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This one I call my Newton's SD.KFZ 7. It is the old 1970's Tamiya kit heavily reworked and a lot of after-market items added, plus parts from the Tamiya Famo used as well. It took a long time to do this one, and not 1 year after I had finished it, Dragon and Trumpeter finally come out with a modern uptooled version of the kit!![:@] It never fails!!!

As far as 1/700 ships, I would definitely choose Dragon or Trumpeter if you are wanting to do USN stuff. Their latest offerings in that scale are the best out their in my opinion.

ORIGINAL: TOMLABEL

Here is a couple of my stuff I did a few years back. This is the old decrepit 1/48 Monogram TBD. Could never get the wing ribs to line up correctly, but oh well. I had a determination to do all the USN aircraft at Midway, but this kit is still the only version of the TBD in this scale today! I remember building this kit as a youngster, but it turned out a little better this time.

It's hard to imagine that when the TBD was introduced in the mid-30s it was probably the most advanced carrier plane in the world. The old Monogram kit was pretty nice for the mid-70s, but it's a bit tired by today's standards.

I have an unbuilt TBD in the stash. It will probably be a while before I get to it, though I did finally start on a Hobby Boss F4F last night.

Trumpeter has announced a 1/32 TBD. It will probably cost over $100, but I'm sure it will be a highly detailed kit. The TBFs and SBDs in 1/32 are amazing.

Bill

ORIGINAL: wdolson
It's hard to imagine that when the TBD was introduced in the mid-30s it was probably the most advanced carrier plane in the world. The old Monogram kit was pretty nice for the mid-70s, but it's a bit tired by today's standards.

I have an unbuilt TBD in the stash. It will probably be a while before I get to it, though I did finally start on a Hobby Boss F4F last night.

Trumpeter has announced a 1/32 TBD. It will probably cost over $100, but I'm sure it will be a highly detailed kit. The TBFs and SBDs in 1/32 are amazing.

Bill

Yes, I have another one in the stash too that I have the LoneStar Models wing conversion set for. Just don't know if I'm ready to jump into that one yet. I have the old Monogram Kingfisher that I want to do in the tri-color 1944 scheme. Have LoneStar Models replacement main float for it...... It will probably be my next attempt.

Let me know how the Hobby Boss F4F build goes. I've been interested in buying one.

Trumpeter has that one announced for a long time now? Don't know why someone can't redo this one in 1/48 scale as I will be forced to do the 1/32 one. Oh, by the way, are you ready to sell me one of those 1/32 Midway SBDs yet????[:D][:D][:D]

I bought some diorama kits from a guy at an Advanced Squad Leader tournament about two decades ago. It was my first attempt at modeling after a 20 year break. I forget who made them but they were very nice quality. The lead soldiers, I found in a drawer. The remnants of the hundreds or more I cast with my dad's old casting kit about 45 years ago.... These I probably did not paint because they were slightly flawed. Ah, the good old days when a strapping young boy could spend hours playing with molten lead.

I still have the kit. Wonder if you can still get lead for it?

This one is kind of nice too.

Those look like 1/72 scale kits.  Hasegawa was probably the best quality kits in 1/72 armor for many years, though there were other companies that make armor in that scale too.

Bill

ORIGINAL: nashvillen

Not sure if this is too much OT, but I am interested in buying and building 1/700 waterline ship models of WWII ships. Having them in front of you while doing a mod or just playing the game would be inspiring if not helpful in understanding the ship involved. I have noticed several manufacturers of these kits and wonder if anyone has experience witht them?

I am looking for a quality kit with enough details at 1/700 that will stand out. I realize a 12.7 mm machine gun is not physically possible at this scale, but would like to see enough barrell detail on the smaller AA guns that can be brought out with washes and dry-brushing. I am looking for a model kit that has little flash and is clearly laid out in the instructions (They don't need to be in English if done this way!)

I have seen the following manufacturers:

Aoshima
Fujimi
Hasegawa
Pit-Road
Tamiya

I have had past experience with Tamiya kids with some 1/48 scale armor and fournd them to be excellent. Any comentary on any of these or others that I am not aware of are welcome!

BTW, I found a Hibiki by Tamiya that I just purchased since I wanted a model of this ship to have in front of me while I read Cuttlefish's AAR about her, again.

I will post pictures of the ships as I finish them.

All of the manufacturers above produce a good to high quality kit, and they will vary in price. But keep in mind you will also like to look for 3rd party add ons for a more polished look. For good railing kits, more accurate AAA guns etc, you are going to want 3rd party kits made of white metal or photo-etched brass. These add ons finish out what the plastic kits leave off, but will add a substantial amount to the over-all cost.

I have built kits from all of the above manufacturers, and all have made for decent static models....though for more detail, I have turned to the photo-etched and white metal add ons.

Thanks for the SFB links!

And to the OP, sorry for the derail.

ORIGINAL: wdolson

Those look like 1/72 scale kits.  Hasegawa was probably the best quality kits in 1/72 armor for many years, though there were other companies that make armor in that scale too.

Bill

Yes 1/72, I had forgotten. How I loved the 1/72 scale Airfix figures. I had them all. My mom tossed them all when we moved. Thought I was getting a little too old for them. Damn her eyes! [:D]

I am pretty sure the dioramas were Airfix. I see they still make some of them.

My latest aquisitions, as soon as I finish the Kusimi, I will start on these.

The Zuikaku is my first carrier and I just had to have a Hibiki!

I have most of the KB in my stash.  There are a couple of IJN carriers that have not been produced in 1/700.  For some reason the Hiyo is one, though I believe it was very similar to the Junyo.  I have two Junyos.

The IJN is the best covered navy in 1/700 though.

Bill

Here are some photos of what I have done so far. Please excuse the images, that is all my camera phone can do. Slow going as I am trying to also set up another campaign game as Japan. Boy, have I learned a lot since the last one I started!



The legandary Hibiki, she is almost done, I have some details, such as lifeboats to add, but wanted the delicate parts to cure for 24 hours before trying to add the boats. She is not painted yet either. Note, she is in the 1945 configuration.



Kasumi with everything done but some black, some drybrushing, and the decals. I decided that the antenna wires would be too much to do. I cannot find anything small enough to pass for the wires. Any suggestions? Note: she is in her 12/1941 configuration. It took some kitbashing, but the detail parts with the kit helped a lot!



Kasumi with her box for comparison.

Note, I haven't even opened the parts bags for the Zuikaku as it appears she is in a late war configuration and will be harder than the DDs to convert. Some planning is required and that requires time I am going to spend on other projects for now. I understand the Shokaku kit comes in the 12/1941 configuration and will aquire one of these and copy onto this kit. So, looking for a deal on the Shokaku is something I will do in the near future.

Didn't Tamiya do this in the last few years too?

For those with limited space, Superior used to make metal miniature ships, 1/1250th IIRC, and the detail was very nice..They were created for wargamers but look nice on a shelf as well.

ORIGINAL: Pascal

Didn't Tamiya do this in the last few years too?

Yes, they did both Zuikaku and Shokaku in different year configurations, from what I read, at the same time. This is why I am looking for the Shokaku so I can do both at the same time and make them simular to what whould have been in 12/1941.

ORIGINAL: nashvillen

My fellow N scale friends claim I am a cross scaler, but not really, I just get paid to work on HO stuff. Hence, the only piece of HO track I own is a piece of flex track to test equipment on!

I model HO now. N Scale seems too small and light. Had trouble running long trains...liked the amount of space it didn't take up though.

I have a buddy who regularly runs at Ntrak shows a 120 car coal train with two Kato six axles up front and a single six axle in the rear pushing all day long without any problems. Try that in HO scale! [:D]

Maybe that was my problem not enough power haha

Great Work!

It has been a while. But, I started on the Soryu this holiday weekend. Yeah, B, I should have been doing your turn, sorry. At least it was WITP:AE related.

Here is the hull laid down, going to start on the details tomorrow, after I get B's turn done!