1/350 amphibious assault ship

We need a letter-writing campaign to Tamiya! The aircraft accessory kits for the 1/350 Enterprise tells me that they could make money from a 1/350 LHD, LHA, LPD and LSD. Besides the ships themselves, they could sell 1/350 helos and harriers, plus landing craft. Who wouldn't want to model an LCAC or LCU, or 1/350 scale 5 ton trucks, 155 mm and 105 mm guns, hummers, AAV, LAV, etc? I've seen enough of pointy-ended ships over the years; some new, high quality gators would be a dream come true. 

thanks for the heads-up on this.

luke wrote:

Most tend to be stratch-built, so I've been planning for sometime to tackle a USN Newport-class for a modified RAN Kanimbla-class ship.

Iron Shipwright makes a 1:350 scale Newport-class LST

By starting with one of them, it would save you the heavy lifting of building a hull before you start the specific modifications for a RAN ship.

Similarly, JAG Collective makes a Newpot class in 1:700 scale

I agree with all said above about the small-size of the ship modelling community. I too have been seeking plastic or resin 350th amphibs, but they are very rare. Most tend to be stratch-built, so I've been planning for sometime to tackle a USN Newport-class for a modified RAN Kanimbla-class ship.

I found this walk-thru on-line build for a LHA-2 1/350 on modelwarhips.com:

http://www.modelwarships.com/reviews/ships/misc/amphib/350-saipan-fi/saipan.html

But it is good to see companies such as Trumpeter take a punt on WWII carriers; but carriers have a different following to amphibs in the modelling community - that's what I feel anyway.

I will agree. We dont have any dedicated shipbuilders in our local club, but the aisles at Hobby lobby are filled with ship kits that seem to never sell.  The armor and planes move, but not the ships.  I have belonged to several land-locked clubs and maybe one or two members are shipbuilders. I am a helicopter builder with a heavy sci-fi influence, so Im pretty well on my own in terms of group displays.

As a side note, we have taken on a club project to build a Fletcher class destroyer that alocal person in the community served on.  I have been assigned the task of updating the Trumpeter kits guns with Toms modelworks brass. So. Ill take one lumpypart and make a tiny gun out of about 8 parts. Yep, thats model shipbuilding.    This WILL be a learning experience for me!

any suggestions on that?

Thanks!

EPinniger wrote:

Maybe there are just far fewer modellers of ships than other subjects? There's only one other serious ship modeller in my local club, and he is in his 70s - then again, there aren't many armour or car modellers there either (most members only build aircraft)

You have hit the nail squarely on the head.   

I have heard that in terms of total number of modelers, those who state that their primary interest is in ships is less than 10 percent.    I think that science fiction/science fact modelers are the only category who numbers less than we do.

I have also heard that in terms of total number of kits sold, it is NASCAR and Hot Rods over aircraft.   This may be due to the WalMart effect,  that their toy purchasing agents understand [or think they understand] that portion of their customer base.    (Don't believe me - take a walk down the model aisle at your local WalMart! Mine is a jumble of NASCAR, die cast,  & low riders tucked between the Estes rockets and the bicycles.)

Unless and until the injection ship model manufacturers take a chance and make models which are different from what they have turned out, and until the general model buying community rewards these chance takers by buying their kits in numbers which demonstrate their desire for different subjects,  the modeling community will be left with ill-fated mega ocean liners, submarines, battleships, aircraft carriers (and the occasional destroyer).   The aircraft community will continue to see P-51s and Zeros, and the armor guys will continue to see Shermans and Tigers.

EdGrune wrote:

I'm afraid that there will be a long wait until there is an injected Gator ship.   There are too many capital ships left to model -- and the mainline plastic manufacturers are afraid of getting stuck with a non-selling lemon of a kit.

I would have thought there would be a sizeable market for a decent kit of a ship like this: they're well-known, an important part of the modern US navy, and are quite often seen on the news nowadays.
It's odd that the range of injection-moulded warship kits is so narrow (maybe excluding 1/700 scale, and even then there are some major gaps) compared to other subjects. Of course famous and popular subjects sell, but there are plenty of aircraft and armour kits other than P-51s, Spitfires, Tigers, etc.
To use modern US armour as an analogy, there may be plenty of M1 Abrams kits out there, but there are also kits available for virtually everything else (other than the Stryker), even if the Abrams outsells all the other kits by a wide margin!

Maybe there are just far fewer modellers of ships than other subjects? There's only one other serious ship modeller in my local club, and he is in his 70s - then again, there aren't many armour or car modellers there either (most members only build aircraft)

Ahhh the Tarawa - what crappy ship that was to be on

Jesse

The Scale Shipyard sells several 1/96 scale hulls for the industrious builder.

http://scaleshipyard.com/Catalog%20Pages/amphib.html

Here is a link to Jeff York's LPD-17 San Antonio, which is constructed from one of  the Scale shipyards hulls.

http://wmunderway.8m.com/gallery15/gallery15.htm

Iron Shipwright introduced their 1:350 scale LPH Guam at last year's IPMS USA Nationals.  It ia whole hull with open hangar deck.   Full PE, full helo complement, decals, etc.

I'm afraid that there will be a long wait until there is an injected Gator ship.   There are too many capital ships left to model -- and the mainline plastic manufacturers are afraid of getting stuck with a non-selling lemon of a kit.