*Inj. molded plastic* Upcoming Ship Kit Releases

[MorgenergyModels]

It's one of those Trumpeter kits that's been in the catalogue for yonks - nice to it finally materializing.

[steviecee]

At long last! Now maybe the Ranger will come out next. I will also get the 42 fit if and when it comes out

[Timmy C]

Very Fire announces an "upgraded re-release" of their 1/350 USS Atlanta CL-51: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php? ... 2095850221

The previous release is currently sold under the Aotori Bunka brand. Not sure what the differences are.

[gtbred]

Can I get a 1/350 FDR in NAM version. I know they have 1/700. But my eyesight is bad at 70yrs old. By the way my birthday is on the 2nd of July.

[ModelMonkey]

Happy birthday!

No 1/350 angle-deck Midways yet. Fingers crossed for a Vietnam-era kit.

Orange Hobby has a 1/700 scale angle-deck Midway (1991). There are also some 1991 kits available from Chinese 3D-print vendors selling on eBay. Here's one:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/287432534004?_ ... R5ipzKvkZw

[Killerbeans]

How about parts to convert 1/350 Intrepid to Essex?
Long hull/short hull?

[gtbred]

Hey I convert the JFK to the America in 1/350 3 years ago. I also did the 1/350 Kitty Hawk convert into 1968 1/350 Independence. The last one I did convert 1/350 ssc Forrestal into 1/350 1991 Ranger. My convert days are over. My fingers are not working that well. Besides my bad eyesight.

[Timmy C]

How about parts to convert 1/350 Intrepid to Essex?
Long hull/short hull?

Both were short hulls, but long/short doesn't matter when it comes to their major post-war conversions as far as I recall.

The big difference between Intrepid and Essex is the flight deck layout, specifically the location of the starboard side elevator - it's closer to the island on Essex. No aftermarket manufacturer will produce an entire flight deck, so that's a conversion you'd have to do yourself.

[Roberto]

Can I get a 1/350 FDR in NAM version. I know they have 1/700. But my eyesight is bad at 70yrs old. By the way my birthday is on the 2nd of July.

Happy Birthday to you!
Would love a step by step of your CVN-65 to CV-62 conversion as USS Independence 1977 is particularly dear to me.

[Roberto]

Hey I convert the JFK to the America in 1/350 3 years ago. I also did the 1/350 Kitty Hawk convert into 1968 1/350 Independence. The last one I did convert 1/350 ssc Forrestal into 1/350 1991 Ranger. My convert days are over. My fingers are not working that well. Besides my bad eyesight.

How was the 3D printed 1/350 CV-59?

[ModelMonkey]

How about parts to convert 1/350 Intrepid to Essex?
Long hull/short hull?

Right now, we can help you build a 1/350 scale Korean War-era SCB-27 USS Essex CV-9 from a straight-deck Trumpy long-hull kit, circa 1951-1953. Link:
https://www.model-monkey.com/product-pa ... korean-war

Vietnam War-era and later Essex-class SCB islands we offer include:
USS Yorktown CVS-10, 1968-1970
USS Intrepid CVS-11, 1966-1967
USS Hornet CVS-12, 1967-1969 (Apollo 11 recovery)
USS Lexington CVT-16, 1993
USS Oriskany CVA-34, 1968-1973
USS Shangri La CVA-38, 1966-1968

Several are available in 1/530 scale for the classic Revell kits, and 1/500 for the classic Renwal kits.

We also offer several other 1/350 scale Korean War-era and World War Two configuration Essex-class islands. Link:
https://www.model-monkey.com/1-350-usn- ... ers?page=3

Most are available in 1/700 scale, too.

As Timmy said, there are no plans to offer flight decks or hulls; we do not have the capability to produce products that large, nor could we make them work financially.

[gtbred]

Can I get a 1/350 FDR in NAM version. I know they have 1/700. But my eyesight is bad at 70yrs old. By the way my birthday is on the 2nd of July.

Happy Birthday to you!
Would love a step by step of your CVN-65 to CV-62 conversion as USS Independence 1977 is particularly dear to me.

Enjoy your builds Roberto. The island wasn't difficult. But the hull and flight deck in 4 parts I think. Do better.

[gtbred]

Thanks Steve for the Indy island. Easy work

[ModelMonkey]

Thanks Steve for the Indy island. Easy work

Cheers!

[Killerbeans]

The most cost effective plan would maybe use select drop in components for Intrepid, to use for angle deck Essex carriers. The folding elevator will be tricky, as would locations of elevators, gun gallerries, specific island mods,etc.

[ModelFunShipyard]

That would still be difficult to achieve. I have made an entire run of all post war refitted Essexes in 1/350 (3D-printed), and besides common parts like radars, the 5'' guns, and a few other fittings, there's not one piece that's exactly the same on all 14. You can reuse gun galleries on some, but in 1/350 injectin moulding, what's the point of making 14 different kits rather than just a few salient ones? They would be three or four at the most, to showcase the various refits, but at that point unless you make the bow a separate piece (with the problems that entails), the hull's not a standard piece anymore, both upper and lower, because some had the sonar dome installed at the bow and some didn't; you can reuse some bits and pieces from the hangar deck and gun galleries, but not everything; and the islands are all somewhat different. So at that point, if I were an injection moulded manufacturer, I'd just eat my losses and make three different sets of moulds; you can reuse some of the 3D work to prepare the moulds to cut costs, and some sprues with the fittings, but that's basically it.
There are people who will be better able to explain all the various differences between the SCB refits and the individual ships, but I think the point stands.

[jpeeler]

Having devoted (wasted?) much of the last four decades to an obsession with the modernized Essex-class ships, the point made by Model Fun Shipyard can't be stated enough. Even ships that superficially seem alike will have notable differences in bow shape, gun sponson configuration, presence or absence of stem anchor, features on the island, etc., and that's not to mention all the variations in electronics fit. It might be tempting, for instance, to market one kit as Essex, Yorktown and Wasp, and another as Hornet and Kearsarge, all based on superficial similarities such as bow contours, but once you get into the details you really see what a grab-bag of features each individual ship was, and you're soon not as interested in a "one for all" kit as you are a couple aspirin.

I have a 1:350 Gallery Intrepid upstairs that I keep dithering between converting to Ticonderoga in 1972 or Yorktown in 1968. You might think Tico would be an easy conversion due to the shared hull/flight deck configuration, but I've found so many detail differences between Intrepid and Ticonderoga that I'm just tempted to go ahead with the conversion to Yorktown, a ship with which I'm very familiar and for which there's no end of documentation, not to mention the Model Monkey island is available. At my current build rate, however, I'll get around to this about two years after I'm dead.

Jodie Peeler

[Killerbeans]

All valid points. The emotional favorites for me are Essex, ans 2nd Hornet. I have Intrepid in the stash, and may try a conversion someday. I have a few(cough)
WNW planes to get through, and a must build list of ships. I thought the Fletcher DD rabbit hole was deep...

[MartinJQuinn]

Very Fire announces an "upgraded re-release" of their 1/350 USS Atlanta CL-51: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php? ... 2095850221

The previous release is currently sold under the Aotori Bunka brand. Not sure what the differences are.

Atlanta was always under the "Very Fire" label. Aotori Bunka released the San Diego. My understanding is the ownership split, and the molds followed the person who owned them, hence San Diego and Atlanta being under different labels.

[William Smallshaw]

Years ago Ray Bean did ab exceptional series of articles on the differences between the modernized Essex class ships. I think these were published in Scale Ship Modeler magazine. A great publication that was ended by the internet. Regardless, it was great stuff.

Bill