"1/350th scale freighters/merchantmen" Topic

Does anyone of you know which company makes WWII (or earlier)merchantmen in 1/350th scale?

I need them for a WWII e-boat versus MGB/MBT game that will eventually turn into a club campaign.

The only one I found was a Liberty ship from Trumpeter and a 1/400th scale freighter by Revell, the latter one not really very suitable.

Any nationality will do, even Japanese or Russian as I gather that most freight ships are somewhat universally alike?

Thanks very much for any help!

The Liberty ship from Trumperter is about all there is in 1/350. Smaller scales, there's a little more out there.

Some freighters were larger, or smaller, so I wouldn't dismiss the 1/400th scale vessel.

Navwar makes, or used to make a couple of trawlers, in 1/300th scale, but the price on those is pretty high. Then again, probably around the same price as a model in the same scale.

You could always try scratchbuilding some.

I would like to do battles in 1/300th, or 1/350th as well, since the boats look superb, so let us know if you find any other minis out there, and post pics of the battles.

We carry the Navwar MTB's, PT's, and S-Boats, but don't have the trawlers.

Best regards,

Rob
Topgun Marketing LLC
e-mail: topgunace111 AT yahoo DOT com
topgunmarketing.org

Unfortunately there's very little out there; unless you fancy a 1/400 Titanic, the Liberty ship's about it. Might be worth taking a look at paper or card models as an option.

Right. I have a boatload of 1/35-1/400 stuff at the moment.

Revell USS Mission Capistrano – 1/400 Unbuilt
and two more already built.

There are two Haskell-class attack transports already built as well. One is painted in civilian colors. They are 1/375 scale. There are also two smaller transports.

All of those are taking up space in my garage. However, seeing that WillieB is in Belgium, the only one I could reasonably get to him is the unbuilt version.

Wyatt

You're best bet would be to scratchbuild from card, balsa etc. If you pick up a plastic kit or two in 1.400 or 1.350, such as the Titanic, you could use the fittings to deck out your scratchbuilt models.

Incidentally, I don't know if you've seen the White Ensign range of MTB's, MGB's and E boats?:

link

Thanks very much for the replies guys!

Yes boggler, it's exactly the White Ensign range that prompted us to start with 1/350th scale ships.

Those MTBs and Schnellboote are superb. Rather fragile with all the PE items but with a fairly thick base suitable for wargaming. The WE destroyers are pretty expensive but you only need one or two.

Anyway, the ships are handled/moved with some sort of croupier stick/pointer and not by hand.
This is intended to increase the game difficulty and makes it less obvious to get them lined up properly for a torpedo run.

Other models in 1/350th scale we found are for example;

a type XXI U boat for a fictional late war scenario from AFV Club

Flagman has a type VIIc u boat for a mere 8 Euro

Fujimi makes (Japanese) crewmembers which can easily be painted as German or British.

L'Arsenal has rather cheap landing craft (4 or 6 to a pack-
LCMs and LCVPs)

It's only the 'true' freight ships that are a bit thin on the ground.

Your problem infinding decent ships is why I settled for smaller scales, 1/600, 1/1200 and 1/3000. Looking forward though what you are going to do with them over at the TSA (couldn't find a topic about it though, stull in the embryonic phase?)

Johan

Trumpeter makes several Liberty Ships in 1/400 – but they are $60+. (just saw them yesterday)

The Revell "Mission Capistrano" tanker went for $15. USD

However, after culling through my pile of ships, I think you just got me into a new scale! I have four freighters, two tankers, a pair of Fletcher DD's two unknown American DE's and the USS Buchannan/HMS Campbeltown. Now I need to look into those White Ensign ships.

Wyatt

"Any nationality will do, even Japanese or Russian as I gather that most freight ships are somewhat universally alike?"
No, they most certainly aren't!
It depends on size and type. Tankers are completely different to cargo ships. Cargo liners are different to tramp ships. Bulk carriers are different to general cargo ships. Cargo/Passenger ships are different to passenger ships. Each company would be likely to have their own style and even within that company, different classes of ships could be recognisably different to each other!