Should I, shouldn't I? —Advice needed for purchase of very old Revell model

Oh, considering your personal connection, you should buy it. I remember some years back our member Fred (Onyxman) backdated one into it's original C4 cargo ship.

It has a flat bottom and it's box scale, somewhere around 1/480.

Gold Medal Models makes a great PE set for a group of those kits, including things you'd need specific to the Haven/ Repose/ Hope kits.

http://www.goldmm.com/ships/gms500-5.htm

I can't comment on the price, but these things aren't easy to find. I hope the postage is reasonable.

I'd be prepared for issues with the decals, but the kit on eBay looks clean, sealed and well taken care of.

I've never built this one, but I have built the other models from that group like the T2 tanker, the Hawaiian Pilot and the Montrose APA. They are nice, detailed, old fashiony kits.

Using PE on these will involve cutting off a lot of plastic railing. I am just finishing my 1955 vintage Midway. 

Bill

GMorrison

Oh, considering your personal connection, you should buy it.

Short answer, I'm with Bill.

Longer answer if you're interested:

With your history, I don't see how you can not buy this kit, even it were the worst kit ever produced.

Personally, when I stumble across a kit that brings back a memory from builiding as a kid, my credit card tends to come out long before my brain engages. I've not regretted a purchase yet.

I also don't think it matters if you were to build it or not. Display it in a the box somewhere you can see it often. Or build it if you want. The 'memory' kits I've bought bring me joy everytime I look at them sitting in my small stash. Might build them someday, might not.

And thank you for serving.

There’s a little bit about the Haven/Repose on this compilation of older ship kit reviews. It is definitely going to be clunky by today’s standards; the kit is over 60 years old now! Given your personal connection, you should get it and build it anyway.

http://www.modelerjoe.net/shipmodellist.html#RevellHaven

Agreed, yes you should go for it.

However, before going for a high-priced item on eBay, you should be open-minded about substitutes.  Since 1954, that same set of moldings has been released by Revell as as USS Haven (in 1954), USS Repose (1960), SS HOPE (1961 and USS Repose (1967) - all the same set of moldings.  (The HOPE kit was a civilian charter, so it doesn't have the decals for the green stripes and red crosses.)  Also, you may find it packaged by AHM or possibly Advent in the US, or Lodella (Mexican Revell) or Brazillian Revell, the proper name of which escapes me.  In my experience, the plastic of the earlier release was more brittle, but your mileage may vary.  I hate to screw up somebody's sale, but $65 seems exhorbitant for that kit.  I'd be happy to pull one out of the stash and give it to you for a more reasonable price, but as you say, postage from the US can be a bear.

Build-wise, just besides the kit's age, the biggest considerations are that it has the molded-in railings and flat bottom that were characteristic of 1950's Revell ships.

You can see examples of a really nice build at http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery/service/other/haven-480-dc/dc-index.html and another at http://www.modelships.info/debrisfield/gallery/atle-haven.html.

Even if you don't get carried away with surgery (no pun intended, but I like it) and photo-etch, you can fix the model up nicely with a paintbrush.  Just look at the various bumps and lumps on the decks and paint them the way they should appear, rather than vanilla like the instructions.

This is a great opportunity to build a model of something that has real meaning for you.  Guess I need to get hot and start building kits of the ships I served on, to take my own medicine.  Enjoy!

Best regards
Rick

Bob, ouch on the $65 not including shipping as i think you can find a better deal then that & i live east of you in Ontario. right now i have 2 those Haven class kits being built but not out of the box. the reason i say that is the decks make the hull wider then the lower half of the hull. the hull bottom is correct shape except for missing keel bulges but the hull sides are supposed to be vertical not sloped away from the decks which means all new decks. cutoff all the railings as should not see them at that scale.

http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=165137

http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=165105

http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=183327

BUY IT! 

(If too expensive, I bet you'll find a better price in the near future. keep watching.)

  It is around a 1/470 scale.  A whole bunch of 1/440 thru 1/520 scale model ships are still out there and could look great together.  

I love the 1/500ish scale.  Not too big to display and not too small so details are easy to add.

A few ideas for the future:

  NS Savannah  (some say 1/445, so close.)

  Revell Yorktown class CV's ( 1/487)

  Revell Pittsburg/ Helena CA  ( 1/480)

  Revell Canberra/ Boston CG (1/480)

  And then you have the 1/500 stuff by Nichimo, Monogram, Mastercraft, Frog,  and Renwal.

The old Revell 1/509 Longbeach  and Lindbergs 1/520 Neches tanker round out the similar or "almost close" in-scale stuff.

Sorry that these kits are OOP except for the Atlantis re-pop of Revell and a Renwal kit. 

Enjoy your Hospital Ship.  Personal attachments make for the best choices in models.

     Nino

Nino, the Haven class hospital ship model is actually 1/482.484 scale not around 1/470 scale.

http://www.modelerjoe.net/shipmodellist.html#RevellHaven

Lindbergs 1/520 Neches tanker can still be gotten as USS Kennebec 1/501.4 scale from Lindberg\Round2models

ddp59

Nino, the Haven class hospital ship model is actually 1/482.484 scale not around 1/470 scale.

 

 1/482!   Even better!   Love that scale range. Thanks for the update.

   My new rant:  Remove Revells plastic similated "railings"!

      Nino

Revell:  Hope, Haven, and Repose.  All good.

IF it fits your need (and it sounds like it), the time is right (for you), the thing is nibbling away in your mind to "build me, build me". Then whats stopping you? Yes, you can wait for the "get a better price" in some indetermanit time in the future. But do you want to?, if not, go get it.  Besides if you find another model of the ship and it less expencive you can get that one too. Then you can have fun rebuilding it into a better version ----Fun Awaits. 

Scalemates lists this as 1:471

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/revell-h320-169-haven--178933

And they list the kit (as SS Hope) as in production as recently as 2008, so I'd not spend extra for the box art (which often drives the collector's market).

The USS Haven kits appear to all have crosses and green stripes, which are essential parts of USN hospital ship markings

They have a set of the 1968 instructions:  https://www.scalemates.com/products/img/3/1/4/111314-11-instructions.pdf

Looks like the Hope kits had only crosses for decals.  You get a helo, too.

I have no idea why the instructions say to paint the decks half Yellow sand and half rust red.  I'd be inclined to NATO Medium Green or Deck Gray.

I also have no idea why what look to be LCVP on the fore hatch have what appear to be bench seats in them, either.

You might want to look at this, it's in Vancouver:  https://www.ebay.com/itm/REVELL-1-471th-SCALE-HOSPITAL-SHIP-SS-HOPE-85-0007/193294859821?epid=16016798376&hash=item2d01457e2d:g:UO8AAOSwe9Vb~7Ft

Because the 1960 kit will probably have bad decals.

Repose will only need the name and hull number, you can mask and paint the crosses stripes etc.

Thanks to everyone who has responded to my original post. I've learned more about these Haven-class models than I knew I needed to know! I decided to order the S.S. Hope kit from the seller in North Vancouver, but there's a hitch: the listing says he may not ship to Canada, even though he lives only a long stone's throw away from me. OK, a VERY LONG stone's throw, across Coal Harbour, but if just one smallish apartment building weren't in the way, I could see North Vancouver from my living room. When I tried to buy it anyway, eBay.com informed me that it wasn't available to me because I live in Canada! I've written him to express my interest. 

Until I joined FineScale.com, I wasn't aware so many iterations exist of many models. I wasn't aware of S.S. Hope at all. The decals shouldn't pose a problem; I've been designing and printing my own, and as GMorrison wrote, the crosses and green stripes could be painted. 

I'll let you know what happens regarding the eBay Hope kit in question.

Bob

Bobstamp, You have the best guys on the site advising you & I think , buy it is the word. I have at least 5 or 6 p-51's in my cabinets that belonged to my CO in WW2 & I have looked forever for Ralph Parr's F-86 decals in Korea. Neverer found his or Glenn Eaglestons F-86 decals. Definetly give txhe decals a coat of Decal coat by Microscale.

                I've been around a long time & still build models a lot. Some things you only see once.

                                         Gene

Revell, although not uniquely; had a terrible habit of renaming kits and reissuing them without much regard to accuracy.

Hope is a Comfort Class ship. Her sisters are Comfort and Mercy. They have no real resemblance to the Haven Class.

A nifty site to visit is scalemates. They are a member driven data base, usually quite accurate, of kits, histories of same, reviews, very often pdfs of the cartoon pages, and aftermarket parts available.

Bill

This is a never-ending story!

According to Wikipedia, "SS Hope was a hospital ship operated by Project HOPE. This vessel was originally a US Navy hospital ship, USS Consolation (AH-15)." Consolation, according to Wikipedia and several other sources, was a Haven Class ship, and the first hospital ship to be fitted with a helipad, during the Korean War. Previously, when patients were transported to the ship by helicopter, the helicopters landed on barges next to the ship and lifted aboard by crane, obviously not the most efficient way to get critically wounded soldiers into the ship's operating rooms. The idea for the helipad came from a surgeon who was on Consolation's medical staff.

Bob

Nice piece of information, and the photo matches the artwork on the box. Good work.

So Revell didn't do so bad there. 

Scalemates scale is wrong for that model as i measured 2 have class models using my 2ft calipers that is both metric & imperial then did the calculations to get the scale.

http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/12/1215.htm

Bob, use CapnMac82's link to get the Hope for $26US as you can do local pickup from this area North Vancouver, British Columbia, V7R 2P8

SHIPPING TO CANADA -   $12.00

https://www.ebay.com/itm/REVELL-1-471th-SCALE-HOSPITAL-SHIP-SS-HOPE-85-0007/193294859821?epid=16016798376&hash=item2d01457e2d:g:UO8AAOSwe9Vb~7Ft

@ CapnMac82 & ddp59:

I have sent a message via eBay.com telling the seller that I want to buy the SS Hope model, but have not yet had a response. eBay.com won't let me purchase it because the seller "May not ship to Canada." The same listing is not available on eBay.ca.

Bob

i contacted him too but with a link to this thread & that you live across the harbor from him. that $12 shipping is from his "Hope" post.

GMorrison

Nice piece of information.... 

 Here's an aerial photo showing the barges that facilitated the transfer of wounded soldiers to Haven, obviously taken before the installation of the ship's helipad.

One of the best items in my Vietnam War collection of stamps and covers is a Japanese postcard, posted by an American sailor from Haven after it had transited the Suez Canal on its way to drop off French Army survivors of the battle of Dien Bien Phu at Oran, Algeria and Marseille. Those prisoners had become POWs of the Viet Minh following the battle, which played a major role in ending French colonialism in Indochina.

Bob

Bob, got an email from modelmaam about the shipping to Canada for that model.

"All updated now. Thanks for pointing this out
Bob"

ddp59

Bob, got an email from modelmaam about the shipping to Canada for that model.

"All updated now. Thanks for pointing this out

Bob"

@ddp59: Thank you for helping with this. The Hope model has been ordered and paid for.

no problem. was the shipping cost $12 or are you doing pickup? you are the 2nd Canadian that i know off that served in Vietnam as i worked with 1 during the early 80's who was there with the 101st airborne.

ddp59

no problem. was the shipping cost $12 or are you doing pickup? you are the 2nd Canadian that i know off that served in Vietnam as i worked with 1 during the early 80's who was there with the 101st airborne.

Modelma'am knocked the shipping price down to $10. North Van's not far but I don't drive and don't want to risk public transit, even though BC has very nearly flattened the COVID-19 infection curve through social distancing and wearing of masks in public. 

I was still an American when I was in Vietnam, although I did not volunteer to go to Vietnam. I'd become a Navy hospital corpsman and was seconded to the Marines, which don't have their own medical personnel. About 10,000 Canadians did volunteer for Vietnam. Those who survived, even if wounded, receive no benefits, and their records were destroyed soon after the war. My wife and I emigrated to Canada in 1969 and are now dual Canadian-American citizens.

Bob

G,

You were sot of correct when you said "Hope is a Comfort Class ship. Her sisters are Comfort and Mercy. They have no real resemblance to the Haven Class."

The deal is that we made a point to say USS Haven and SS HOPE, as SS HOPE was actually the former USS Consolation (AH-15), not to be confused with the Navy's USS Hope (AH-7).  You are certainly right that AH-7 was not similar to the USS Haven class.

Note - I capitalize SS HOPE because that was how it was painted on the side of the ship, but it doesn't seem to have been any kind of acronym and it was a part of Project Hope, so I should try to write it in mixed case just like the name of a Navy ship.

Best regards,
Rick Heinbaugh

I learned that, thanks!

I missed the SS versus USS. 

Bill

Hi;

 I know I am late to the conversation. I would definitely do the rail removal thing. REVELL always told you in the instructions to paint the "Rails- Walls"? silver? Who ever would paint warship or other vessel rails silver, anyway? Even on the S.S. Lurline in the seventies the rails were white with Wood cap-rails.

Bobstamp

 Here's an aerial photo showing the barges that facilitated the transfer of wounded soldiers to Haven, obviously taken before the installation of the ship's helipad.

This is a collective question.  Looking at that photo, what color is the deck? 
Looks a little pale to be Deck Gray, but the contrast of all that white could be throwing off the contrast, too.

Or, is that a green deck?

These were often MSC ships, even with "USS" names, and they often were more merchant painted than USN painted.

One thing is for sure, the half-yellow half rust color called out in the Revell instruction sheet is flat wrong.

I've never found more than a scarce handful of colour photos of any of the Haven-class hospital ships, but these links will show you two of the seemingly helpful ones:

https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/408983209895990399/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/26574751@N06/18502817304/in/photostream/

These photos both show yellowish decks.

This video shows a few images USS Repose with what appears to be a dark steel grey deck:

https://www.amazon.com/Hospital-Ship-USS-Repose-Corpsmen/dp/B0010VUY86

I remember how surprised I was when I went aboard an American cruiser at Yokosuka, Japan to deliver a message. Sailors were holystoning the wooden deck, which was a soft, light grey, perhaps with overtones of brown. I also remember getting chewed out when I leaned against a bulkhead waiting for an officer to reply to the message. We corpsman weren't always squared away!

Bob