The most expensive plastic (resin) ship model kit

Katzennahrung - many thanks for your kind, if extravagant, remarks.  And that Artitec Dutch yacht looks beautiful.  What a fine subject for resin casting.  (I assume the spars are wood.)  And the price isn't unreasonable.  If it fits together as well as it looks, it would be a fine first subject for newcomers to sailing ship modeling.  There's a woeful shortage at the moment of kits that fit in that category.

I don't read Dutch, but that Artitec webpage looks fascinating.  I have to go out of town in a minute (shopping trip to Williamsburg, followed later this week by a flight to Texas to spend Christmas with the grandchildren), but when I get back I intend to spend some time perusing that site - and maybe getting it translated.

Katzennahrung wanted to show the Andrea Miniatures 1/32 scale Roman bireme.

The second link is an Artitec model.  It is a small (1/87) Dutch yacht model.

BTW, Artitec has built a huge diorama with the end of 17th century Dutch fleet, here is the link :

http://www.voc.artitec.nl/

Michel

I couldn't get the links in Katzennahrung's post to work, but I know the feeling.  The most expensive resin kit I've heard of is the Andrea 1/35 WWII U-boat.  I think it sells for something like $3,000.  Must be nice to have that kind of money to spend on a hobby - especially on a kit that wouldn't actually take very long to build.

A few years ago Model Shipways issued a resin-hull version of its New York pilot boat Phantom, on 1/96 scale.  The kit had been on the market for about thirty years, originally with a solid wood hull.  The resin version kept all the original britannia metal castings, wood spars, and all the other wood components of the original version; the only thing that changed was the hull.  I bought one and built it.  (Here's a link to some photos:  http://gallery.drydockmodels.com/phantom )  I like it.  I thought the hull casting could have been better (the moldmaker missed the distinctive "step" at the base of the bulwarks, and I couldn't figure out why the planking seams were visible on the deck but not on the exterior of the hull), but with some work (including a layer of styrene "planks" on the exterior) I'm pretty happy with the result.  I certainly thought the basic concept was worth pursuing.  Apparently I was unusual in that regard.  The manufacturer took the resin-hulled version of the kit off the market, and is now selling it again with a wood hull.

I believe a company called Cottage Industries has just released a Morris-class revenue cutter with a resin hull and other parts.  And Bluejacket ( www.bluejacketinc.com ) makes a couple of small sailing vessels in resin.  I'd like to see other manufacturers try this idea.  Resin is a versatile material for such things as hulls and fittings.  It does have its limitations.  (The thought of a sailing ship model with resin masts and yards is laughable.)  But I agree that it has a good deal of potential for the sailing ship modeler.  I guess the problem is that the market is so small.  The few manufacturers who are interested in sailing ships at all probably are reluctant to take risks.