USS Montana

Ron wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@rcn.com:

That is true but in terms of what sells, I kinda think the average duffer wants plastic. Less expensive, less intimidating. Guys like you can practically make your own masters. While I'd like to be that good I have a day job and a family that just insists that I pay attention once in awhile and I have neither the funds (to collect on the scale I do) in resin nor the extra time to do them. I'm just now getting settled again and starting to build again. My stash looks like Chris's old Oldies Room.

I'll bet a lot of builders are like that.

I could stock a hobby shop but you know that. In reality until you get into CB's, BB's and CV's resin just isn't that much more expensive than plastic once you add PE and resin replacements for awful kits parts. Fletcher DD's are one good example....buy the Yankee Modelworks Johnston for $98 or the Taimiya at $30, then add $36 for PE, now add $11 for decent quad 40's, another $10 for 5"-38 turrets to replace the grossly undersized and wrong shape kit turrets and if you want a square bridge $30-40 for the Tom's conversion (which isn't all that great BTW) plus if you want decent 20's another $8 and if late war floater net baskets another $8...we have $98 for the resin kit with all the goodies or a minimum of $87 for the Tamiya. Now factor in that it takes me about 100 hours and a lot of sanding seams and finicky putty work on the Tamiya to get it to look right or 30-40 hours depending on paint scheme to do a YMW with a lot of sanding and one large seam to fill.

For Northampton class cruisers YMW runs $185, Trumpeter would pop them at around $100 but you'd end up replacing all the plastic parts of the masts and tripods with brass if you're going to rig it and you'd still need PE at a minimum. These are getting large enough you really do need to brace the decks like Ashey does in his books and unless you're going to waterline them or put them on keelblocks you need to ass some resin to the lower hull.

Classic Warships also makes some nice heavy cruisers. YMW and CW are the way to go for 1/350, avoid ISW (Iron Shipwright) unless you first find a solid maple school door with a steel jamb, then slam your nuts in it 4 or 5 times and it felt good....ISW is to resin as Starfix & Merlin are to injection (hint my first casts ever were better than their best).

Pretty much in injected plastic ships carriers and the rare BB is all I'll build, resin is just so much easier and the kits come with all the goodies. Once you get to the really large ships like CB's, BB's and CV's you start to see a real effect from the cube rule for volume of rubber and resin needed in the price.

For most cruisers and smaller cheaping out on the initial plastic it and having to spend all the extra money for PE and aftermarket fixes is just plain silly.

PS- this fall sometime I'm going to do a photo how to at DCIPMS for resin ships.