Because it appears the model manufacturers actually DO look at such forums as these, perhaps it is time once again for everybody to put their two cents in for proposed 1/350 scale ship kits! My personal requests would include:
DKM Prinz Eugen: Because it ridiculous that SO many examples of Bismarck have been produced, but without her equally famous consort (remember, Prinz Eugen survived!!)
HMS Repulse: Because multiple versions of HMS Prince of Wales have been produced, but again, without her important consort (and it’s a really graceful ship too!)!!
USS Northampton: Because this class was involved in more knock-down drag out surface battles with the IJN than just about any other
USS New Mexico: Because in it’s ‘modernized’ post-Pearl Harbor version, she was a really graceful ship, and her class was involved in the final conflict between battleships at Leyte
IJN Hiryu: Because their simply aren’t any IJN carriers in this scale (though there might be a Shinano around, it had a lousy service record!)
I’ve been baffled that a 1/350 of the WWII US aircraft carrier Enterprise (CV-6) had not yet been produced. Hornet, Essex, Massachussetts but no Big E?
Well, at least there is a close sister-ship that can be easily ‘tweaked’ to give you an ‘Enterprise!’ Actually, I get rather annoyed at manufacturuers who give you endless iterations of the same ship, just different decals…
Yup, the Northamptons had a very busy war! They also had a really pretty clipper bow, and a very aesthetic arrangement of guns, masts, superstructure, etc. The San Francisco is in many ways very similar, but that snub bow just turns me off somehow… I am fond of the modernized New Mexicos for much the same reason. When you compare them to say, ‘Arizona,’ there is not much to choose between them! Same is true for the modernized Italian battleships…
…and on the same basis, the IJN ‘Shokaku’ or ‘Zuikaku’ would be really good subjects! I also like some of the more bizarre IJN carriers, like ‘Ryujo’ and ‘Shoho,’ not because they are gracefull (far from it!), but because they are so odd-looking, they fit in well with the Japanese ‘pagoda battleships!’
I think much of the delay in getting some of these models out has been the financial state of the Japanese model companies (and Japanese companies, period!). The Chinese jumped in (Trumper, Mini Model, Banner, etc) with both feet, but because of politics, refuse to consider making models of Japanese subjects. The American and European companies (Revell, Heller, Airfix, etc.) are pretty much moribund, and the companies in Eastern Europe are mostly fixated with airplanes and armor. Nice to see at least a few good kits coming from them though, such as the Borodinos, Varyag, etc…
I’d like to see less world war 2 battleships and subs ( as I find them a bit boring ) and more newly tooled old sailing ships, nuclear subs and even a modern or fairly modern supertanker in styrene.
Well, it seems to me there are QUITE A FEW nuclear subs, everything from Chinese, Russian, French, US subs of all classes, even a Brit nuke sub or two! Yeah, there are probably enough US battleships anyways, and I am glad to see that some cruisers are being put out now… Trumpeter has been putting out a fair number of frigates, destroyers and cruisers of modern design, and Italieri has a bunch too…
…and there are quite a few people that would like to see some new sailing ship models, but they seem to have been pretty much written off by the model makers…
USS Parche (the WW2 namesake) was a very highly decorated vessel, but have not heard that the modern SSN 683 (also named Parche) has done anything of particular note…
Might be cool to see one of the old US ‘S’ type subs as well… They had some surprising successes in the Pacific at the beginning of WW2, before the general deployment of the better-known Gatos…
My first post… I’ve lately been focused on some of the battles in the Pacific Theater during WWII. I have wanted to model representative ships of the Taffy 3 group, but can’t find kits (much less good kits) for the destroyer escort and escort carrier ships. So, I’d like to add:
USS Gambier Bay and USS Samuel B. Roberts in 1/350 scale.
What about the USS Indianapolis, its a rather famous ship both for its sinking and delivery of the A-bomb that as far as I know is only available in 1/700.
I’d love to see a well detailed injection kit of the YT146 Hoga, its not pretty but it worked hard to save a number of ships including the USS Nevada during and after the Pearl Harbor attack.
My votes go to several subjects that predated WWII. The period leading up to the First World War was, arguably, the era of history when warship technology had the most impact on world affairs that it’s ever had. And some, at least, of the capital ships from that period were beautiful vessels. And models of them takeup considerably less shelf space than models of WWII battleships or carriers on the same scale. Yet the only 1/350 World War I capital ship kits on the market are the German ones from ICM.
How about a 1/350 H.M.S. Iron Duke? Or H.M.S. Lion? Or one of the beautiful *Queen Elizabeth-*class ships in her Jutland configuration?
Or how about a first-generation American battleship, with photo-etched parts to represent the “basket masts”?
Or how about the battleship that, arguably, exerted the most historical influence of all (and that the plastic kit manufacturers have completely ignored): H.M.S. Dreadnought?