Dragon 1/350 Buchanan

I have been away from the hobby for too long but just renewed my magazine subscription and decided to look at the forum.

 I have been doing some full scale modeling for a couple of years after Hurricane Rita smacked me. Completely remodled the inside of the house, put up new cedar privacy fence, landscaped the yard, new 16X28 covered patio with wet bar and outdoor kitchen and added on to the house one more bedroom and full bath. 

 Thank you Shelter Home Insurance, Fidelity Flood insurance, Red Cross, FEMA, Road Home and my friends and family. 

 I had enough left over to buy the Buchanan and detail kit from Dragon. I have several 1/350 kits started and unbuilt that I plan to complete now that I have time. I want to do a diorama of the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor but need the resin model for the Vestal which I cant find anywhere.........help.

I also have The Sullivans DD, Yorktown, Franklin, North Carolina, tamaya Fletcher class DD and have the new trumpeter USS Alabama on the way. As you can see I will be busy and on the forum looking for help often.

I am an old H.O. Scale model railroader so I am used to small detail parts and scratch building but any tips I can get or share are appreciated. 

bayoutider wrote:

I had enough left over to buy the Buchanan and detail kit from Dragon. I have several 1/350 kits started and unbuilt that I plan to complete now that I have time. I want to do a diorama of the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor but need the resin model for the Vestal which I cant find anywhere.........help.

Vestal is here

http://www.commanderseries.com/pages/Vestal.html

EdGrune wrote:

bayoutider wrote:  I had enough left over to buy the Buchanan and detail kit from Dragon. I have several 1/350 kits started and unbuilt that I plan to complete now that I have time. I want to do a diorama of the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor but need the resin model for the Vestal which I cant find anywhere.........help. Vestal is here http://www.commanderseries.com/pages/Vestal.html

Thanks for the link. I just emailed them to order one.

Tracy White wrote:

Just as a FYI, Commander just moved... I'm not sure if he's completely set up to ship quite yet.

Jon is up and running Tracy.

I've corresponded with another poster from this forum who has ordered since the move and has already received his order.

Jon will be at the IPMS Nats, starting Wednesday, so he will be away from his base of operations.   He may be able to get your emails, but will probably not be able to process orders until he gets back home on Sunday.

EdGrune wrote:

Tracy White wrote: Just as a FYI, Commander just moved... I'm not sure if he's completely set up to ship quite yet. Jon is up and running Tracy. I've corresponded with another poster from this forum who has ordered since the move and has already received his order. Jon will be at the IPMS Nats, starting Wednesday, so he will be away from his base of operations.   He may be able to get your emails, but will probably not be able to process orders until he gets back home on Sunday.

He emailed me back yesterday and said he had one USS Vestal in stock and put my name on it. I sent my credit card info in several emails to him for payment. He said he would be in Va. Beach till thursday and take care of it for me.

Again, thanks for the help.

Any idea what size builders in scale chain I should use for anchor chain for the Vestal and Arizona? 40 links per inch or 27?? 

bayoutider wrote:

Any idea what size builders in scale chain I should use for anchor chain for the Vestal and Arizona? 40 links per inch or 27??

I like Tiger Models vary fine chain for cruiser-sized ships & smaller in 1:350 scale.   Go with their fine chain for battleships & carriers in that scale.   Available wherever armor aftermarket stuff is sold

I don't have the dimensions for the Arizona's chains,  but according to the Floating Drydocks plan book for the Missouri,  individual chain links were 21 inches long by 12.5 inches wide.

JMart wrote:

bayoutider - welcome aboard! Look forward to yoru build blogs, some GREat stuff you have on your bench-pier.. cheers

 Being an old model railroad guy I'm really into dioramas more than static display. Some ideas I have so far is the Arizona & Vestal the day before the attack tied to the Quays at Pearl with maybe a liberty boat in the water. A row of destroyers at anchor in port. The USS Lexington doing plane launch or recovery, same for the USS Franklin. Liberty Ship and Destroyer Escort in heavy seas of the Atlantic. Liberty Ship being loaded at dock. USS Alabama anchored or at sea with DD, same for North Carolina and Missouri. 

What a cool model it would be to have a carrier passing the Arizona monument with sailors manning the rail. We did this when on the USS Coral Sea pulled into Pearl back in '67. Who would be up to the task of painting all those little people or the expense?

Any other ideas? Shelf sizes are limited to 12"X42". Hope I can complete all this, my end is closer than my beginning LOL. At least I am retired. 

SCORE!!!!  Early b'day present.  The Buchanan and the PE set.

Picked up the '45 Buchanan at the Nats.   The bulk of the parts from the '42 version are in a special box ( the 6 crew men are not there).  It comes with a set of sprues which comprise the difference between the '42 qnd '45 versions.  In place of the crew are figures of MacArthur and Nimitz and Halsey .  The Buchanan delivered MacArthur to the Missouri for the surrender.

Still enroute home.   Full debrief midweek when I get there

bob36281 wrote:

Got mine today, looks good. The molding is very crisp. A flyer is included for the photoetch "upgrade" set from Cyber-Hobby. Upon checking, found out they want $86 for a very small set!(Railings, radar antennas). However, Squadron or greatModels list the same set for $26 !! of course, they're both currently out of stock.....

Perhaps it's a different set, but weren't they offering the same set with Buchanon preorders for $10?

Yeah - the Cyber PE for Buchanan was cheap with the pre-order.  I can't believe that they'd ask $86 for it.  Even the $26 seems high for what you get - railings and the pre-shaped fire control radar.  No ladders, no search radar, no depth charge racks, no platforms.  Unless they've added to the original, I'd be tempted to go with the generic DD/DE detail PE that I think is sold by Tom's.

bob36281 wrote:

Got mine today, looks good. The molding is very crisp. A flyer is included for the photoetch "upgrade" set from Cyber-Hobby. Upon checking, found out they want $86 for a very small set!(Railings, radar antennas). However, Squadron or greatModels list the same set for $26 !! of course, they're both currently out of stock.....

EdGrune wrote:

Picked up the '45 Buchanan at the Nats.   The bulk of the parts from the '42 version are in a special box ( the 6 crew men are not there).  It comes with a set of sprues which comprise the difference between the '42 qnd '45 versions.  In place of the crew are figures of MacArthur and Nimitz and Halsey .  The Buchanan delivered MacArthur to the Missouri for the surrender. Still enroute home.   Full debrief midweek when I get there

So do all kits come with the '42 and '45 options?

No.  Stock Number 1021 is the 1942 version.   Stock number 1030 is the 1945 version.   The boxes are different,.  What is planned with the intervening numbers ... the Bensons,  pre-war versions ... ?   

In addition to the figures mentioned previously, there is a difference in the included PE items, including them late-war 40mm deck and the extra 20mm on the bridge face.  If you buy a '45 you get most of a '42.  You buy a '42 and you don't get the '45 parts

Free Time Hobbies tried to buy the excess stock from Dragon after the convention but was told no.   They may appear on the Cyberhobby site -- or they may become a collectors item.

Just got an email from the Dragon/Cyberhobby online store.  

They have a 'limited number' of the special run 1945 Buchanans available.  They are a penny less than what I paid for mine, plus you have to pay for shipping.   The photoetched rails and preformed MK37 radar set for the Buchanan is also available at the special convention rate.   

Google Cyberhobby for the website.  

Dragon has them at http://www.dragonusaonline.com/

It is a limited edition and will not be run again.

Tracy White wrote:

Patience...

where is the best place to get the Buchanan? she'll convert to the 1944 mine sweeping version of the Emmons, so I dont need the 45 version.

I have never bought a model online 

The 1942 version of the Buchanan is available from the ususal online store suspects.   I've seen it on the Squadron and Sprue Brothers sites.   Check the sites of the advertizers who support this site.    I bought mine from Dragon/Cyberhobby

http://www.cyber-hobby.com/shop/

The 1945 version is a limited run kit.    There were a few left over inventory from the IPMS Nats supplied to Freetime Hobbies,  but they are now sold out.    You may still be able to buy some from the Cyberhobby online store.

--EDIT 0855 - 23AUG08 --

Just got an email from Dragon/Cyberhobby.  They are sold out of the 1945 Buchanans also.  

-- END EDIT --

Online ordering from most online shops is quite easy with a credit card or paypal.  Most sites have a shopping cart system which make it easy for you to spend your money.  Shipping to Okinawa may add some to the cost, if you are military it may be cheaper.

Try Hobby Link-Japan (hlj.com) or Rainbow-10.   They may be able to get it to you more inexpensively from Japan than from a Stateside operation.

 For the equivelent of the Fletchers:

I'm going to guess that for the Germans the Z23 or Z46 class.

For the Japanese maybe the Asashio or Atkitsuki.

Don't quote me on this though.

David

EdGrune wrote:

The 1942 version of the Buchanan is available from the ususal online store suspects.   I've seen it on the Squadron and Sprue Brothers sites.   Check the sites of the advertizers who support this site.    I bought mine from Dragon/Cyberhobby http://www.cyber-hobby.com/shop/ The 1945 version is a limited run kit.    There were a few left over inventory from the IPMS Nats supplied to Freetime Hobbies,  but they are now sold out.    You may still be able to buy some from the Cyberhobby online store. --EDIT 0855 - 23AUG08 -- Just got an email from Dragon/Cyberhobby.  They are sold out of the 1945 Buchanans also.   -- END EDIT -- Online ordering from most online shops is quite easy with a credit card or paypal.  Most sites have a shopping cart system which make it easy for you to spend your money.  Shipping to Okinawa may add some to the cost, if you are military it may be cheaper. Try Hobby Link-Japan (hlj.com) or Rainbow-10.   They may be able to get it to you more inexpensively from Japan than from a Stateside operation.