copyof the drawings?

Jake

The Campbell Cutty Sark plans I have are blueprints; I bought them from Model Shipways about thirty years ago and, as blueprints will do, they've faded somewhat. (They're still legible, though.) I'm pretty sure the copies that are being sold currently by the ship's gift shop are black-on-white litho prints - much, much better. I think people buy them with the intention of framing them.

The gentleman over on the Drydock Models website who ordered a set recently (and got excellent service) said he'd specifically requested that they be sent rolled up in a mailing tube. That's how they came.

These plans are among the biggest bargains in the ship model world. I strongly recommend them to anybody with the slightest interest in the Cutty Sark. Be warned, though: they make the inaccuracies and distortions of the big Revell kit pretty obvious.

John,

Thats what I wanted to hear, I really want to have them framed ang hung on the wall in my den. I think that'll round out my nauticle "look".

Jake

japanga,
FRAM, is Fleet Rehabliltation And Modernization, and is usually a package of upgrades, to change,or improve a ship's mission capabilities.

I'm still looking for DLG-6(DDG-37), and DLG-7
Pete