Ship for a beginner.

Academy makes some good 1/350 WWII ship kits that are not overly complicated. The Graf Spee and Warspite being larger have lots of parts, but are well engineered. Or if you want to start small, simple and economic, I highly recommend Revell Germany's Type VII U-Boats. Tamiya' USS Fletcher or Trumpeter's USS England are also good options.

Second the choice of the Tamiya Fletcher or Trumpeter England as opposed to a larger cruiser/carrier/battleship subject.     They are smaller and are less of a 'project'.   You are able to see progress as opposed to making dozens of small guns & subassemblies.    

Either the Fletcher or England can be had for about 30 dollars and another 30 (+/-)for a PE set.    

Thanks. I googled the kits, the reviews are good on the kits.

What are you interested in? Destroyers, cruisers, battleships or did you just want to try a ship.
There are the OLD Revell Arizona and Missouri kits. They are not accurate but will make a decent model and are inexpensive. I think every ship modeler has cut their teeth on one of those.

modelcrazy

What are you interested in? Destroyers, cruisers, battleships or did you just want to try a ship.
There are the OLD Revell Arizona and Missouri kits. They are not accurate but will make a decent model and are inexpensive. I think every ship modeler has cut their teeth on one of those.

 

Well he did specify WWII era and 1/350 scale. So that qualifies most everything made in 1/350 plastic by the major companies except for Airfix (modern) and Zvezda (pre WWII). 

I would suggest to stay away from Dragon for now as they have a large line up, but their kits are very intricate and not for the novice. 

The Tamiya Prince of Wales builds up to be a nice kit and you can find them on eBay for $65 or the Academy Graf Spee for $30

stikpusher

 

modelcrazy

What are you interested in? Destroyers, cruisers, battleships or did you just want to try a ship.
There are the OLD Revell Arizona and Missouri kits. They are not accurate but will make a decent model and are inexpensive. I think every ship modeler has cut their teeth on one of those.

 

 

 

 

Well he did specify WWII era and 1/350 scale. So that qualifies most everything made in 1/350 plastic by the major companies except for Airfix (modern) and Zvezda (pre WWII). 

I would suggest to stay away from Dragon for now as they have a large line up, but their kits are very intricate and not for the novice. 

 

I will second stik on that.  I have their kit of the Benson class DD, and looking in the box I think it will drive me to drink more than I do now.  That being said, if you have dealt with the modern armor kits with their tracks and tiny PE, would probably not be out of the ballpark for ability.  That kit can be had for around $45 or so.

I was in your shoes a while ago. I stumbled across Revell Germany and the 350 Bismarck kit. I'm almost done and for it being my first ship I was really happy and pleased on how it turned it. Its a great kit, most pieces fit together well. I would say find ship you like in 350 and go for it. The scale is AMAZING when the ship is complete or nearing complete. Be patient with yourself, a ship model is very different then a tank or aircraft or car model. I've only recently started the hobby again and my first two models were tanks and then I went for the Bismarck. It was really hard getting used to gluing pieces on cylinders and curved edges, but like everything else you get used to it after a while!

Drinking and modeling... a kindred spirit GH... Yes I have one of those Benson kits in my stash as well. A little beauty indeed, but I'm waiting until I  have several more ships under my belt before I tackle it. Not outside my skill level, but I still want more experience with ships before that project. 

Do you know of any mistakes or issues with detail, fit, or mistakes with accuacy? Tamiya's Fletcher looks interesting, Trumpeters England also looks good.

The England is definitely a nice kit.  If you're not planning on going full out with aftermarket phot-etch, but want to try it at a lower level, then the Dragon Smartkits (Laffey or Benson) aren't too expensive.

I'll line up with several other members. The Dragon Buchanan is one of the finest plastic warship kits ever released. But it's not a good choice for a first ship.

I've been building ship models for sixty years. I've had one of those kits in my closet for about four years, and I haven't had the nerve to start it.

I'd recommend the Trumpeter England. handsome and significant ship, and an excellent kit. Gold Medal Models offers a beautiful set of photo-etched details for it.

One of the reasons that I recommend the inexpensive Fletcher or England as a learner kit is you will make mistakes.  We all make mistakes,  I know I do and I've been at this for a while.  Maybe not quite as long as Doc Tilley.   You will make mistakes and be tempted to bounce the model off the nearest wall.  Doing this with a 30 dollar base kit doesn't hurt as bad as doing it to more expensive kit.    Hence, the reason for a destroyer-sized kit as opposed to something more.   Learn from your build of this kit.   Learn techniques.  Teach your 15 dancing thumbs to do what you want of them.   Take what you have learned and move on to another scale or other subjects.

The Tamiya Fletcher is Tamiya engineering.    Parts fit well.   The 5-inch gun houses are a tad small and don't have the offset barrel seen on other 5"/38 offerings.   You wouldn't know it if someone didn't tell you.  The grilles on the stacks are a bit fudgy - but nowhere as bad as the Trumpeter Sullivans.  The kit builds as only a round-bridge,  only something like one of 4 of the early versions of the class.  

The Trumpeter England also has good fit.  The plastic parts on the guns are good.  The odd thing is the "bumps" on the superstructure.   These are depth charge arbors stored  on the bulkhead before use.   A drybrushing will pop them out.   This is a Buckley-class,  an early DE version.   Later had different armament & superstructure layout.   It comes with a minimum of PE,  but needs some more to complete it.   Regardless it is a good learner.  

It sounds like most of us are lining up behind the England, and it won't disappoint.  As others have said, expect mistakes. I've only gotten back into modeling as a "full time" hobby for about the past three or four years, and am working on my third ship since then. I was initially daunted by the thought of all that PE, but it seems to usually work out OK. Patience is a necessity, with a steady hand being a close second.

I agree with starting the England.  I am building it now and find it a lot easier to build than all of the other ship kits I built.  Everything is fitting very well and the part count is low so it is becoming a quick build.  There are some mods that need to be done like the anchors, fittings, etc. I sanded all of the depth charge arbors off the wall and will replace them with the ones that came with the GMM PE kit.   That will be a tasks, as there are a lot of them.

IIRC the England comes with basic PE. I think that'll do the job.

I pulled the kit off my shelf and it does come with some very basic PE - search radar and DC racks/k-gun stowage.  Scale Hobbyist has a Tom's Modelworks PE set for $19.89. I have the White Ensign Set, also available at Scale Hobbist for $26.99 (buckley Class DE set).

I purchase the Gold Metal Model PE which is going for $26.  Their instruction sheets are excellent on all their PE kits.  Very detail and explaining how to bend and place the part.

http://www.goldmm.com/products.htm

In 1/350 injection plastic, the only class of Frigate available that I can think of off the top of my head is the FFG-7 Oliver Hazard Perry Class, made by Academy. 

Yep.

CpnMac will heave to soon to remind us what exactly a frigate is.

Bigger than a DD, smaller than a light cruiser?

Back to the OP, I don't know what he/ she thinks is low cost,  but pretty much anything Revell works.

Now the definition of frigate depends upon the era and navy. In the 1960s/1970s, the US Navy called ships that would be cruisers as frigates, in line with the age of sail definition. Nowadays, frigates are more in line with WWII DEs, optimized primarily for ASW work. Other countries may classify them as Corvettes. 

Frigates are today's equivalent of the Destroyer Escort. In fact, when this class of ship began to be built for the US Navy in the early 1960's (the Bronstein Class), they were originally designated as DE's. Many of our Cruisers at the time (1951- early 1960's) were designated as Destroyer Leaders (DLs), as were some ships that were later re-designated as DDGs.

I could not locate any 1/350 scale River Class in plastic, but I did find one in 1/700 scale. There is a Flower Class in /1350.  The Resin Shipyard has one in 1/350 scale, however: http://www.resinshipyard.com/pages/catalog.html.

And, if you do build a River, this thread may be of interest to you:

 http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=7797&start=80

German Armour

Does anyone know if any kits of the river class frigates are out there?

 

German Armour

Why I asked HMCS Orkney K448 is interesting to me and I'd want to build it sometime in the future.

 

Deutsches Panzer,

I think that the advice you are receiving to stick to a "beginner" kit is sound, and you did ask for our advice.  At the same time, I'm presuming that you've been modeling at least in armor for some period of time, so I'd also tell you that, if you see something you want to build and you are comfortable with it, go for it - within reason. But, take your time, be very, very patient, and read up on the "how to's" of both ship-building and any new mediums with which you want to work.

I hadn't built a ship since high school (1980), and only about a dozen kits en toto since then when I pulled Dragon's 1/350 scale VLS AEGIS Cruiser kit off the shelf in the spring of 2013. My wife had bought this for me some years earlier since I'd served in USS Normandy (CG 60).   I didn't want to build a "prep kit" first, and definitely wanted to dress her up with AM. I've attached a link to a photo below...was there frustration, mistakes, and a lot of sailor-speak? You bet!  Is she museum quality? No way. But I think she turned out pretty well, and I'm happy with the build.

http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/m/online/1580237.aspx

We've given you a lot to think about, but in the end, do what will make you happy...that's what this hobby is all about!