Informal "Your Most Wanted Ship kit" Poll

uspsjuan wrote:

why hasen't anyone mentioned the USS Indianapolis ? you think with its history it would have already have made it in 1/350. i would get one.

I'm an aircraft guy, but if there was a 1/350 USS Indianapolis in injection plastic, I'd be all over it.  The resin one is just too darn expensive.

USN:

1/72 Early Elco 77ft'ers and Higgins PTs (w/options for various configurations)

1/48 All three class of USN PT-Boats (w/options for various configurations)

1/350 USN Treaty Class CAs 

1/350 Omahas, Brooklyns & St Louis Class CLs

1/350 USN Wickes/Clemson DDs

1/144 Perch/Salmon/Sargo/Tambor/Gar Class subs (1941/42 fit), Would be kind of interesting to do a pink USS Sea Tiger (as seen in the movie "Operation Petticoat").

RN:

1/35 RN MTBs (2 different types) 

1/48 RN MTBs (2 different types)

1/350 WW2 RN CLs, such as Dido, Leander, Ajax, Hobart/Perth, Dauntless, Enterprise, to name just a few. 

1/350 Corvettes and Frigates

All these would of course be injection molded and have the option of being built in pre-war or WW2 configuration, which I wouldn't mind paying a little extra for.

It's interesting to note how Russian warships are finally coming into the mainstream kit market.  My father spent 24 years in the Navy on destroyers and brought home lots of photos of them.  I was always impressed with their sleek lines and low profiles, like sports cars or fighter planes, so it stands to reason they make good modeling subjects.

 So, let me ask a question:  Other than the Kirov/Frunze cruisers, who would be a hands-down winner, what modern Russian warship is the most beautiful or interesting?

 My vote goes to Udaloy with Krivak at a close second.

ftozier wrote:

I would like to a 1/350 Knox Class FF in plastic with options for pre-1980 overhauls. I served on a Knox Class. Soviet Navy: 1/700 Moskva, Kashin, Mod Kashin, Kresta I & II, and Nanuchka. Frank

A Nanuchka (actually a pair of them, a  (I) and (III)) was done by Dragon, kit #7012 - my box is dated 1990.

All below in plastic 

1/700 USN Alaska class

1/700 HMS Dido and other WW2 RN cruisers

1/700 Brooklyn class CA's or any USN CA's priot to Baltimore class CA's

1/700 RN DD's

1/700 Midway class CV's as commissioned, Korea, 60-70's

 Bill

Many of the ships that have been named recently (including the Maine and the Dreadnought) are available in the form of 1/700 resin kits from the remarkable Russian manufacturer Combrig.  A good way to see its offerings is via the Steel Navy website, www.steelnavy.com

Combrig has been around for several years now, and its kits have been getting better all the time.  It started out by covering the Russian and Soviet Navies; just about every Russian/Soviet steel warship is covered by the Combrig range.  (That includes some fascinating pre-Dreadnoughts from the Russo-Japanese War period.)  Some of the firm's first offerings were a little on the crude side, but they've gotten steadily better.  The newer ones include frets of photo-etched brass detail parts (usually excluding railings and ladders, which can be found in generic sets from the aftermarket manufacturers).  Nowadays new Combrig releases seem to be concentrating on the British and American navies.  The latest announcements include the four WWI battleships of the Iron Duke class (a separate, different kit for each one) and the battlecruiser Tiger.  (I believe the Lion and Queen Mary are on the way.)

From my personal standpoint, one big attraction of the Combrig kits is their prices.  Due to the current condition of the rubel, they're quite reasonable for "cottage industry" kits.  A battleship is likely to cost somewhere between $40 and $50.  By the definitions of Olde Phogies like me, that's a lot of money - but take a look at the prices of the latest 1/700 styrene warships from Dragon and Trumpeter.

It takes a little time to get used to resin kits, but after you work with the material for a few hours you'll wonder why you ever thought it was a more difficult medium than styrene.  (In some ways it's actually easier.  I've noticed that some Combrig detail parts, such as masts and boat davits, are cast in a rather soft, ever-so-slightly flexible resin that's far less likely to get broken by accident.)

This thread has been fascinating - a real wishbook for ship modelers.  Realistically, though, we might as well acknowledge that the mainstream styrene kit manufacturers simply aren't interested in most of these subjects.  Anybody with a deep-seated interest in steel warship models really needs to get reconciled to resin kits.  They've come a long, long way in the last few years, and enough of them are now available to last most of us the rest of our lifetimes.

alumni72 wrote:

Some ships of the Great White Fleet - maybe the Maine?  Has the Maine ever been offered in a kit?! And how can we get away with having no kits of the HMS Warrior or the HMS Dreadnought?

I agree about the Warrior and Dreadnought, particularly the latter (though the Warrior is the one I'd most like to see as a kit). I can't believe the Dreadnought hasn't been produced as a kit (you'd think it would have been an obvious choice for Airfix's 1/600 range back in the 1960s and 70s, although they mainly concentrated on WW2 subjects)

How about some oldies?

USS Bainbridge (DD-1) in 1/72 - 57 feet shorter than the Gato, so should be manageable

USS Jacob Jones (DD-61), first US ship sunk after entering WW1

U-53 (WW1 U-boat) - sank the Jacob Jones

Some ships of the Great White Fleet - maybe the Maine?  Has the Maine ever been offered in a kit?!

The Monitor and the Merrimac?  Maybe 1/72 with complete interior - that would be nice!

The same for the Hunley - complete interior.

And how can we get away with having no kits of the HMS Warrior or the HMS Dreadnought?

Well, I guess my true wishlist would be too long to post and too expensive for me to get anyway, so I stick to what I probably want most:

1/72 late-18th century Royal Navy cutter; with the current technology that could be an outstanding, yet still manageable model (I'm not so sure about a current-technology ship-of-the-line; upwards of 2000 parts might be hard to sell)

1/72 CMB 

1/72 Vosper 70ft

1/72 Fairmile (any type)

1/72 LCT

And finally something larger: 

1/72 Castle or even better River class

Jorit 

Wow, every post offers a great range of vessels, all worthy of a manufacturer's catalog. My injected molded "wish list" would include;

82' Viet Nam era Point Class patrol boat in 1:35 to accompany my Tamiya "pibber",

65' Air Sea rescue boat in 1:35 found at many coastal Naval air stations,(I believe the USAF ran a number of these also)

POLAR CLASS ice breaker any scale

180' buoy tender in any scale, painted up gray for WWII service or black hull for peacetime service

An oil tanker like the old "TEXACO Tanker" gas station premium from the 1960's in 1:96    

I'd love to see more 1:96 scale period ship models.  By comparison there are relatively few in plastic.  Heller and Revell, I thank you for the kits you have produced.  I'd love to see some more though...

 Grymm

EAKenepp wrote:

How 'bout a 1/700 Q-ship, such as the Atik.  Better options for U-boat towers would be nice for the u-boat junkies out there (you know who you are).

 1/350 Kirov

Pavlvs wrote:

Mr. rocky the goat must like small models. A war of 1812 frigate in 1/700 would be teeny but it would be cool to see it next to the Nimitz for comparison.

Mr. Pavlvs:  Yea, you're correct.  I like the little boats, as does my available storage space.  But, my aging eyes are tired of looking at the small stuff, so I guess I'm gonna have to buy some 20x magnifiers!!

Funny you mention an 1812 frigate next to a Nimitz, as I have a 1/600 USCG Eagle I'm thinking of doing that with in a diorama with a 1/700 carrier.  I know it's a 15% size error, but, close enough to have fun with anyway. 

1/350 Knox Class Frigate

1/350 Perry Class FFG (short hull)

EXCELLENT THREAD !!!

I believe have responded a "formal" FSM poll time ago (when was the last one???), but without having at hand what I responded then (and the U VIII has already been released!) I can contribute with the following "nice-to-have":

1- Combattante Class fast patrol boat, 1/72, with "lots" of options to allow different versions (maybe upscaling the 1/144 Revell-EUR kit?  )

2- Any (or several!) small german warship, in 1/72 (minesweeper, R-Boat, MFP, etc).

3- A Fletcher Class destroyer in 1/72, why not (that would be HUGE, boy!  )

4- Any cold-war or modern Soviet/Russian small warship in 1/72 (OSA, torpedo boats, etc).

5- All the "small" U-Boot (Biber, Seehund, type XXIII, etc) also in... 1/72!

6- And for now will end with... a Type IX and XXI (in which scale can be? hmmm... 1/72!)

I apologize for the "odd" naval scale, but 1/72 (and 1/76) is my personal choice for tanks & aircraft, and I already have most of the ship kits in that scale.

Ah! And please in injection moulding (mainstream or not), just to reach a wider audience (I still don't dare Vacs, and Resin is way too Expensive!).

Cheers from DownUnder,

Diego.

1:350 Styrene:  Sumner class DD (late 1950s but pre-Fram)

                       Essex class CVA or CVS (late 1950

                        USS Texas (BB 35)

                        USS Houston (CA 30)

How 'bout a 1/700 Q-ship, such as the Atik.

 Better options for U-boat towers would be nice for the u-boat junkies out there (you know who you are).