1/350 New Jersey

[Osmosis]

I have been having quite a bit of luck on Offer Up lately. I found these last night for $70.00 for the pair. The guy that was selling them literally lives around the corner from me so I picked them up on my way in to work this morning. I thought it would make a nice set with the New Jersey.

 

Both are complete and unstarted.

[cog]

you are lucky. for both ships there are some nice buildlogs on MSW

[Osmosis]

I am going to order some basic photo etch detail up kits. Most likely the Eduard as they seem to be the most detail for the least money. While I am waiting for them to arrive I will be reading every build log I can find on all three.

Edited April 29, 2020 by Osmosis

[jwvolz]

Retrofitting back to WW II would be pretty tough, depending upon what is in the PE set. You're missing all of the 40mm and 20mm guns, as well as eight of the 5" guns. The antenna/radar array/masting will all be different too. 

 

There are many other smaller details that will matter as well, such as removal of the Tomahak and Harpoon luanchers, the rear flight deck vs. catapults for the Kingfishers in WW II,, ships boats etc... I'd personally wait to find a set that would work on the modern NJ. The Pontos set does look amazing. It wasn't around when I built the kit. I know it's a lot for what you get but the Gold Medal set is good and is available, and you're only out $20 at this point...

[cog]

5 hours ago, Osmosis said:

I am going to order some basic photo etch detail up kits. Most likely the Eduard as they seem to be the most detail for the least money. While I am waiting for them to arrive I will be reading every build log I can find on all three.

Is the Yamato the old or the new tool. You should realise the PE you can buy presently is for the new tool and what I see on the box, it looks like the old one. You'd better compare the kit number with the kit number the detailup set is for. I do not know if there has been new tooling for the bismark, but it never hurts to check if the detailup set fits the kit.

 

I have the Eduard set for the Musashi also a Yamato class battleship, and in all honesty, I was not verry impressed by it.

[Osmosis]

Thanks for the heads up. The kit#s for both the Bismarck and Yamato, 78013-6500 and 78014-6500 respectively as well as the date stamped on the box would indicate that they were released in 2005. The New Jersey #78005-5000 puts it a 1984 release. I have been careful to include the kit # in all of my searches for add-ons.

 

I have decided to do the Bismarck first. I would like to get a detail up kit that provides some experience without being overwhelming for the novice builder that I am. Tamiya makes a detail up kit for the Bismarck but which to me actually looks very much like a Pontos kit and the price point is about the same. Way more than I want to tackle my first time out. The GMM kit seems awfully lean for the price and I am not sure what to think about the Toms and WEM Kits as there is not much information about them. That left me with the Eduard kit.

 

I have not placed an order yet so I would certainly appreciate any and all input from you guys that have dealt with this stuff already because I am in the dark on all of this.

 

The bottom line is I still hope to have a decent model when I am done and would not want to kill it before I get started by making a bad purchase.

[lmagna]

Hi Art

I wish I knew something about the PE sets for the ships you have been able to get but I have never bought any of them.

 

On the other hand I did buy a couple if Eduard PE sets for my Huey build and in some ways, at least in my opinion, are in no way meant for the modeler new to using the stuff. Their method of folding and attachment in many cases was totally unusable and I had to devise my own way to make the parts work. In other cases the details were incredibly complicated. The seatbelt buckles alone were made up of a half dozen individual pieces each, and each of those pieces were almost microscopic size! Incredible detail sure, but also unnecessarily complex. In my opinion pretty much items for either the very talented or skilled modeler. Or possibly just for masochists! I was told that this is a common factor with Eduard PE. Your mileage could very.   

[Osmosis]

Well I decided on the gold medal models kit and found one for $65.00 on ebay from a hobby shop in Texas. It arrived today and is not exactly what I would call "New and Unused". The entire sheet, yes one sheet is covered in rust and totally unusable in my humble opinion. The seller does have a very good rating so hopefully he will do the right thing.

 

Some of it is hard to see in the pics but in the right light it is quite extensive.

 

Let the ebay fun begin.

 

 

Edited May 4, 2020 by Osmosis

[VTHokiEE]

Darn, that’s so frustrating. Good luck getting it resolved. Hopefully it isn’t too much of a hassle.

[lmagna]

Possibly a sanding lightly while laying on a piece of glass with a fine sandpaper or soaking in something mildly acidic like White Vinegar.

[CDW]

Are you sure that is rust? Only if the photo etch is something other than brass could that be rust, but it sure looks like brass to me.

[cog]

7 hours ago, CDW said:

Are you sure that is rust? Only if the photo etch is something other than brass could that be rust, but it sure looks like brass to me.

Exactly my thoughts, it does oxidise, and discolourizes to somewhat brownish, but it doesn't look like metal rust

[Osmosis]

I called it rust which makes everyone think "iron" my mistake it is a form of corrosion that we see quite often in shooting and reloading and the marine industry all of which I am involved in. What happens is over time and especially but not always in the presence of salt the zinc leaches out of the brass causing black spots. This can indeed be removed by using a variety of polishing methods. When you remove it you are removing volume from the part and it naturally gets thinner and weaker. I would attempt removing it in on such delicate parts only as a last resort.

 

The bottom line for me is that I plunked down my hard earned money and have a right to certain expectations.

[Osmosis]

Just to update the seller has agreed to a return and has already sent a return shipping label. Very nice of them. I will be giving them a very complimentary review.

[mtaylor]

That's excellent news on the photo etch replacement, Art.   And thanks for the education on erosion.