All,
I’m new to ships, starting with a Tamiya 1:350 scale Fletcher Class Destroyer, and as I was looking over the kit it struck me that it would be nice to build this ship at about twice the size— maybe 1:144 scale or so. Quickly checking the FSM product search, I noticed that ship kits seem pretty much limited to 1:350 or 1:700 scale. Is that accurate, or are there sources for plastic model kits in other scales (for instance) a 1:144 scale WWII destroyer? Thanks,
TomB
There are onesie-twosies of kits in scales which approach 1:144.
Iron Shipwright makes a resin & brass Fletcher destroyer in 1:192 scale (smaller than your goal)
Classic Warships made a resin & brass Sims-class destroyer also in 1:192 scale (smaler than your goal). The Classic Warships kit is OOP, but may be placed back in production under the Yankee Modelworks label.
Lone Star Models made a 1:192 scale Spanish-American War Torpedo Boat - the precursor to the destroyer. Flagship Models bought the ships from Lone Star and they are being reworked.
Lindberg makes a plastic Fletcher in 1:125 sclae (larger than your goal). There are some serious problems with the kit which almost take it to the scratchbuild realm.
There are also some semi-scratch built kits available as fiberglass hulls suitable for RC.
Tian Jie models, from China, has some 1:144 scale models, most are modern warships. Tian Jie models are available from Loyalhanna Dockyard and the Scale Shipyard . Most of the warships in larger scales tend to be in 1:96 (or 1:100) and 1:48 (or 1:50) scales. The companies that make the fiberglass hulls usually provide a set of plans and have “fittings kits” available. The fittings kits have the watertight doors, hatches, firehose, bitts, cleats, guns, etc.; usually molded in resin.
The Tian Jie kits are designed for radio control, have fiberglass hulls, props and prop shafts, resin fittings, photo etch brass, CNC plastic and various assortments of rod and tubing. I have the Tian Jie S-100 Schnellboot, and the prop and rudder shafts were factory installed. The model included a single sheet with an overhead and side view on it, and an instruction book. The instruction book is really more of a collection of drawings and photos showing where everything goes. If you’re interested, here’s the Tian Jie 1:144 scale USN fleet list:
IOWA, NEW JERSEY, MISSOURI, & WISCONSIN $1195
CALIFORNIA CG-36, VIRGINIA CG-38, & TICONDEROGA CG-47 $625
BURKE $640
PERRY FFG-7 & KNOX FF-1052 $595
SPRUANCE $575
Wow! That makes the $275 for the ISW Fletcher a bargain and the $165 for the ISW 1:160 scale PC an absolute steal!
Thanks guys, but thousand dollar mixed media kits are not what I had in mind (or even $300 versions). However, you’ve pretty much answered my question. For “regular” plastic ship kits it’s going to be either 1:350 or 1:700. I’m surprised there isn’t more in the 1:144 to 1:200 scale range, though. It would seem to be a great display size for ships with dimensions like the Fletcher.
TomB
P.S. How do you guys select the text from the post you are responding to? I tried the “quote” option instead of the “reply” option, but can’t figure out what to do from there. Any tips for one of the technologically challenged would be appreciated. thanks,
TB
There are essentially 2 main camps. I arbitrarity break them as 1:600 to 1:800 and 1:240 to 1:599.
The latter covers much of the Revell box-scale kits which ranged from 1:240 (4-Piper) to 1:540 (aircraft carriers). It also covers the Mirage and Heller kits qhich are lergely done in 1:400 scale.
Ships are large subjects that are full of fine details (when you get large). In order to do them properly in larger scales the cost of doing the molds for them gets to be expensive. This drives the finish product cost and the time for return on investment.
There are a few Japanese destroyers and submarines in 1:200 scale by Nichimo. They are sorta rare.
Finished models in a very large scale are themselves large. This leads to burn out & loss of interest. It also means that you can only put one model on a shelf, where you could also put a half dozen airplanes or tanks. Display space becomes a limiting factor.
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As far as quoting a previous reply - hit the quote button. You should get the previous text between a “quote user” and “/quote” blocks. The forementioned are in square brackets and are provided by the board management software. You can then edit the text inside the block. As a courtesy, I try to mark edits I made to another’s quoted text with a SNIP indication.
Play around a little bit. You can copy and paste quoted text blocks. Then edit the text so that you respond to multiple points raised in the quote.
When you hit the PREVIEW button it should show you what your post is going to look like
well, i KNOW there are 1/72 sub kits out there, mostly U boats. This post was also quite usefull for me as i am thinking of a dio someday with a destroyer doing battle with tanks at a dock.
If you’re looking for 1:72 scale subs from the major established kit companies (like Revell, et al), most of what’s available is U-boats. You have to really look at the various vendors who make fiberglass hulls. Look at what the Scale Shipyard offers in 1:72 scale: BLUEFISH SS-222; HARDHEAD SS-365; PERMIT SN594; ARHERFISH SSN 678; LOS ANGELES SSN 688: & SKIPJACK SSN 585. The 1:72 scale SKIPJACK was my first r/c sub model, built it about 8 years ago. WIth the cost of adding all the r/c gear, the price for the finished model was close to $1100.
If you’re still interested in doing the dio aith the destroyer and tanks, a better plan would be to use one the 1:96 scale fiberglass hulls and HO (1:87th) scale tanks and vehicles A 1:96 scale FLETCHER class is 47" long.
Ed - those are thre prices for the kit and don’t include the motors, radio gear, or any other electronics (whistles, lights, etc.). Depending on what you might add, that cost is between $200 and $600. If you pull up the Tian Jie section at Loyalhanna Dockyard, look at the pictures I provided of the S-100.
ZzZGuy,
That’s exactly the kind of great idea that made me start thinking about the Fletcher at 1:144 scale. I’m working on a Boeing B-314 PanAm Clipper in 1:144 scale, which is about the only scale available unless you want to get into vacuform kits at 1:72 scale— and I’m just not that ambitious. I also thought of building a dockside diorama like you, but set in Hawaii early in WWII with the Clipper in it’s military markings close by a brand new Fletcher (end of one era and the beginning of another…). Anyway, that idea has run into scale realities. I’ve learned that I can use N scale figures, vehicles, etc. with 1:144 scale and be fairly close, and I figured I’d have to (gasp!) scratchbuild the dock, but now it looks like a ship model isn’t (reasonably) available in that scale. Are guys like us out of luck, or are there still alternatives out there? By the way, thanks to all of you for your responses to my questions and comments, I’ve learned something from every one.
TomB
Good to see someone else interested in large-scale ships! I’ve often thought that a range of smaller WW2 warships in 1/200 or 1/144 scale would be a great idea, with the increasing popularity of 1/144 subs, but I’m not sure whether or not I’m in a very small minority preferring this scale range! I just like the greater level of detail and intricacy you can get with this scale, and since my favourite warship types are smaller vessels like destroyers, corvettes and auxiliaries, a larger scale is ideal for modelling these.
If you don’t mind building modern (or at least post-WW2) ships, Trumpeter produce a modern Russian Sovremenny-class destroyer, and a large range of modern Chinese warships (some of which are ex-Soviet designs) in 1/200 scale.
Trumpeter also produce a 1/200 kit of a WW2 Soviet “Project 7” destroyer (often boxed as “Soviet Destroyer Courageous”) and the WW1 Chinese gunboat “Zhong Shan”, sunk in 1937 during the Sino-Japanese War, in 1/150 scale. I have both these kits, and they are fairly sparse in terms of detail, but can be improved with scratchbuilding if you can find suitable reference material.
I don’t think size is the main factor, sales of the Revell 1/72 U-boat seem to have been very good and the Gato-class will be considerably larger (over a metre long if I remember correctly). 1/32 and 1/24 aircraft, which are even harder to store/display than large ships due to their shape, are also popular, if not as much as 1/48 scale.
I think the sheer number of parts required is the main reason that manufacturers have stayed away from large-scale warship subjects, other than subs and torpedo boats, which are relatively simple (particularly subs). For example, the Matchbox/Revell 1/72 Flower-class corvette has literally hundreds of parts, despite being very simplified and spartan in terms of fine detail. A kit of the same subject - let alone a larger ship such as a destroyer - produced to the same standards as the Revell 1/72 S-100 or Type VII, would probably have thousands of parts.
Yes indeed, why not BIG ship models? And aircraft too. For me the fun is in seeing all the little details that only a very large model would seem to make possible. And too, I’m not that old (51) but my hands shake like a dog passing peach pits from benzene exposure in my years at the printing trade. I have a very difficult time with small parts sometimes. Mr. Magoo sees better than me too. Large models would be a pleasure to build and would impress my wife more than Cracker Jack size efforts. Guillows makes a 1/28th scale B-17. It’s wingspan is 45 1/2 inches! Now that’s a model! I’d like to see a USS Missouri that’s maybe six feet long.