1/350 Trumpeter Liberty Ship PE

While I have not used any of these (I model ships in 1/700), I did examine photos of the GMM frets for my own 1/700 Liberty ship build. I would go with that one as far as giving your model the highest "wow" factor.

Pardon the pun, but I've recently jumped into a similar boat. I normally build aircraft (preferring 1/72 - 1/144) but for some reason decided to tackle boats for the first time. Starting with the old Revell Arizona to see how I like it, but with much grander projects in the works if I do take a liking to it.

I have'nt done the liberty ship, but will put in my [my 2 cents] on the Eduard and Toms PE. I've only used the Eduard on my aircraft kits and can't complain. For my Arizona I went with the Toms PE. As far as the pieces go, they're just as good as Eduard's offerings. The only shortcomings I can speak of are in the instructions. The instructions arent as clear and require some figuring out on your own at some stages in its construction.

All said and done though when its time for my next PE purchase, and a similar set is offered by both companys, I'll still go with Tom's.

Make sure to post picks of the build. 

Thanks for the replies.  I too have used GMM, Tom's and Eduard on past projects, and I like all of them.  That's why I'm looking for opinions on the Liberty Ship sets.  Barring any strong recommendations, I'll probably go with the least expensive Tom's.

Peter

From what I've seen of the various sets I think it depends on the level of detail you want to go into.  GMM is probably the best in this regard but I thought Toms was adequate, at least for me.

The shots below were taken at an early stage and feature the main superstructure details and some of the cast vehicles;

The flying bridge makes an enormous difference to the base model and I can't undersand why Trumpeter left it out altogether.

Michael

That looks great!  From the looks of it, that will be plenty of detail for me too.

What are the vehicles you're using?  I plan on adding some aircraft and other deck cargo also.

Peter

If I remember correctly the GMM set offers replacement doors and other bits but, as I say, this was adequate for my standards.

The vehicles were also from Toms; there were three sets; armoured, soft skin and the aircraft - P-38 Lightnings and P-47 Thunderbolts.  All are visible below;

I honestly don't know if they're still available but they really add a 'cluttered' look don't they?

Michael 

Just a thought about deck cargos on Liberty ships ... there really is no such thing as "too much" or "they never would have hauled that." While many times the deck cargo was contained in large wooden crates that were secured to the hatch covers and deck, anything and everything was crammed onto all available deck space once the holds were full. I even found a photo of a Liberty ship with a full-sized harbor tug lashed to the aft holds, I kid you not.

Exactly.  I gathered lots of photos from the web and the sheer variety and quantity of deck cargo is astounding.  Aircraft were apparently often crated but they were also transported largely intact and this is more interesting model-wise than big boxes.  I was also going to use the ship's propellor as deck cargo!

The other thing that quickly became obvious was the amount of rust and filth they quickly gathered.  Not many (if any) were as clean and dockyard fresh as the Trumpeter kit painting instructions would suggest.

Michael 

Thanks Michael and mfsob!  I'll check out Tom's and see what they've got.  I like the cluttered, overfilled, undermaintained look too.  Time to go surfing for Liberty pictures!

Peter 

The vehicle sets are still on the Tom's web-site - item No.s TMWD004, -5 and -6.

These are my favourite shots of working Libertys;

 

gleaned from searches of the web, but there are a lot more out there.

One thing to note about the O'Brien, not reproduced in the Trumpeter kit is the section of cut-down bulwarks towards the stern as you can see on my model.  This was apparently done on some, not all, Liberty's to allow the fitting of torpedo nets.

If you do a search of the forum on the word 'liberty' you'll come across many entries from the last couple of years, especially those from Chris Friedenbach who is a crewmwmember on the O'Brien.  He points out many discrepancies in the kit and you can pick and choose which you think worthwhile correcting. 

Have fun!

Michael