Has anyone seen Lindberg’s 1/144 Arizona that debuted today at the iHobby Expo?
http://www.internetmodeler.com/artman/publish/colindnews/iHobby-Expo-2009.php
I’m happy to see them concentrating on subjects such as this - far more broad appeal to the community.
Unfortunately from the looks of the air search radar & AA equipment, it appears their design team gets kudos once again for innovation.
Thanks for posting this! I see that they are also re-releasing a number of kits including the “1/164 USS Carronade Bobtail Cruiser, 1/124 Civil War Blockade Runner, 1/240 USS Olympia, and 1/96 Clermont Steamship…” The Carronade is a nice kit of an unusual subject that with some detailing work builds into a nice model, and I’m guessing that the “Blockade Runner” is the old Harriet Lane kit.
It’s difficult to tell from the image, but they seem to have selected a configuration that was authorized for the Arizona and the Pennsylvania in 1940 including four quad 1.1" A/A mounts and an SC radar on the foremast. According to Leeward Publications, USS Arizona (BB39) by the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Arizona had been fitted with the pedastal for the SC and tubs for the 1/1" mounts, but neither the radar nor the A/A guns had been actually fitted. I guess if you leave off the SC and the 1.1" mounts you might have something.
Given recent history, I’ll wait for the kit to ship and read the reviews before ordering.
Yeah, from the picture, it looks like they installed the equipment that the Arizona was still waiting for. Doesn’t look like there are any port holes on the deck level of the 5"/38’s either. The hull looks better though, at least from that angle. Can’t tell if it has the bottom keels. Overall it looks veerry interesting! Should be interesting also to see if this encourages Trumpeter to speed up their 1/200, and who will hit the market first. [dinner]
PS: OK, at 200% blowup the ports are there, at least some of them.
I held my breath when I saw the topic…doesn’t look like that POS I-53 mock-up at least…that may be a good sign…but I sure won’t be fooled a second time with a sight unseen pre-order.
I’ll wait for the actual release also. Didn’t the prototype of the I-53 look better than what was released?
THAT I would buy!
The errors shown are consistant with those on the Floating Drydock Arizona plans (bridge search lights amongst the other afore-mentioned details. I’ve sent an e-mail off to the much maligned Ernie to see if I can make contact and provide assistance.
It’s hard to tell in this picture, but the main deck railings do not look like PE. I wonder if they are actually using square post and chain at this scale? Next question: What’s their time line on releasing it, if they have one yet? Inquiring minds need to know! [:-^]
I remember my father building the Southern Bell paddlewheeler back in the easrly 60’s. Neat kit with a electric motor that drove the paddlewheel. Been hoping that they would re-release it one day.
The Arizona looks impressive from the photo. Just don’t know where I’d find the space for it.
Mark
I share RedCorvette’s pleasant memories of the Southern Belle. I have no idea whether it’s based on an actual steamboat, but it sure was an attractive and fun kit.
I’ll also be happy to see the Lindberg Clermont again. I would, in fact, be glad to see it in its original motorized format. I never thought I’d say such a thing, but the motorization method in that particular kit was really ingenious. All the gears, the piston, and other major components of the scale steam engine were exposed, and moved realistically - getting their power from a little Mabuchi motor hidden under the foredeck. If you really looked, you could see the tiny worm gear arrangement that connected the motor to the scale mechanism, but if painted carefully the whole system would look pretty convincing.
There are no plans of the real vessel’s hull (though there’s a patent drawing that shows the steam plant), so the manufacturer should be clear of any criticism based on questions of accuracy. I also remember the nice crew and passsenger figures. I think this kit may have a niche in the history of the hobby as the first ship model kit to include a scale figure of a woman. (At least one later kit, the Airfix Mayflower, now shares the distinction.)
Possible bad news… Someone at Resin Illuminati says he saw this at the show and, basically, did not like what he saw. I hope he’s just overly nit-picky. But it is Lindberg, after all. I’ll keep my fingers crossed.
Well, I might just pass on the Arizona and ask the LHS to order the re-issue of the Carronade for me. HR products (hrprod.com) has a very nice line of 1:192 fittings which should work OK with the 1:164 Kit - at least I know what I’m getting. I was wondering why the Carronade didn’t make the first set of re-issues this year, but glad that it finally made it back into production.
It’s a little early yet to judge the Arizona model. That’s not even a test shot.
What is the usual order of events for a new model like this? Does it start with a Concept Model like this, and then proceed to a Prototype Model to make the molds from, and then to a Test Shot of the molds?
I’ve been told the Arizona pictured so far was scratchbuilt, it is not a prototype of the kit.
It’s undoubtedly a scratchbuilt model of what they plan to tool. In my world of project development, we call that a prototype model. You’ll want to visit the Steel Navy forums as they have several spirited discussions already going on the subject.
Not to beat the L-H IJN horse again, but I thought Mr. Ernie Petit was to offer documentation of their I-53 kits at iHobby to prove the naysayers wrong - he posted this on Steel Navy last month. Knowing this, I had asked a person attending the show yesterday to ask for that while at their booth & nothing was produced, nor offered aside from what was repeated before in past posts here & elsewhere.
I’m hoping they do fix the I-20 design before cutting steel & correct some of what’s already been pointed out on Arizona because I would like to see them do well in the market with accurate kits of what they’ve shown to-date.
Additional Photos
In a nutshell…
Usually there is the “mock-up” built in house or by an independant model maker, out of near about any kind of material. Next (if they are smart) comes cutting molds in aluminum so changes are easier and less costly. This is usally where the “test shot” parts come from. If it gets the thumbs up it goes to steel and then we have a kit…
A posting on SteelNavy indicates that this is scratchbuilt by the same fellow who is responsible for the IJN sub.
http://members.boardhost.com/Warship/msg/1256481623.html
This is not a test shot or pre-production model. If this is to see the light of day expect it to be in excess of 1 year.
I am a ship guy but … where do the good folks at Lindbergh expect us to put these HUGE creations of theirs? This one is going to be more than four feet long. Yeesh.