Ahoy mates. . .
Recently, post discussion of the News stories has spawned this query, and I must ask all my maties here their own thoughts and feelings. . .just as in any modeling genre, there will be various releases made along the season, and of course, some modelers would rather see a certain subject type, scale, etc, than what the current release(s) is/are.

What I would like to know is, quite simply, what are your main ship modeling interests?. . .what scale, what time frame, subject type, Nationality, etc, and why is this your favourite?

And to top it off, what would be your "Holy Grail" of ship modeling subjects? Take some time, think about it, and give me your thoughts. . .
~Gunny

Looking at the ships that I have, finding a main subject might be a little difficult But if pushed, it would be destroyers and smaller ships, with a diversion into larger units if they're RN.

Period - Ummm 20th century any bit really

Scale - again consistency is not really a strong point here, but more towards the 1/700th end of the range.

Holy Grail - 1/700 HMS Repulse in plastic to go with my PoW. Would have liked a 1930s HMS Furious too, but my partner's father who was briefly a stoker on her passed away earlier this year.

David

hey i really like those psychological topics
no need to take time to answer.
1/Scale: 1/35. the only one where you can both se the white in the eyes of the guys and produce decent sized pieces. of course 1/35 big ships can be a problem.
2/ 1870 -1920: the pre-dreadnought era, which means the time when the ships started using coal while still for some retained the veils. these produced some amazing designs that where abandonned when the dreadnought types came.
I like those ships with the bottom of the hull much longer than the top, they look like roman ships.
3/ Russian navy. they sustained one of the heaviest naval defeat ever with those ships i love to build, because that's a big country far away, with big forests, hot alcohols, i don't understand what they write and that it was already a dead walking political regim during that time. And then some ships like the Askold, the Rurik or the Pamiat Azova just look so cool.
Second choice would be German navy world war one, because of Scapa Flow. third the Japanese navy wold war 2 because of Truk and other catastrophes. Special mentions to US civil war monitors whose design is just other worldly!
i love painting rusty hulls!

no holly grail as I never buy any model. I am building my own models. So next should be the Derflinger or the Pamia Azova, bits of these of course.

Interesting question, Gunny! I'd say my main interest is the period from the 1890s to 1945, particularly big gun ships (battleships/battlecruisers/cruisers). If you had asked me this question a few years ago, I probably would have only answered the period from 1914 to 1945, but with the release of so many pre-dreadnoughts, I've gotten hooked on these earlier ships too.

If I had a gun to my head and could only build one nationality, I would build ships of German Navy - I love the lines of the battlecruisers and battleships from the 1st and 2nd World Wars. My imagination was captured by these ships - especially the WW1 battlecruisers - as a kid when when my parents bought me a book on "Warships and Sea Battles fo the First World War". I read that, and was hooked!

Holy Grail of modeling subjects? Hmmm....a 1/350 SMS Lutzow in injection molded plastic. The most handsome - IMO - of the WW1 German Battlecruisers. 2nd choice would be a 1/350 KM Scharnhorst - best looking of the WW2 German ships...again, IMO!

Good questions. Since I am new to this whole ship modeling I am not sure this will be accurate in a year but right now I just love ww2 Japanese Ships with their high bridge towers.
For now I am going with the 1/350 scale. 1/700 Just seems to small. What I would like to see more is IJN Aircraft carriers in 1/350 and injection molded plastic. So far have only seen them in resin and it is just too expensive to buy when you are in university. Just started with ships so all this will probably change.

Since you asked....

Scale 1/350. Even though I can't really afford them, and don't have the room, (hopefully a temporary situation in both cases), I really like the large ships. Helps my fat fingers and fading eye sight build the kit better than the smaller 1/700.

Time frame World War II. While I am very interested in World War I naval subjects my heart for some reason belongs to WWII.

Subject, CRUISERS! I have thought for as long as I can remember that cruisers get the short straw. Most every other type of ship, Battlewagons, Flat Tops, Tin Cans, Pig Boats, have a nickname, cruisers don't. Cruisers, IMHO, were the real work horses of the fleet. They did it all. They stood in the line of battle and slugged it out with BBs, they escorted convoys, and engaged in anti shipping raids, shore bombardment, anti sub work, the works.

Nationality British is my first choice, but really any of the cruisers that don't get made too often. That means just about any cruiser except the Prinz Eugen. The Italian Zaras are done, but there are so many great ships that have never made it to 1/350.

Holy Grail? Up till this year that was easy, a GOOD 1/350 HMS Hood. (A good 1/35 US halftrack was my other one but that's been done also. HOORAY!) My current H.G. is really more of a pipe dream. I know it's something I'll never be able to do. I would REALLY like to model all the ships in what I consider the most dramatic sea action of WWII, the 1st Battle of Guadalcanal, Nov 13-14 1942. For that, in 1/350, they'd have to come out with a whole SLEW of ships, both US and IJN, of all types so a lot of people would get their hopes answered.

Period : WW II prefer IJN , USN war shipsships , other nations also

Scale : 1/350

Holy Grail: cruisers Takao, Myoko ... Northampton, Baltimore

Super Holy Grail ! Perfect Grumman F-14 A,B,D 1/32 and 1/48 scale but that is just me! tomcat fanatic

Definately World War 2, any nation really. Today's modern ships lack the individuality of the old ones. I like an occasional 1/350 scale ship, but there's really very little room to display them. 1/700 scale is my choice.
As for as the "Holy Grail", 1/350 USS Texas.

Gator

Well gee like Rodger is it hard to guess my answer? "Mr 350 scale --King of the Battleships". Why....bigger is better. I used to build all those 700 scale, but they just don't have the intricate detail that 350 scale can offer. And the PE would just be a nightmare to work IMHO.

Not that I wouldn't do the Snoopy dance over a whole flock of US and Japanese cruisers. I would love to get a cage mast US BB, a pagaoda style Japanese BB, and a few representatives of the Euro style other than the KGV / Bismarck offerings

My holy grail...well I'm building her right now..an initial version Yamato..second woud be the .......Roll Tide !!!!!!!!!!! And next the Akagi

I mostly enjoy any sailing ships. But for my skill level they are an increasingly frustrating challenge, and the kits tend to be expensive (I am partial to the wooden ones). But, my favorite modern subjects are the lesser known and frequently forgotten by manuafacturers, ships such as the auxuliaries and smaller amphibious ships, because they were the ones I served in.

1/350 seems like a pretty user friendly scale, but I have yet to build anything in that scale. I have built many 1/700 ships but all have been destroyed by moving.

My Holy Grail would be a 1/350 scale model of a "Safeguard" class ARS.

Hi~
1/350 scale period!
Except 1/72 subs,Destroyer, Gato, sub chaser, when avalable
around 1/96 on plastic sail ships!
Ron

Hi Guys,

1/35 scale for me, small boats and LCs - reason: about as small as I can handle and I like the detail at that scale.

Holy grail a new range of the LCP - CC, Rescue and a Salvage Boats and a new LCA. A range of RN MTBs, a LCT and maybe an X Craft if I have cash to burn one day.

Mainly interested in building RN Boats but enjoy all the others regardless of scale.

Things in plastic I can afford and figures and extras to match LOL, LOL.

Interest period mainly WW2 but with the RN almost any period is interesting.

Nothing startling about my choice :-) :-) :-) :-)

Cheers

Al

My choice is the Prima Donna's of the high seas, the sadly now obsolete Battleships and Battle Cruisers, Any Navy, there are plenty of beautiful capital ships to choose from Italian, French, British, Japanese, German. American, just for starters and not necessarily in that order.

As for WHY, well a battleship cannot really be called aesthetically beautiful because of all the things sticking out in different directions, but, as a example of form following function ,and industrial efficiency as a seagoing gun platform, plus evolutionary design such as the progress from the brutal and bussinesslike looking ram bow of the pre dreadnoughts to to the elegant Atlantic bow of the German WW11 Capital ships, the beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Every one of those obsolete darlings has their own distinct charisma.

I guess it has become apparent to you guys now that my holy Grail would be a Scharnhorst class in 1/350 but I would settle for a 1/350 Prinz Eugen Heavy Cruiser..

1/350 for me as in my opinion this is the smallest scale in which one can begin to appreciate that these were huge ships.

It would be nice to have an understanding spouse and one wall of a house consisting of shelving with 900mm Bays that would fit one ship each. That would give twenty four ships in a wall unit 4.8 metres long by 700mm high and three tiers high. Plus a good long term project if those pesky kit makers got their acts together so we had 24 different 1/350 scale Capital ships available.

So obviously, the next question Gunny is which twenty four battleships in 1/350 would you like to see introduced over the next year?

:-)
VERY interesting thought and design, Erin. . .could you just imagine an entire ROOM of these bays??(boy, I could! )





Well, my friend, I'm going to have to answer this simply, and say that Trumpeters line-up this coming year will be offering many of my favourites, for sure!
~Gunny

Well I only have 4 of those bays at present, I needed somewnere to park my Karl Morser and the BR52 and thought I may as well include some nice battleships in the package. This unit is above me as I am on the internet here and I can hear the BR52 callin softly "Where are my wheels man?" as I type this.
Indeed a whole room of bays would be GREAT!

HMMMM.....
1)My main interests will be WW2, USN carriers and cruisers and fleet subs, DKM BB's and cruisers and U-Boats, RN BB's, ie...Hood, KGV, Rodney, Nelson, etc.(I know I know, Hood is a battle cruiser)
2) I would prefer 1/350 but 1/700 seems to be what I have room for. I do have a 350 Hood and KGV and POW. Everything else is 700 with a couple of 600 for good measure.
3) I not sure why I like such a strange mix of ships. Maybe because they are so pleasing to my eye. Maybe because their stories capture my imagination.
4) My HG was the Hood. Now it is the Nelson or Rodney in 350th scale.

I build only 1/350........I just can't comprehend the work I see done in 1/700 it is spectacular,there is no way I could even hope to work that small.

As far as subject,it's whatever i find interesting no particular prefance.

Great answers, mates!
Thanks for taking the time to think and respond. . .It's nice to hear everyones thoughts and comments!
Cheers,
~Gunny

Make room for one more Gunny.

Scale: well thats easy for me 1/700 would love to go up to 1/350 but space will not permit.

Time frame: 20th Century with a strong leanning to WWII but also like the ships through out the last century.

Subject type: Battlewagons and cruisers. The first because they were the grand ladies of the fleet, the second because they were the workhorse's doing anything and everything.

Nationality: British and Italian, but will do any that I take a shine to.

Holy Grail: Italian and French 1/700 WWII in injection. And I would make room for a 1/350 Littorio(Italia)/Roma/Impero/Venetto Vittorio even if I had to get rid of the TV.

Ciao
Luciano

Ola', Luciano!
We have plenty of room aboard, mate! Thanks for your thoughts!
~Gunny

Ahoy Mark

Make room for another.

I really cant believe I missed this post.

Scale: 1/72 followed by 1/350 I have done 1/700 but boy do I find the size of the parts hard to work with.

Time frame: 1890 until 1945

Subject type: U-Boats, S-Boats and steam cruisers and battleships from say pre -1918

Nationality: German they just built cool navy/military stuff in my view.

Holy Grail: Revell Germany 1/72 U-Boat Electraboat way cool.


Regards


Sean

Ahoy Mark and all,

Geez...like Sean....seemed to have missed this one.

Well despite a little of this and a little of that....I have pretty well found my
area of great interest and fascination....Submarines!....WW II especially
u-boats.

Seems that 1:144 scale has become pretty well a standard, as the newer
kits are being released in this scale but the 1:72 scale is welcome
as well.

I know that 1:72 is an issue with some because of their size but I look at it
this way....we have never seen kit makers pay so much attention to the

Silent service....great!

So on that note, I welcome any kits in both these scales.....would love to
see some British and Japanese subs, too.

Holy Grail?......U-boats..... Type IX A-B-C variants in both scales.

Cheers,
Joe