"Looking for WW2 Naval Miniatures" Topic

Hi Guys

Im looking at getting some WW2 ships etc and im looking at ships that are roughly 3"-4" long and wondered if you guys could point me in the right direction as ww2 naval is a new concept to me.
cheers
Jon

Try navwar.co.uk not the easiest place to deal with over the web but the products are good.

x42

You should also take a look at My Little Ship Company. Available through Stonewall. They have a partial WW2 range in 1:2400 scale, so the biggest ships are about 4-5" long. Cruisers and destroyers more in the 1.5 – 2" range:

link

Davco also make a range of WWII naval.

Davco is distributed from Skytrex

skytrex.com

I recently ordered some 1/3000 ships from them and I received an excellent product and service

Assuming the 4-5" length is for the largest such as battleships and fleet carriers, 1/3000 would be the scale. As others have said, the main manufacturers are Navwar and Skytrex/Davco although several smaller firms also make fill ins such as Stronghold, MY, Denian and a few others. I believe all the 1/3000 manufacturers are UK based.

Thanks guys like i said im new to this and im looking at doing something a bit different from the usual land battles.
Cheers
Jon

Hi Jon,

To give you an idea of relative sizes of models in the popular scales, here's an image. 1:3000 scale is slightly smaller than the middle image.

PDF link

GHQ and CinC out of the US also have distributors in the UK, not sure about Viking Forge. All are good sources for 1/2400.

For just getting started in naval wargaming, Navwar is an excellent way to start. Being located in the UK means they are readily available to you, and the price for them is certainly right.

Skytrex/Davco are VERY similar in kinda and quality. On the whole I think Navwar are slightly better, but it really varies by model pretty much.

GHQ are the gold standard for 1/2400. . . but are expensive and based of of the U.S. On the other hand, the exchange rate will work in your favor. I would wait on GHQ until you've played a bit and decided exactly what you will be looking for. Navwar are fast and easy to collect, and I feel its always good to have a 1/3000 scale "reserve fleet" around even if you later start dropping the money on a GHQ fleet.

I wold also interject that Panzerschiffe has some great product at very reasonable prices (Battleships are typically $5 USD and Carriers $6). They lack the detailing of the GHQ and CinC stuff, but a good paint job will leave you with a great model. Here's the site: panzerschiffe.com
I have a number of his models and have not been disappointed with any of them.

For larger miniatures of smaller ships, I was thinking that 1:1200 would be a nice scale.

Who manufacturs nice miniatures in 1:1200?

I like the GHQ 1:2400, I'd just like to do destroyer/cruiser actions with bigger ships. Tamiya's 1:700 waterline series seems like it may be too big – destoyers are only about 3-4" but cruisers start to get into 8". Also, at the Tamiya site, lots of the ship models are discontinued. They look like they are excellent models, however, and very reasonably priced.

Anyone else make 1:700 destroyers, light cruisers, cruisers? Especially in plastic kits?

Any thoughts on 1:1200 or 1:1250 v. 1:2400? Am I wasting my time trying to work in that scale? Should I just go for 1:2400 GHQ instead?

Your best bet for 1/1200 for wargaming is Alnavco

alnavco.com

This scale is less and less popular for gaming as genetically each generation of gamers seems to double in eyesight capability. Old fogeies like me that have large collections of the stuff still game in it though :)

I make 1/600 coastals but these may not be what you are looking for

DaveG
The PT Dockyard
ptdockyard.com

I would also recommend the Panzerschiffe minis. They aren't really detailed, but as stated before they paint up nicely. The price can't be beat and the service is top notch too. I have always received my orders within 6-8 days.

regards, Bill

I like detailed ships, and the modelling is part of the fun for me. while 1:1200 is very tempting, I'm uncertain it'll fit well on a 6x4' table and the product availability is not that great – lots of the minis are pre-painted and super-expensive ($40-120!). So I'm feeling a bit discouraged by that, altho I did check out AlNavCo.

For the type of fighting I want to do, I'm thinking to go 1:2400 and get some cruiser squadrons from GHQ, probably Brits and Italians. It seems like the cruisers would be 2-3" which is a little small for "eye candy" but would feel right on the table sizes I have available.

For destroyers I may go less expensive…when they get small it's hard to appreciate the details anyway. I'll probably have to buy a few from Panzershiffe and see what I think. From the few pics they've up, it seems like they are very clean models, just with less details. But then again, they are also half the price of GHQ!

Anyone have additional thoughts on the Panzershiffe?