Airfix 1/72 Golden Hind

ejhammer, Who makes a good or best 1/350th WW2 Essex class carrier. I was thinking of building one I would like to finish my Indianapolis, because I have everything for it including PE. I also have the Missouri I built in 1988 & gave to my best friend, who had a landing craft blown out from under him on the first wave into Omaha Beach.

   I will post another thread on the Imai Mayflower next week. I have the hull nearly done & it really looks good. That big one is a beautiful kit, I think the nicest plastic kit I have built. I have done several big Imai kits & this is the best.

gene1

ejhammer, Who makes a good or best 1/350th WW2 Essex class carrier. I was thinking of building one I would like to finish my Indianapolis, because I have everything for it including PE. I also have the Missouri I built in 1988 & gave to my best friend, who had a landing craft blown out from under him on the first wave into Omaha Beach.

   I will post another thread on the Imai Mayflower next week. I have the hull nearly done & it really looks good. That big one is a beautiful kit, I think the nicest plastic kit I have built. I have done several big Imai kits & this is the best.

 

I'm just getting in to 1/350 scale. I have done - 

1/700 Essex CV-9 WWII from Hasegawa, Dragon and Trumpeter.

1/700 Yorktown CV-10 WWII Trumpeter

1/700 Hornet CVS-12, 1960's Revell

1/500 ish FDR CVA-42 Midway class, Revell

I'm working on a vintage 1/530 Revell ESSEX CVA-9 1958 era angle deck. Lots of mods on this one. This one I want done right as I served aboard her 1960 to 1964.

Also have on the bench, a Trumpeter 1/350 CV-9 WWII Essex and a 1/350 Gallery Wasp LHD-1.

On the shelf in the build que, a Renwal 1/500 Shang Ri La CVA-38 angle deck, Trumpy 1/350 Lexington CV-2 andTrumpy 1/500 Nimitz class that supposedly can be done as CVN-68, 69, 70, 73, 74.

And a couple oilers, liberty ships, destroyers, landing craft, pretty much anything that floats. Been working on a couple commission builds, sailing craft, both wood kits, plus a Naval oiler that was supposed to be for a customer's fathers day gift but I won't make the deadline for that. When these are done it will be back to the carriers. 

All of these kits have their issues, some more than others. Do an old Renwal re-pop, it will drive you nuts. They all have errors, although only people that have a thorough knowledge of them and a sharp eye will ever notice, at least the minor issues. I have a tendency to get bogged down in the details sometimes. They all have fit issues as well. If you do wood kits (they are really a box of materials, not parts) These issues should not bother you, as you should be patient enough to make any necessary alterations and fixes. If you are used to putting together nearly perfectly fitting parts, thats another story. The 1/700 Hasegawa ESSEX is an example. It's not really the Essex at all, so requires a bunch of rework. The 1/700 Trumpeter ESSEX had major fit issues of the hull and flight deck. It wound up on the "set aside" shelf several times.

All in all though, if you have the patience for a big build, you can develop the skills as you go, necessary to produce a really impressive build. Start a build thread on this site, ask questions as you go, you will get a lot of great advice and assistance from the guys here. Carriers take quite a long time to build. And above all, remember, it is your build. Be as picky or not picky as you want, as long as it suites your fancy. Have fun.

EJ

EJ, thanks a lot for the great answer. Which of the 1/350 that you have do you think is best, the Essex, Trumpy, or the Wasp? Or any other that you have seen? I am not that picky about loittle things. 

 I haven't built 1/700 in a long time. I do have about 5 battleships left I built in 1/700. I built the Indiana & the Yamato because my brother on the Inddiana & the South Dakota were sent after the Yamota to sink it. They were not to happy about putting their 16 guns against Yamato's 18" guns. When they got there , the Navy planes had just sunk it & he said there were parts & japs all over the sea.

   I am not about to build a wood ship again, I did a bunch of wood sailing ships & riverboats in the past along with 7 train layouts, but at 86 . I figure by the way I am going at 90 I will still be building, if I'm here.

 My big Constitution from 35 years ago. It is still here.

                 Gene

Amen to the 1/700. At age 75, I think I'm done with that.

I think the Trumeter #05602, 1/350 ESSEX CV-9 WWII is fine. A lot of extras are available for it, but it builds up to a very nice model, and I think pretty accurate. The aircraft are available for it so you can populate it with a full deckload. Even without a load of exras, it still comes out pretty good.

The Gallery kit, #64001, is the LHD-1. I'm going to build it up as ESSEX, LHD-2. I found the decals for it. The kit has all the aircraft and Marine landing assult vehicles in it. I think it's a very nice kit, but lots of parts. This one I work on in spurts, then let it rest. Very nice kit though.

I would like to take them both to the USS ESSEX reunion next year. Hope I get them done.

EJ

PS - Nice Connie!

I've not done a big sailing ship. I stick to small boats and such. Cheasapeak Bay Flattie, East coast utility skiffs, inland lake rowboats of the 1940's / 60's era, sailboats, the kind of stuff I knew growing up in the 100'ds of Michigan lakes. I find the big one's, like the Connie, rather intimidating, mainly because of the rigging.