First Ship Build

[Andy J]

Hi there, I've been considering having a go at building a ship for a while now and wondered if anyone could point me in the right direction as to what would be a decent starter kit. I'm not concerned about subject matter though I admit I do fancy a warship of some description. As for scale well maybe not too small but something that builds up nicely oob. Thanks for looking 🙂👍

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday Andy, yours is a rather difficult question, without knowing your skill level etc. I personally started full-on ship modeling about 25 years ago with 1/600 scale Airfix kits, and have stayed with them. I like the 1/600 scale but they're almost impossible to get now, mainly out of production as far as I know. The nearest would be 1/700 but you said not too small. I found 1/700 a bit fiddly myself until I got a bit used to the scale. 1/350 obviously bigger, and more expensive. Most modelers here that build in that scale seem to use aftermarket extensively, and do superb models with it, but you said OOB. Also I've only built in styrene injection molded, I've never done anything in resin.

     To get back to your question, I'd look at something simple as a starter, maybe a destroyer in 1/700, and see how you go from there. But that's just me. Others may have alternative ideas and advice. HTH.      Regards, Jeff.

[Andy J]

16 minutes ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

Gidday Andy, yours is a rather difficult question, without knowing your skill level etc. I personally started full-on ship modeling about 25 years ago with 1/600 scale Airfix kits, and have stayed with them. I like the 1/600 scale but they're almost impossible to get now, mainly out of production as far as I know. The nearest would be 1/700 but you said not too small. I found 1/700 a bit fiddly myself until I got a bit used to the scale. 1/350 obviously bigger, and more expensive. Most modelers here that build in that scale seem to use aftermarket extensively, and do superb models with it, but you said OOB. Also I've only built in styrene injection molded, I've never done anything in resin.

     To get back to your question, I'd look at something simple as a starter, maybe a destroyer in 1/700, and see how you go from there. But that's just me. Others may have alternative ideas and advice. HTH.      Regards, Jeff.

Thanks for the reply Jeff much appreciated. I've built many model kits but never tackled a ship build and don't want to buy something to intense if you know what I mean. I think maybe 1/350 is the scale I'm going to look at but I'm just wondering if there are any kits available which give a reasonable result oob 🤔

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday again, I've got a few 1/350 kits but not made any yet. I got them mainly because I got good deals on them. Two are ICM German battleships of WW1, Konig and Kronprinz. Looking at the kits they don't seam too complex, no PE etc. I might tackle one next year. Other 1/350 modelers could probably give you better advice in this scale. Sorry but that's about all I can help you with. Regards, Jeff.

[Andy J]

3 minutes ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

Gidday again, I've got a few 1/350 kits but not made any yet. I got them mainly because I got good deals on them. Two are ICM German battleships of WW1, Konig and Kronprinz. Looking at the kits they don't seam too complex, no PE etc. I might tackle one next year. Other 1/350 modelers could probably give you better advice in this scale. Sorry but that's about all I can help you with. Regards, Jeff.

No need to be sorry Jeff I asked a question and you were good enough to reply much appreciated thanks 🙂👍

[dnl42]

How about Tamiya's 1/350 FLETCHER? I've seen very good OOB builds; you can also get quite a lot of AM if you want to start going there. The Measure 12 (Modified) scheme isn't the easiest to paint, however...

 

Revell has a 1/144 FLETCHER and some others if you want larger scale. There's more and more 1/144 available, including Trumpeter's LCACs (USN & JMSDF).

 

In 1/72, there's the new-mold Revell PT-109 that looks to be fairly accurate. There are multiple Vospers and life boats. You can get large with U-Boats and Gato Submarine as well as some other smaller subs. There are other coastal boats in 1/72 including another Trumpeter LCAC.

 

In 1/35, there's Italeri's S-Boat and PT-Boat as well as Tamiya's Pibber (USN brown-water navy in Viet Nam).

 

Trumpeter/HB LCMs need a lot work to fix details that are just wrong.

 

HTH

-- 

dnl

 

 

[Tojo72]

1/350 Graf Spee by Trumpeter,bigger then a destroyer but not overwhelming,and not a lot of tiny details.

[OutcastJoel]

I started with a (1/700) Trumpeter USS Lexington, which was a fun introduction, I paired it with the Eduard PE set and still think it looks ace.

 

The 1/350 Flower Class corvette from Mirage is a nice kit with enough PE in the box to give you the full experience but it is all simple enough to make it a fairly quick build.

 

That said if you can stretch to the big Tamiya battle ships in 1/350 I imagine they would be a pretty epic start.

[Andy J]

First off thank you all for your replies and comments very much appreciated indeed 👍. Having read all the replies I've been busy looking at kits online and one sort of jumped out at me if you know what I mean and for no particular reason other than a gut feeling I've purchased the kit 🙂. Now I've done no research on the kit whatsoever so if I've purchased a lemon then so be it but whatever the outcome I will be building this kit as my first attempt at a ship build 

 

 

I would be interested to hear your thoughts on this kit whether positive or negative and any hints or tips would be most welcome 🙂👍

[beefy66]

15 minutes ago, Andy J said:

I would be interested to hear your thoughts on this kit whether positive or negative and any hints or tips would be most welcome 🙂👍

 

Hi Andy I completed this kit last year it only took my 5 years.   but I did have a break in between stints of building it I used the WEM PE set with it so I was trying to build up my skill level with that stuff.

 

As most Tamiya kits it is a great model but has potential for improvement's it just depends on how far you want to go with it make a start on it in the WIP and I am sure you will get lots of help and advice good luck.

 

Stay Safe

beefy

[Tojo72]

I built that kit early in my modeling career,it was a nice well fitting kit.It does have many boxes molded on the deck that will need to hand painted or masked but it was an enjoyable build for me.

[Andy J]

12 minutes ago, beefy66 said:

 

Hi Andy I completed this kit last year it only took my 5 years.   but I did have a break in between stints of building it I used the WEM PE set with it so I was trying to build up my skill level with that stuff.

 

As most Tamiya kits it is a great model but has potential for improvement's it just depends on how far you want to go with it make a start on it in the WIP and I am sure you will get lots of help and advice good luck.

 

Stay Safe

beefy

Thanks for the encouragement most appreciated. I had planned to do  a WIP thread for exactly the reasons you mentioned as I think there's no better place than here to pick up valuable hints and tips 🙂👍

[Andy J]

6 minutes ago, Tojo72 said:

I built that kit early in my modeling career,it was a nice well fitting kit.It does have many boxes molded on the deck that will need to hand painted or masked but it was an enjoyable build for me.

Sounds like a decent choice then I think i guess time will tell but I'm already looking forward to making a start 🙂👍