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ships everywhere, but which to buy....

I am looking to get a new plastic model classic sailing ship to put together in my spare time (which I have a lot of at the moment). From an online shop preferably in Australia would be good, but overseas is OK too providing they can ship to Australia.

I haven't had a great amount of experience with ship models kits, but I don't want something which is too simple. I've mostly only done sci-fi model kits before like Sevans Dalek kits, Star Wars etc...

I recently inherited an old 1976 plastic ship kit from a deceased relative which I completed about half way, then was forced to stop due to the unforeseen destruction of all the unassembled parts.

The kit had been pretty much left in a cupboard untouched for about 30 years. I noticed a few pieces seemed to be slightly bent when I first opened it, but just assumed that was a small manufacturing defect and thought nothing more of it. It soon became apparent that this was not the case.

We had two extremely hot/humid days and all remaining parts warped and curled to become utterly useless. Apparently because of the old plastic being cellulose acetate or something, and there was no possibility of restoration. It is just unfortunate that it was only after the fact that I found out about these old kits being prone to warping. It was a 1976 release Revell 1:96 scale USS Constitution.

Anyway, I would be interested in attempting another ship kit of similar complexity and size of the now dead Revell kit. Does anyone have any suggestions? One thing I've noticed about a lot of online stores is the information they provide about their products is very limited and some don't even provide size information or pictures. Classic sailing ships seem to be hard to come by too with most places having more in the way of modern style ships. I'm looking for something in plastic too. What is the best manufacturer?

Thanks for helping me.

Reply to
fred
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dalek kits? want to send me one? none here in the states.

Reply to
e

Sorry you can't have my Daleks :)

The only place I know of which might still sell the Sevans Model kits (1/5 scale, 12 inch) is the Who Shop in London.

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don't appear to have any Sevans model kits listed now, but if you email them they might still have some left in store. I'm pretty sure they will ship to the US. They cost me about AU$100 each last time I bought Daleks from there about 5 years ago.

Reply to
fred

I'm no authority on sailing ships but I doubt a 1976-issue kit would be made of acetate. Were it 1956 I'd believe it possible.

I think one reason you don't see a lot of these up for sale is that building one is a long-term project. It's not like building up a stash of 1/72 aircraft kits; nobody's likely to have more than one Constitution in their project pile. :)

For your main question, I can't help you with sources in Oz as NKR is the only firm I've worked with down there and I doubt he has any ship stuff. I might still have a catalogue around that has dimensions for some of the kits. Revell had possibly three different versions of the Constitution out at various times.

Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr.

Reply to
Mad-Modeller

anyone else make kits?

Reply to
e

A company called Comet Miniatures made kits in 1:8 scale, but the Sevans models were far superior in their resemblance of the TV originals.

Reply to
fred

thanks, i really love daleks and wish i could build one. brit ebay just has the eccelston or baker era 8" diecast or crappy-builts for dumb prices. in the baker era, a mit friend built one for a costume party. spent a couple of thousand bucks. it was so good he used it for a senioe engineering project and got an A. the prof apparently had to study it so well that he got bagged by the mit police for exceeding the sidewalk speed limit for powered chairs, 7mph. he also kept it for a month. the builder used one of the early cylon voice style voice changers and it was scary good. he ended up selling it to a baker fan for a half year of grad school. (1970's prices) wish i had pictures..or the model.

Reply to
e

Thre are still several companies that make plastic sailing ship models. I particularly like the Heller kits. While the Revell kits were great as far as detail and user-friendliness, the Heller sailing ship modela are awesome- though a bit harder to build.

Their largest scale kits, the Victory and the Le Soliel Royale, are probably the best plastic ship kits ever.

They do make a smaller line- I think they are somewhere around 1:200 to

1: 300. They have several French warships that make nice builds.

fred wrote:

ly after the fact that I found out about these old

Reply to
Don Stauffer in Minnesota

=== I think that Revell still makes the USS Constitution and the Cutty Sark both in

1/96 scale. Long term projects. Heller makes the H.M.S. Victory, one hell of a kit with over a gadzillion parts, really LONG term project. Heller just reboxed (new artwork) their Columbus trio of ships, Niña, Pinta and the Santa Maria in 1/75 scale. These are relatively easy kits, but I would recommend to can the plastic masts and spars and whittle them out of wood (something about the spars bending when you rig the ships). Revell Germany makes a 1/90 scale Santa Maria. I bought it and did not like how it looked, so it will sit on the shelf. I'll probably donate it for a door prize at the next show my club does. Minicraft makes the RMS Titanic in several scales, the one I bought is the 1/350 version. This is a beautiful kit with parts up the wazoo, and if you want to get really anal about this kit, then get the photo etched parts sets. In the end, all sunk - iceberg you know. Airfix makes a line of tall ships, but if you are into developing really good headaches, you can get them. Some of the subjects I can recall now are the Bounty, Cutty Sark and a few other old ships.

And talking about the Titanic, two old geezers were waiting in line to see the Titanic and one mentions to the other that he still did not understand how the ship sank that fast with just an ice gash. Two teenagers standing in front of them looked at each other in awe and wondered how someone would want to reveal how a movie ends!!!

Anyway, good luck with your search of a ship to build.

Cheers,

Ray Austin, TX ===

Reply to
Ray S. & Nayda Katzaman

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