New to ships

Update:
Sorry I haven't gotten back to you sooner, but since then I went out and got a kit with my christmas money. I wasn't too concerned with the subject, so I just visited the lhs to see what interested me. Well, I fell for the Glencoe Models 1/225 scale USS oregon. Its a pre-dreadnought battleship, in fact its like the first battleship, so it is not an especially large ship. It is most known for its record voyage around the tip of South America during the spanish american war in order to join U.S. forces and it participated in the attacks there (there was no Panama canal then). The scale is larger than usual making for an impressive model. I know you guys told me to go with a destroyer sized project, but this is a small battleship. Anyways, its large enough model wise to be an easy build. Curious, I tried to find any after market details but the PE fret cost as much as the model did, so I will have to skip that this time, although I would like to at least add railings, any suggestions for this?
Thanks for all your advice. I'll Post pictures when i finish.

---Sawyer

sawdeanz wrote:

Thanks, that sounds like good advice. I was considering 1/350 scale but was dettered by the price tags, so I'll take your advice and start with the smaller destroyers.

I cannot recommend the Trumpeter USS The Sullivans destroyer in 1:350 scale to a novice.  There are several problems with the kit which would make for a less than satisfactory first build (fit, over and under-sized parts). 

Modern destroyers such as a Burke or Spruance class are larger than WWII destroyers, as large as WWII cruisers.   I was recommending a smaller kit -- something which will be completable.  Also a WWII destroyer would likely have more/varied assembly tasks to practice.

sawdeanz wrote:

lol, I sure hope santa brought you just what you wanted ; )

Judging from the evidence, it's a pretty safe bet:

1) It's not wrapped

2) I bought it myself - 40% off at the local craft store.  Now I can afford the extra B-25s and some PE

Peter 

Well, if you are really fixated on a 1/350 battleship (though the advice elsewhere about a 1/350 destroyer is good to think on!), you might have a look at either Bismarck or Yamato, of which there are inumerable examples available for cheap money (like around $30).  There is supposed to be a new Bismarck kit coming out by Revell of Germany that appears to be a real winner, and cheap too!  I suggest either of these battleships because both have been produced in profusion, there are tons of different PE and other 'upgrades' that you can add to the mix, and basically make it as tough for yourself, or as easy as you like.  The main point is that both of these ships have relatively few parts compared to others, with large painting areas, simple paint schemes, and make very presentable models at the end of the day.

sawdeanz - I was in the same "boat" (pun intended) as you.... I got similar answers when I researched what to build first. The Tamiya 350 Fletcher is the most popular choice, as mentioned in the above posts. Other ships to consider would be 1:700 flatops; still a managable size, not as much superstructure, you can try some detailing. Another one to consider is the good ole (or just old) CHEAP Revell PT109 boat (1:72). Large and a relatively quick build. The Liberty ships from Trumpeter arenot really for novices, but a great choice if you want to steer away from "guns". For modern ships, stick to destroyers, the Dragon USS Kidd comes well reccomended, will set you back 30-40$. In terms of "tools", you will end up doing PE for sure, including long rails. I am saving for a PE bending tool... finally, down the road you will probably want to switch to resin ships, 3x the cost, 10x the quality, 100x the choices and types. Dragon has released a nice series of 1:700 ships, "Premium" editions, which includes PE. I have a couple of their destroyers, small but not minuscule. Think "1:72 scale WW2 twin engine bomber". Still "large enough" for details and look nice, can be had for less than 20$. And steer clear from Trumpeter UNLESS you research the SPECIFIC kit... the variety of quality is immense....  hope this helps!  Oh one more thing, you will do a lot more of "hand painting" (vs AB) in ships vis-a-vis a/c and armor. As mentioned before, I would recommend to wait on the battleships and 350 scale a/c carriers.

lol, I sure hope santa brought you just what you wanted ; )

I'm a 95% aircraft guy myself, so I know where you're coming from.  Ed's ideas are spot on.  Definitely start with 1/350, unless you're a 1/144 or 1/200 aircraft modeler.  Start with something relatively small and simple to learn new skills.

Right now I'm working on the Trumpeter 1/350 SS Jeremiah O'Brien Liberty Ship, with GMM PE.  It's been a long time since I've done a ship, so I'm a bit rusty, but it's coming back.  My biggest hurdle is that I'm fairly illiterate when it comes to ships, so I really have to work to figure out where some of the PE goes.  If you can find online pics of your subject, that'll help a lot in this area.

There's also a suspiciously long, narrow box under the tree that just might be a USS Hornet.  That would combine my air and ship interests nicely. 

Peter

Thanks, that sounds like good advice. I was considering 1/350 scale but was dettered by the price tags, so I'll take your advice and start with the smaller destroyers.

I recommend that novices to ship modeling start in 1:350 then transfer the skills learned to a smaller scale [if they wish to go in that direction].

I also recommend that instead of starting with a big (read expensive) kit such as a battleship ot carrier that they begin with a destroyer-sized project.   For that I recommend the Tamiya Fletcher, the Trumpeter England, or the Revell SMS Emden.

I recommend the larger kits because the parts are larger and easier to learn to manipulate.  

I recommend the destroyer-sized project since there are fewer parts (less of the Ohmigosh! Factor) than in the larger (expensive) kit.   This kit will more likely be finished than the bigger kit which gets put away for fear of screwing it up.

There are no styrene Indianapolis kits in a larger scale.  It is only available in the smaller scales.   There are some 1:350 scale cruisers due soon, from Trumpeter.   I would recommend that you hold off until we see how they are.   Trumpeter's ship kits have been hit-n-miss as far as quality is concerned