FSM Most Wanted Poll - Ships

I would love a 1/144 escort carrier !!!   I'm with you RC !!!

It would be super easy to come up with 1/144 aircraft for it . 

I want a 1/144 Escort Carrier,  and a 1/72 DE.  

f8sader

Edmund Fitzgerald.

Edmund Fitzgerald.

Three gents replied to the Spirit question on the aircraft forum and everyone said it was a good kit and one person thought it was relatively recent - I did find a 2006 review that said that also. I admit that the instructions show a pretty simple plane but certainly more complex than the Lindberg antique that's also around in 1/72. (And no, Lindberg was not named for Lindbergh - only we Minnesota natives know how odd Norwegian spelling can be. Lindbergh's father was a Congressman from MN and the main terminal at surprisingly large Minneapolis International is named after Lindbergh and contains a full scale replica of the Spirit.) Hard to miss at $13 I guess.

Eric

stikpusher

Revell did a new tooled 1/48 Spirit of Saint Louis in 2010

www.revell.com/.../85-5244.html

manuals.hobbico.com/.../85-5244.pdf

EBergerud

I'd like to know a little more about this one. I found one review from 2005 and and it implied the model was new but said nothing like "new tool."  The part count is 50 and they certainly took a spartan approach to the engine. (Likewise the interior, but the real interior was spartan.) And they approached the odd dappled metal look of the cowl with decals. You can also buy it for $13 at Scale Hobbyist. I checked another review of the Revell Ventura by Tom Cleaver and he claims it was Revell's first 1/48 new tool kit since the Do-217 in the late 90s. (I found one of those on eBay and it looks like a neat kit: recessed lines etc. There's a 1/72 available.) I wonder if this Spirit isn't a rebox of something a little older.

I agree with the question; I thought the late Revell release was a re-release of a kit originally issued by Monogram, back in the Sixties.  I'm curious to know, too.

Although I am not an avid ship builder I do have a few in my stash that I would like to build. Anyway I was intrigued by this thread and thought I'd cast my lot in. I would like to see in either 1/700 or 1/350 a model of U.S.S. Utah. Preferably in here pre Pearl Harbor active duty configuration.

Just got a couple of replies on the aircraft forum on the Revell Spirit. It is about ten years old and considered a good kit although both respondents noted that the decal solution for the aluminum cowl lacks finesse. The DO-217 mentioned by Cleaver was an early DML effort and reboxed by Monogram under Pro Modeler label and hence to Revell. Early Dragon aircraft, as I understand it, can be a headache. I've got a "yellow box" Ju-88 and I think it looks very good indeed. Hope so. And for $13 the Spirit would might a really nice "Zen build" when the need appears for a styrene fix without work or worry. An honest "week-ender." Pity WingNut won't build a Jenny - then we could hope for a Bleriot and a Wright Flyer. I've got a WNW Pfalz and the mold quality is amazing.

Eric

Japan is about the size of California, has 125,000 people (for now - far less in 50 years) and a whole lot of mountains. I bet land is costly and the 3500 SqFt USA burb special a rare item. So more reason to build 1/700 - I've got a full hull 1/350 Konig and a 1/240 Oregon that's almost as big and they fill a shelf. (Bet the new Yamato is a whopper.) I was going through the 1/700 IJN offerings on Scale Hobbyist - amazing selection and this is an American dealer. They range in cost from $9 for a pair of shallow water escorts to $100 for a little new Tamiya Yamato. Lots of ships in the $30-$40 range if they have full hulls. I'm working on two 1/700 DDs now and they do stress the eye - especially as both required surgery. Fun in an odd way though. Can't see building more 1/72 aircraft or armor, but I'm already planning a 1/700 Tamiya Scharnhorst. And I see I have two 1/700 IJN cruisers, a 1/700 Cushing and two 1/600 Airfix cruisers in the stash - not even sure where I got them. Luckily WEM makes very hardy and cheap generic PE for both scales.

Eric

Those aren't small houses in Japan, they are large closets with toilets and hotplates.

I've seen the kit. Japanese modellers appear willing to pay real money for Japanese ships. The new tool Yamato isn't much more money that other 1/350 IJN BBs and less than some of the new CVs. And there are other 1/350 cruisers. I checked Scale Hobbyist and they sell 36 WWII era IJN warships in 1/350 scale. (I like the look of the coal transport but bet the rigging would be very complex.) There are another 120 kits in 1/700. Almost all of Combined Fleet is in styrene. Considering the premiums demanded I'm glad I picked up Yukikaze for a mere $40 a couple of years back and not much more for Mikasa. Hats off to Japanese ship junkies - I'm sure they're the intended audience. And houses are small over there - bet that helps keep the 1/700 market alive.

Eric  

I'd like to know a little more about this one. I found one review from 2005 and and it implied the model was new but said nothing like "new tool."  The part count is 50 and they certainly took a spartan approach to the engine. (Likewise the interior, but the real interior was spartan.) And they approached the odd dappled metal look of the cowl with decals. You can also buy it for $13 at Scale Hobbyist. I checked another review of the Revell Ventura by Tom Cleaver and he claims it was Revell's first 1/48 new tool kit since the Do-217 in the late 90s. (I found one of those on eBay and it looks like a neat kit: recessed lines etc. There's a 1/72 available.) I wonder if this Spirit isn't a rebox of something a little older. Maybe not. Perhaps Cleaver is wrong and this an early version of the new tool kits put out by Revell and Airfix starting a couple of years ago that offered decent modern kits at modest price to appeal to a broad range of modelers. I've got the new tool Airfix Spitfire XII and it's very nice - but appears a real leap from the Spirit shown in the instructions. Twice the part count even though it has no engine. The Ventura parts out at 150. I'll check around.

Eric

tigerman

1/350 Maryland or Tennessee. Yay for cage masts!

1/350 Nachi-class cruiser.

Hi Eric,

Aoshima has a 1/350 Nachi Class

http://www.hlj.com/product/AOS04425

EBergerud

When you get down to it historic planes dont get offered -  Spirit of St. Louis? 

Revell did a new tooled 1/48 Spirit of Saint Louis in 2010

http://www.revell.com/model-kits/aircraft/85-5244.html

http://manuals.hobbico.com/rmx/85-5244.pdf

I remember that, when I was in 3rd grade, a girl bought me a two-in-one 1/72 kit by Hawk of the Spirit of St.Louis and the Wright Flier for the class Christmas party.That is when I first got interested in girls! I also remember a Lindbergh kit of the Curtis Jenny.

But, back to ships . . . I suppose that I can boil down my list of most preferred (in no particular order)

1. USS Midway class carriers (axial deck or angled deck)

2. any American first and second generation Dreadnoughts

3. the British Royal Sovereign class battleships

4. pre-WWII Queen Elizabeth class battleships

5. HMS Tiger (battlecruiser)

6. the Italian Conte di Cavour and Andrea Doria class battleships

7. the British Illustrious class carriers

8. HMS Nelson and Rodney

Bill

When you get down to it historic planes dont get offered - except by Lindberg maybe. How about a Wright Flyer? A Bleriot? Spirit of St. Louis? One of those neat fighters from the 30s - I'd buy a Peashooter. Think about it. What if Tamiya or another big gun came out with a 1/32 scale Spirit of St. Louis with all the modern trimmings. Be a great model and I'd bet it would sell nicely.

Well, Bellatrix (c.f.)  does rigger a question.  How has the history of modern model kits managed to skip over the 74?

A kit company need only (if that was their intent) only build dies for a French 74.  They were captured and reused by a large number of combatants.  A smart kit manufacturer could make a "board room"  version with open frames and minimal planking that would sell well.

I know I'd want one of each.

I'd prefer 1:96/1:100; but could be talked into 1/150 or 1/162

John,

I was interested in finding out if Wingnut Wings would ever produce a Jenny and emailed them a while ago. I got this reply:

Hi Mike,

Thanks for your email about your father and the Jenny that he landed on the tree.

Currently, Wingnut Wings has no plans of releasing a Jenny in a kit. However I have added your suggestion to our customers wishlist.

Thanks

Dave

Dave Johnson
Warehouse Operations Manager
Wingnut Wings
PO Box 15-319, Miramar 6022,
Wellington , New Zealand
www.wingnutwings.com

So, the more people who request a JN-4 from them, the better the chances...... that they'll make a kit.

Mike

We had a thread in here a couple years back about what kind of materials would be best used to make a model sailing ship. As it stands it's a field that belongs to dedicated and remarkably skilled scratch builders and people willing to spend big bucks on wooden kits - usually with planked hulls. (This excludes the area of the big RC ships - and planes for that matter - that requires modelling skills of the highest level and - at least I think - very good knowledge of tools and a decent shop to work in. In Edina Minnesota every nice Sunday the RC Navy brings out their amazing ships - we're talking at least three feet long, maybe five - complete with fishing boats carrying rescue guys with fishing nets to prevent one from going glub: extraordinary.) Someone made a very strong argument that a "multimedia" kit that included styrene, PE, white metal and perhaps some wood would best display a sailing ship at normal scale. Might be right actually. The best plastic molds today might do a very good job on a hull. I'd be very interested. In the meantime, Zvezda makes sailing ships. I just don't know whether it's good Zevezda (a Russian modeling company that makes fine models) or bad Zvezda (a Russian modeling company that makes terrible models.)

Eric  

I agree....I have built the revell CS 5 times and the Sea Witch 2x...not to mention the smaller Flying cloud and Stag Hound. The Revell Thermoplylae is a bad attempt at transforming the CS.   I intend to get another Cs and convert it correctly..

We need more models.......Donald Mckay clippers..to be exact.

Now don't be greedy . . . I love those two ships!

Bill

I just like the lines and of these two ships. The Alaska and Guam need to be represented in 1/350 if even just for me alone. I am a greedy miser.

The photo in the middle is the USS Guam.

Eric,

In a recent post, you wrote, "The super-dreads would be nice indeed - but we want the post Pearl Harbor ships. They were into the Pacific War in the way few ships were - and even sunk IJN capital ships. It's irony that the USN fast battleships except for some shore bombardment were there to serve as flak platforms for the CVs while the old ships did the work. DML used to have a Pennsylvania in 700 but it's no longer with us."

The post-Pearl Harbor battleships sank one battleship at Surigao Strait while DD's and PT's sank the other. The Washington, a new fast battleship also sank one battleship, indicating that the fast battleships actually did more than act as AA escorts for the carriers (a role that they were, in fact, designed to perform.) And, I in no way mean to diminish the shore bombardment role for either the old or the new battleships played in WWII and after. Yes, the fast BB's also served in that capacity and did quite well. The old ships in no way did all the work; most did not return to the line until late 1943 or well into 1944. The two North Carolina's and  the four South Dakota's were fighting as early as mid-1942 while the two earliest Iowa's (Iowa and New Jersey) were on the front lines in late 1943, and sank several Japanese ships. And, we cannot forget Massachusett's duel with Jean Bart. Finally, South Dakota still holds the record at 27 for the most enemy aircraft shot down in a single battle. To say that the fast BB's did not do the work ignores their many extraordinary contributions to the war effort.

That said, I agree with you that I would like to see kits of the older American battleships. USS Pennsylvania is distinguished as having fired more ammunition during the war than any other American battleship (and no, simply substituting an Arizona as Pennsylvania does not work.) Texas, Nevada, and Arkansas served with distinction in the European theater as well as in the Pacific. But, I do not want these limited to post-Pearl Harbor; I love them as they appeared in the 1930's as well.

Bill

For what little it's worth - I forgot when I did my last two posts that, when I filled out the online form, I put  "American clipper ship" under "Ships - all other scales."  I'd be happy for any clipper in 1/96 or 1/100 scale.  There have only been two genuinely different ones:  the Revell Cutty Sark and the Marx/Lindberg Sea Witch.  (I can't count the Revell Thermopylae.  It's just a strangely - and utterly unrealistically - modified reissue of the Cutty Sark, and the two real ships only looked like each other from a distance.  Just one more Revell marketing stunt.)

I certainly endorse the votes for a new CV-6 Enterprise.  There should be a state-of-the-art 1/350 version - and, for that matter, a state-of-the-art one in 1/700.  The 35-year-old Tamiya one, with its skinny island and primitive 20mm guns, just doesn't cut it nowadays. 

Are you listening, Trumpeter?

In WWII USN ships in 1/350 I would love to see USS Enterprise, and USS Nevada. In late Cold War ships I would love to see some of the RN types such as the Type 42 Destroyer, and Type 21, Type 22, or Leander Class Frigates that fought in the Falklands in 1/350 plastic. I wish that Airfix would re tool their Illustrious to represent Invincible as fitted out in 1982.

HI :

  I have to pipe back in here . I forgot to mention the U.S.S. MIDWAY  , CORAL SEA , BON HOMME RICHARD angle decked carriers  .I spent eight months on the MIDWAY and after working as a docent at the HORNET museum  ,we NEED one of the ships in this class too . Don't forget the straight deck ENTERPRISE either !

  Now as to those support vessels I mentioned earlier .Let's go to the COAST GUARD .There's  room for a BOUY TENDER and the Smaller cutters used in harbors .There was a company years ago (around the late 60s early 70s) that made some . I think it was OTAKI .They were about 1/35 in scale I think . To round it out   ,How  about a really good BELLATRIX or others like her ? Not to be selfish , but I really don't want to see them smaller than 1/400 . I have a very hard time getting the EYEBALL-MK-1s  to focus on 1/700 even with help from magnifiers . Thanks     Tanker - builder

I'm well aware that Washington sunk a BB and it would do splendidly for a WWII BB which I'm looking for. There isn't one in 1/350 - it didn't get sunk I guess. As for the fast BBs, I'm not saying they didn't earn their supper considering their post-WWII work, but they were not designed to serve as flak platforms which is what they did. (One wonders how many DDs or AA CVLs one could have built for the cost of one Iowa. They all carried flak.) I wouldn't discount the importance of shore bombardment. Allied navies probably saved the Anzio campaign and were key at during the first six weeks of Normandy. And all of the PTO landings would have been a lot worse without it.

I wish someone would mold a collection of large scale Donald McKay *American* clippers......namely the *Great Republic*.  The Lightning or Bald Eagle would be very nice.

Rob

EBergerud

The super-dreads would be nice indeed - but we want the post Pearl Harbor ships...

"Whaddya mean "we", Kemo Sabe?"

I prefer the pre-war configuration of the Navy's battle line, for the same reason I like yellowwings aircraft.  There's just something about the USN in the Thirties and happier times.  Not that I don't like WWII subjects, but I'd like to complete a collection of the fleet from around 1935.

Eric,

Actually, the fast battleship USS Washington sank the Kirishima whil USS Iowa and New Jersey sank several Japanese ships including DD's. The old battleships ships served principally as shore bombardment platforms but got their moment at Surigao Strait in 1944.

I am grateful to Trumpeter for providing kits of the Littorio class but I would like to see the earlier ships of the Conte di Cavour and Andrea Doria classes.

As for the old American super Dreadnoughts, I would like to see them pre- Pearl Harbor as well as after. And, Aoshima does make the various Nachi class heavy cruisers in 1/350, as well as the Takao class ships. These are excellent kits.

Bill