Source for 1/700 liferaft canisters?

mfsob wrote:

Trying to plan ahead (ha!) with my USS Enterprise CVN-65, does anyone know of a source for double liferaft canisters (singles if I have to) besides White Ensign Models? I need like 100 something of 'em, and am not really up for trying to scratchbuild them out of plastic rod.

I think one of the gripes against the Fujimi modern US carriers, besides their exorbitant cost, is they are lacking the liferaft canisters.   IIRC, WEM seems to have been the go to source for those replacements.  Your other potential replacement options may be from one of the Testors/Italieri Nimitz-class kits -- or as onesies-twosies from Sprucan, Perry, or Burke kits.

Don't discount making your own from Evergreen rod.  If you don't own a Chopper - make a rudimentary one out of some strip stock.  Use a single-edge razor blade.  You should be able to turn out enough canisters in one sitting to do several ships - and it will be less expensive in the long run

WEM is dropping the double liferaft canisters in 1/700. I got one of the last four packs.

And while it would be no big deal to chop up a lot of short bits of styrene rod, what I can't see myself doing is trying to sand or shape the ends of them so they are at least kind of rounded like the real canisters - there are about 200 individual canisters! I just hate the thought of spending another $20 on a kit to cannabilize it for the few bits I need.

I may be mistaken, but it sticks in my marginally senile memory that the Italeri 1/720 Nimitz-class carriers have nicely-molded life raft canisters molded in strips.  Those kits - especially in their Testor's boxes - are pretty common.  I don't know what the prices are, but it might be possible to find one for considerably less than $20.

is it not possible to order those strips from the model company??

I thought Fujimi actually issued aftermarket canisters made from turned brass.

Apparently they do, or did. Here's a link to Pacific Front.
http://www.pacificfront.com/detail.asp?Pacific!Front!Hobbies|Fujimi!Seaway!Plastic!Kits|1/700!Scale!Accessories

Hump, I thought Fujimi was strictly plastic stuff - I'm already using a couple of their USN aircraft sets to flesh this model out. Definitely going to look into that. Thanks for the link.