What's coming up next year?

Not sure what scale you work with.  Have you tried hobbylinkJapan? They carry a lot of Japanese ships in different scales at www.hlj.com

It drives me crazy that Japanese ships in styrene aren't more available! And I DON"T mean another Yamato or Musashi! As important as Naval power was in the Pacific, I couldn't understand why we got the Hood but not the Nagato.....all those US carriers but not Akagi.

For me,  the cost of resin kits are an issue. 

 Also, I've heard too many bad things about resin such as bubbles, scratches, mis-shapen parts due to being pulled from the molds too soon, etc.  I'm currently saving up for my North Carolina kit from trumpeter and really don't want to spend the money on "practice" kits to work up to a large scale resin kit. I'm a patient person.  With the USS Texas's rich history,  I'm sure it will be eventually produced. It served in both world wars in the atlantic and the pacific. 

With the Revell 1/72 scale Gato being released now,  I'm anxiously waiting on their next announcement on what's next.

 

Old MacDonald, if you can set your sights beyond injection molded, styrene ship kits, there is an awful lot available in resin/multimedia kits in 1/350th scale. As a fer-instance, you might want to take a look at Iron Shipwrights' offerings:

www.commanderseries.com/ships.htm

There are many other makers of top-quality resin/multimedia kits: just Google for them.

Resin parts aren't harder to work with than styrene — they're just different. And, styrene or resin, to get decent results (better than a bath-toy level of detail) you need to invest in a brass PE fret. Most resin kits include a PE fret or two. Consequently, a multimedia kit often runs about the same price as a newer styrene kit plus PE from the aftermarket. And the results can be exquisite.

From a British point of view, I would love to see a 1/350th Injection Tribal Class Destoyer.

Pretty pretty please Trumpeter, or maybe something for the soon to be reborn Airfix to consider?

 

Old McDonald wrote:

Does anyone here know what's coming out next year? ..... any announcements or insider information?  I'm personally looking for a USS Texas BB35, a 1/350 scale large Coast Guard Cutter,  and a 1/350 Ticonderosa class Aegis Cruiser in styrene.

Sincerely doubt if you will ever see a styrene cutter.   The service is too small, and while the ships themseleves are sleak & sexy - they just don't have a "warship" image.  They wouldn't sell to the "great unwashed" world of ship modelers.  Once you have sold one to every Coastie - who would you sell the rest of the production run to.

There are already 1:350 scale Ticonderogas available.   See the USS Mobile Bay by Dragon.   Spruances, Kidds, and Burkes are also available in 1:350 scale.

I would not discount seeing a Texas sometime in the future (although probably not in the next year).  Midship Models was supposed to be working a Massachusetts/Alabama.   Not sure what the status of that project is with the collapse of the retail arm Trident Hobbies & their sale to another party).   Put out a Texas, along with the Massachusetts/Alabama you have most of the museum battleships covered.

I think I read that Hasegawa is supposed to be doing a 1:350 scale Benson/Livermore.    I think you may see that and perhaps a Sumner/Gearing out of somebody.   I think the market will not be able to sustain large battleships and aircraft carriers and that the manufacturers will move toward more economic kits.