Hello, I am new to the hobby and i am seeking advice. I plan on modeling 1:700 scale (dont have a lot of space for larger scales) Can anyone recomend a good kit to start off with? Also, I was wondering how you all started on this small scale? I have been browsing this forum, the "/features" and the gallery for ideas and tips. Any other good reading online? (free if possible). I see there are quite a few books for sale, but I dont have a lot to spend on books, was hoping there would be some reading online. Thanks for the help and keep up the great work on the models, these great models on this site is what got me interested.

Ahoy Luke!

Welcome aboard, mate!

1/700 scale, eh?...well clearly the most popular scale of ship kit producers, and there are many kits to choose from, my friend...are you thinking ship, or sub?

As far as other good reading, just Google "Ship Modeling", and you will come up with plenty! There are many other very reputable ship modeling sites out there, all with respected modelers and lots of great tips and techniques...

Cheers,
~Gunny

Thanks Gunny, I was thinking more along the line of a ship for my first project. I just read the feature on the "Harbor" and I really like that idea. I think that may be my first "Big" project, after i get a couple of "practice" ships completed. Thanks for the info, off to see what i can find on google.

Hi Luke and Welcome

So you want to build 1/700, goooood choice mate.
First off do you have a prefferance to nation and time period.
Second Battlewagon, Flattop, Cruiser or tin can?

Let us know and we'll give you some idea's.

Ciao
Luciano

Hi Luke

As Mark said, Welcome to Modelshipwrights!
In the last year I have changed from 1/35 Midget Subs to 1/700 submarines and other ships - I have been converted to the small scale ships
So far I am on my 6th 1/700 model (MidshipModels) USS Cassin 1943 fit, but have already a big stash and I can advise you to built for your first one, one of the following:
- HobbyBoss 1/700 Russian Soviet Submarine (cheap and easy)
- Tamiya 1/700 Fletcher Class Destroyer (a representative ship, but you must get away of the complex camouflage schemes, called Measures)
- Tamiya 1/700 E class or/and O class british destroyers (easy and good looking)
- Any Pitroad/Skywave destroyer (mainly IJN, but there's also Royal Navy, US Navy and Kriegsmarine - a good relation between price/quality).

You may find strange why I have only suggested Destroyers... I'll explain:
Relatively small models, with a good number of parts that you can assemble and paint easily. If you go on a bigger project you should have already some models "under your belt", so that you can understand the more intricate and complex buildings... Take sub-assemblies with care, as if they are models on their own, so that the end result would make you pround and happy!
For the first models I would leave out PE (PhotoEtching) parts, since they can be discouraging for a newbie
Most of all, Have Fun with your modelling!

If you have any question or doubt, just post it here in the forums - the crew is most welcome to help in any way they can!

Cheers,
Skipper

No real preference for nation, time period and or type as of yet. I guess I will may gain a preference after a while, but as of right now I am pretty open on what to do. There are so many models out there its hard to "pick" without any experience. I am going to the local hobby shop tonight to see if they have any of the ships listed by Skipper, if they do I will pick one of them up. Good thinking on the PE parts, I planned on staying away from them for the first few models, just to get the "hang" of building the model and painting without getting too frusterated. One question yet for you all, are there any good "build threads" on here? I tried doing a search, but the results I got didn't really provide what I was looking for. I just searched "build thread" and got results for rigging and detailing, but not for an actuall build. Any suggestions on that? Thanks again.

Ahoy Luke!

I would recommend starting with something on the more modern side. The reason being is a simple paint scheme and uncluttered decks. Dragon's new Antietam or any of Italeri's Nimitz class carriers would be good too. Both of those aren't too small and don't have a huge amount of parts.

My two cents.
~Gator

Hey Luke:

I am the big ship guy. I exclusively build 350 scale, but I did do 700 for a long time. Browse around a bit and find a ship you are interested in building like the Yamato , or Bismarck, or any other of a thousands or so ships. Go to several of the on-line sellers to get an idea of price. My 2 favorites are Lucky Model out of HOng Kong or Great Models out of Utah. Figure out a price range of what you awnt to pay. If you see several of the sme kit and aren't sure as to which way to go, then ask here and someone can tell you specifics of the kit. You will find on most of them a nice straight forward build. Some of the paint schemes may be a bit challenging, but there are ways to alter that by choosing time frame you wish to depict your model. (Like on my Missouri...I didn't want to do an elaborate camo pattern, so I chose to do her as she was at the end of the war). This is the best place to ak questions. References , most of us know web sites you can go to to researh. And most of us have some nice reference books as well.

Most of all....HAVE FUN WITH IT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi Luke
We only started some "blog builds" feature recently... before that, there were some threads with description of the model, but usually they were separated into severall threads! They are all in the General Forum area (were we are now "The Carpenter's Shop")
One other thing that I should suggest to you is: See some built models and inhale some inspiration, but that's it! Use your own skills and make your style of shipbuilding: be yourself!

:)
Skipper

Thanks again for all the help. I went to my local Hobby Lobby yesterday and, well, they didnt really have much to choose from. They girl there said that they had an order comming in this week but she didnt know when. So, I will need to stop by there later this week to see what they have. My guess is that they probably wont have much of a selection to choose from. I may be forced to order online. Where would I find these "Build Blogs"? I checked each of the tabs under the menu and couldn't find it. I am an IT professional, and I have to say this is one of the most difficult web sites to navigate around. There is so much content, it seems, but it is all stuffed into hard to find areas. It may just be me, but I am sure I will get used to it. Thanks again!

Luke:

I think the problem here is that you are looking for a thread that has someone building a model and going through the process of building the kit step by step. You won't find that here. That is something you will need a book for. If you have been building models, you have about 90 % of the skills you need to build a ship. Just buy the kit and follow the instructions as outlined in the kit. If you have questions about how to overcome a problem or what color paint to use, then we can help. I was 7 years old when I tackled my first kit with no supervisoion or help. Sure it was an Aurora tank, but then I could barely read at that age. By the time I was 9, I was tackling the Revell Battleship kits regularly. I don't know whre you live (US , Europe, far east) but your best bet is mail order for a good price on a kit. There are several manufactures like Tamiya, Trumpeter, Dragon, Hasegawa, and Aoshima. This should cover almost all types of injection (plastic) kits available and some are different priced. Stateside you could wait for a Hobby Lobby 40% off iternet coupon s well. Hobby shops hit you full retail plus tax. Generallly (stateside) you get about 20 % off at Great Models and the shipping kind of makes up a bit for the tax. Buy more , the shipping evens out better.

I am located in Kentucky, and I do feel I can build a kit out of the box pretty well. I was just looking for some reading material while I am here at work. I figured while I am here, I might as well be doing something I enjoy I actually just found a "new" section of this site that I had missed before. Under the features on the left, there are a number of sub categories I was unaware of. This should keep my eyes busy for a little while. Thanks for the info on hobby lobby, I will wait for the 40% deal next time around.

I like to look at what other folks have done and use that to inspire me. I guess you have discovered the MY photos section. Dig up post by MartinnJQuinn of Modelguy2 and click on thier gallery section. Those guys are real good. I like color diagrams of what I plan to build, for that i call up the specific ship and try a google, more often than not, calling up a type of ship like battlseship or aircraft carrier works best. If you need advice about tools, or paint schemes or how to deal with photo etch, then we are definitely the guys to help. If you want guidance on where to look to see specific details of a certain ship, then the guys at modelwarships.com is where I go to get super detailed questions answered. Each of us has an area we like best. Me - battleships, Rodger (Halfyank) - crusiers, aircraft carriers is Kenny (Gator and skipper loves subs. Some like martin are all around experts and skipper and gunny always seem to find good places to get reference material. I hope I didn't come off rude or condescending because this is a real friendly site and we very very rarely bicker let alone get into flame wars here.

Hi Luke,

If you like harbour builds you may want to take a look here:

http://www.battlefleetmodels.com/id19.html

Great, thanks for the info. I will go check out that modelwarships site here soon. Yea, I really like browsing through all these pictures and reviews of boats. There are a lot of really really well done models, quite the inspiration! I also like reading about how the models were created, for ideas, and entertainment. I may check out a couple of books for this sort of reading material as well. Blaster76, you didn't come off as rude or anything, so far everyone has been more than nice and helpful on here. I just don't want to become the annoying new guy

Thanks for that link! I already have your site bookmarked for future purchases. You are the only one I have see so far with the Tugs, Barges and other Harbor type models in 1:700 scale. I just need to get a few "practice" models under my belt before my harbor build. I see that those Tugs are small, but how small is the littlest one (inches)?

Hi Luke,

The Small Harbour Tug is 1 3/16" or 60 scale feet
The largest, my new Ocean Fleet Tug (ATF) is a little over 3 1/2" or 205 scale feet.

Yes, I do mostly Auxiliary Vessels and the occasional Cruiser.

Ok, so maybe Kentucky isn't the ship modeling capital of the world but we should have a few options.... I went to 3 different hobby shops and found 5 1:700 ship models. Out of those 5, one box was smashed, one was opened, one was close to $80 and the other two looked a little too detailed/complicated for a first time build on such a small scale. So I ended up picking up a $3.99 Testors 1:600 U.S. Coast Gard Cutter I could not go home empty handed. So I will see what I can do with this cutter and I will probably place an order this week from somewhere online with a little selection. I will post some progress pictures later this week and I'm sure I will have a few questions along the way!

Luke my recommendation would be to pick up one of the less detailed Japanese kits from Aoshimez, Hasgawa, or Tamiya. Price wise should be in the mid to upper $20's for a battleship. I called up "Kongo" in the military models section. Scrolling down a bit I found a section with the ebay stores. There is one called Jhobby selling the older versions (not the new super improved with PE ...etc) at around $20 for battleships. You may want to check out his offerings. Like I said, those kits are pretty straight forward builds, and I cut my teeth on them 30 or so years ago. I pretty much built the Japaese fleet with them as they offered all the capital ships and a dozen or so destroyers. I used tube glue and painted them all by hand straight out of the obx....of course PE didnt exist back then