Wish list of models to build

hmmm... ships wishlist ?

Let's see, I can make the list very small, in one sentince but I still would be a LOT of kits.

My wish would be that a manufacterer would produce a line of kits, comprising every single class of submarines ever built, preferably all in the same scale (1/144).

Spelunko -

My standard recommendation to people who want to break into sailing ship modeling is:  start with a small ship in a large scale.  (The Heller Pamir is an enormous ship on a tiny scale.)  My reasoning is that large scales are easier to work on - especially when it comes to rigging.  And a few weeks, or a couple of months, invested in a small ship pay great dividends in terms of experience when the modeler tackles a bigger one.  We've had interesting Forum discussions recently with several people who are wrestling with the Heller Victory, or the Revell Constitution, as their first ship model.  Those folks have spent lots of time learning, making mistakes, and re-doing things - i.e., suffering through a learning curve they could just as well have experienced on smaller (and cheaper) models.  If they'd started with sloops, schooners, or brigs they'd all have finished models on their mantles by now.

Unfortunately my profound advice is difficult to follow at the moment, because the kit manufacturers don't listen to me.  (They aren't alone in that category.  At the moment, as a semester at the university grinds to its close, I'm being reminded once again that scarcely anybody listens to me - least of all my own kids.  I shall now climb down off that particular soapbox.)  The plastic sailing ship kit industry is almost dead, and few kits currently on the market represent small ships on large scales.

The Heller Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria aren't bad, though they're old kits and pretty basic.  (Be aware that the Nina and Pinta use the same hull.  At least half the kits in the Heller sailing ship range are based on recycled parts.)  Our knowledge of those ships is so meager that a modeler trying to depict them can get away with a lot.  The problem is that, as usual in Heller kits, the instructions are miserable.  Those kits could be made into nice models, but to do so would take quite a bit of research - in books that probably aren't easy to find in Taiwan.

Lindberg is currently selling a number of very old kits (1950s vintage) that were originally produced by the now-defunct American company Pyro.  They aren't the most sophisticated kits in the world; in fact they're extremely basic.  But they're reasonably priced, the overall shapes and proportions are right (which can't be said for many of the Heller kits), and they're good bases for dressing up with aftermarket parts.  (We're talking about vessels with two masts and relatively few sails, so the number - and price - of the aftermarket parts would be minimal.)  And several of them represent relatively small ships on relatively large scales.  Unfortunately Lindberg (following Pyro's lead in what I gather is a simple marketing ploy) has put deceptive labels on them.  Pyro's American Revenue Cutter Roger B. Taney is being sold under the name "Independence War Schooner" (which makes no sense whatever), the American Revenue Cutter Harriet Lane carries the label "Civil War Blockade Runner" (ok; the Harriet Lane got captured by the Confederacy and did run the blockade a few times), and the Grand Banks fishing schooner Gertrude L. Thebaud is currently labeled "American Cup Racer" (yeah, right - a racing yacht with two stacks of fishing dories on her deck). 

Any of those has the potential, with a little work and, perhaps, some aftermarket fittings like blocks and deadeyes, to be a nice, attractive model of a significant ship - and could be completed in weeks rather than months or years.

The Squadron website is advertising a new kit from the Russian manufacturer Zvezda that really interests me:  a medieval cog.  That's a single-masted merchant ship, with "castles" on the bow and stern.  I haven't seen the kit in the flesh, but if the box art can be believed it's likely to be pretty good.  It's on 1/76 scale (presumably to match the numerous boxes of nicely-detailed figures that are available from Zvezda and several other companies).  It strikes me that this one, if it turns out to be any good, would be an ideal newcomer's project.  It would offer all sorts of opportunities for color schemes (and "wood grain" effects) and, with its single mast, just enough rigging to give the modeler some good experience without much repetition.  I'm thinking of getting one and installing a small CD player in the base, to play excerpts from the first act of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde.  (That would surely be some sort of first in the ship modeling world: a model that plays opera.)  Unfortunately the price is high:  about $75 in the U.S.  But it might be worth a look. 

The ideal "starter" sailing ship kit would (1) represent a relatively small vessel, (2) be on a relatively large scale, (3) be reasonably priced, and (4) be in the current catalog of a manufacturer with a good international distribution system.  Unfortunately I can only think of a handful of plastic kits that meet all those criteria.  (The picture is much better in the world of wood ship model kits - but that's another story.)  Maybe some other Forum participants have some other ideas.

 

Just two ... either in 1/350 or 1/200 scale.  SMS Seydlitz and a Soviet Kirov nuclear cruiser.

 

... and a 1/96 pre-FRAM Gearing.

 

and .... and ............ okay ..... that's all.

I have built the Revell Alabama, and have the Pamir.  If you want a good kit that won't drive you nuts and get some experience on before tackling the masting and rigging of the Pamir, then I would build the Kearsarge (basically the same kit as the Alabama).

This is a good model to practice rigging shrouds.  There are not a lot of them required, and the masts are strong and large enough for the novice, or person with big, shaky hands like me, to try different procedures on.

And it looks really cool with the dark blue/black hull, copper bottom, and those big Dahlgren guns.

Scott

Thank you all for the reply.

I wasn't sure I would get one as it was not a question perse. (SP) Anyway, I am stuck here in Taiwan without the ability to browse a good Hobby shop. I just go from what is mentioned on this forum, some searches and from there I go.

I realize some of these selections are "funny", but what the hey!. I am not to much into war ships actually, but obviously I have a few. The USS Oregon in particular since I am from Oregon.

I am not sure what to do next or more likely while I am bilding the Pamir. Do you all think I could finish the VIctory before the Pamir. (hehehehe)

I am thinking of the Hellers 3 ships Santa Maria, Nina, and Pinta to finish off the series. I may go for something completely different from a sail ship such as a steamer or river boat. I just saw the Goethe at the LHS.

To be honest, there are about 10 choices of models for any ships that are not WW2 oriented. The only other I saw at a good price was Heller's Spanish Galleon. But I am already building a sail ship o would like to avoid that.

Any hints as to what to conquer next?

Gotta love this modeling stuff.

Thanks,

 

Robert

 

Well, that's quite a list for one lifetime.  I guess I agree that most of them are good choices - and the list certainly doesn't lack variety.

To my knowledge Revell has never made an S.S. America.  (She was considerably smaller, and of distinctly different proportions, than the United States.)  The United States was one of Revell's very earliest ship model kits, originating in 1955.  By modern standards it's pretty crude.  And at the time when the kit was designed the underwater portion of the ship's hull was classified.  (The ship was built with the help of a big government subsidy, with the understanding that in the event of a war the Navy would take her over and operate her as a troop transport.  The Navy kept a tight lid on the lines drawings.)  The kit's hull has an odd, semi-waterline configuration that doesn't have much to do with reality.  I have trouble recommending that kit.

Forget about the Revell Thermopylae.  It's a modified reissue of the same company's Cutty Sark; it bears only a very general resemblance to the real Thermopylae.  If you want a large-scale clipper ship model, the one to buy is the Revell Cutty Sark.  It's a reasonably accurate, attractive model - bearing in mind that it dates from 1959.  My favorite Cutty Sark, though, is the slightly smaller one (1/120 scale) from Imai.  It's recently been reissued under the Aoshima label - at a thoroughly outrageous price (at least in the U.S.).  But in my opinion it's one of the best plastic sailing ship kits ever.  That comment, in fact, applies to all the Imai sailing ship kits I've seen.  They're outstanding.

The two Glencoe kits are reissues of ancient ITC (that's Ideal Toy Corporation) products from the early fifties.  The Coast Guard surfboat isn't bad; the prototype is quite small, and turning the kit into a respectable scale model probably would be a fun project.  The Oregon is another matter.  It's pretty crude, and shows pretty conspicuously the fact that it originally had an electric motor in it.  I've seen photos of nice models built from that kit, but the builders modified it pretty extensively.

The Artisania "Viking Long Boat" is the only wood kit on this list.  If you want to pick one wood kit, I can't recommend one from that particular company.  Its products undoubtedly vary quite a bit in quality, but few experienced scale ship modelers take AL kits seriously.  They're generally characterized by inferior materials, miserably inaccurate plans, hopelessy vague instructions, and outrageous prices.

I've only seen one Viking ship kit that I really like:  the old plastic one from Revell, originating in 1977.  (It was the last new sailing vessel released by the American division of Revell - though Revell Germany has done a few since.)  It's a reasonably accurate replica of the Gokstad Ship, one of the two vessels on exhibit at the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo.  (If you're at all interested in historical accuracy, avoid at all costs the various Heller "Viking ships."  Their hull proportions are distorted beyond recognition.)

One last suggestion:  put that Heller H.M.S. Victory well down the list.  It is in most respects a beautiful kit, but too many modelers have tackled it too early in their careers.  Building it takes years of work, and it suffers from some mistakes that take some experience and knowledge to correct.  Building it right also would entail spending quite a bit of money - probably several hundred dollars - on aftermarket parts (blocks, deadeyes, etc.). 

These are some personal observations, to be taken with a grain of salt.  I imagine other Forum members will have some other suggestions.

  Nah, that A.L. viking boat goes together like a snap kit ! (eyes rolling, yikes)

 

    I would say closer to a decade !  Will be most impressive.

 

        

That ought to keep you busy for a few years.