Conversion of 1/350 Tamiya Fletcher to Johnston

Toms Modelworks used to make a conversion kit to convert Tamiya's 1:350 scale round-bridge Fletcher to a later square-bridge variant. It had all the extras for various members of the class; different gun tubs, different director stations, etc.

I recommended the set earlier to day in a different post, but I couldn't find it when I checked the site

http://www.tomsmodelworks.com/

I suggest you contact Tom Harrison and check on availability.

The Tamiya 1:350 Fletcher is a great kit to learn the techniques of ship modeling with

Personally I'd use the Tamiya kit as is with a decent PE set to learn ship PE then I'd get the Yankee Modelworks kit of the USS Johnston. Best price I've seen on it is at www.tridenthobbies.com and you need to figure for converting the Tamiya:

Tamiya kit
PE
resin bridge conversion
replacement turrets (the kit turrets are rather underscale)
decent 40mm's
decent 20mm's

You'll come out ahead if you just buy the resin kit.

Appreciate your input, Ron, but I'm not ready to take on a full resin kit. I just turned 50, and my previous modelling experience is mostly from the time before those were available. I'm willing to try the PE, but my first resin kit should probably be something simpler. Thanks much for your knowledge on the imperfections of the Tamiya kit - I wasn't aware of those. I'm balancing my abilities against the result I want to achieve, and I just want to do the best with the Tamiya kit.

Dan Hollenbaugh

QUOTE: Originally posted by hollenbaugh Appreciate your input, Ron, but I'm not ready to take on a full resin kit. I just turned 50, and my previous modelling experience is mostly from the time before those were available. I'm willing to try the PE, but my first resin kit should probably be something simpler. Thanks much for your knowledge on the imperfections of the Tamiya kit - I wasn't aware of those. I'm balancing my abilities against the result I want to achieve, and I just want to do the best with the Tamiya kit.

I wanted to make sure you knew the option was there and the Tamiya kit's shortcomings. Don't get me wrong, it's a decent kit to learn on but doesn't have the accuracy or detail the resin kit does.

Another thing to keep in mind, I can build a resin DD in half the time it takes to do the Tamiya Fletcher so long as both have similar paint schemes....for me speed is often important becuase I do build commissions but here I want you to think about why....fewer parts, fewer seams and since you have to use epoxy or CA you don't have to wait for solvent glues to dry hard.

I agree with Ron (for once, eh?). Resin ship kits can sometimes be intimidating, but in the case of the Johnston (or any of the Yankee Modelworks DDs), if you can build the the Tamiya Fletcher, you can build this kit with no troubles whatsoever.

The primary differences between resin and plastic are few...

Resin kits don't require extensive parts assemblies. The turrets, gun directors, funnels, etc., are all generally one piece. You clean the pour sprue (same as cleaning an injection-molded part) and you're good to go.

In some instances, instructions in resin kits tend to lack the detail of their plastic counterparts. In the case of the Johnston kit, the instructions are clear and concise. If you've already built the Tamiya kit, then you have a working knowledge of the class.

That being said, I wrote a book on the class (Warship Perspectives, Fletcher, Gearing and Sumner Class Destroyers in WW2), so if you need any help, please don't hesitate to drop me a line.

Jeff

Just to close this out, I wrote to Tom Harrison at Tom's Modelworks, and got a nice note back saying that he did have a few of the conversion kits left. As a plus, the kit includes the photoetch brass set for the Fletcher class, so I'll have everything necessary to build the Johnston. Thanks to all for your help, and I appreciate the comments on resin kits. I've been a little wary of them, given that I've never used that material, and a lot of the resin kits ain't exactly cheap. If the Johnston project goes well, I plan to do a WW II DE next, and I've seen some good resin kits of that ship type.