Will China Sink My Battleship?
Hey.
Last month a fellow scale model builder cleaned out his closet and I bought a couple model kits cheap from him: Revell's 1/720 scale USS Arizona battleship and (same maker, same scale) USS Intrepid aircraft carrier. I intend to build both of them, after a fashion. But neither of them may be "stock".
I've been doing research on both classes of ship for a while now. I hope to build the Arizona as its sister ship Pennsylvania, partly because I'm from Pennsylvania and partly because of the ship's history AFTER the Pearl Harbor raid, that Penn survived and Arizona didn't. I have heard that Finescale Modeler magazine's 1995 special issue had an article about converting the Arizona kit to Penn and if anybody knows where I can find a copy of the article, I'd like to know.
To my dismay, I hear that the Chinese company Dragon is producing their own Pennsylvania kit--same scale, thereabouts--this summer. Knowing Dragon, the new kit will be 20,000 leagues better than the old Revell kit. And it'll cost ten times what I paid for what I've got.
I guess I have better things to do than worry about this sort of thing. I'm sure the majority of the unbuilt model kits in my collection would be considered obsolete or substandard by more serious builders.
But then again, why should I be so serious about it? It's a hobby.
And I don't have the money to spend anyway. I just blew my month's allowance on replacement batteries for my digital camera. The more things you own, the more they own you. (--My mother.)
Last month a fellow scale model builder cleaned out his closet and I bought a couple model kits cheap from him: Revell's 1/720 scale USS Arizona battleship and (same maker, same scale) USS Intrepid aircraft carrier. I intend to build both of them, after a fashion. But neither of them may be "stock".
I've been doing research on both classes of ship for a while now. I hope to build the Arizona as its sister ship Pennsylvania, partly because I'm from Pennsylvania and partly because of the ship's history AFTER the Pearl Harbor raid, that Penn survived and Arizona didn't. I have heard that Finescale Modeler magazine's 1995 special issue had an article about converting the Arizona kit to Penn and if anybody knows where I can find a copy of the article, I'd like to know.
To my dismay, I hear that the Chinese company Dragon is producing their own Pennsylvania kit--same scale, thereabouts--this summer. Knowing Dragon, the new kit will be 20,000 leagues better than the old Revell kit. And it'll cost ten times what I paid for what I've got.
I guess I have better things to do than worry about this sort of thing. I'm sure the majority of the unbuilt model kits in my collection would be considered obsolete or substandard by more serious builders.
But then again, why should I be so serious about it? It's a hobby.
And I don't have the money to spend anyway. I just blew my month's allowance on replacement batteries for my digital camera. The more things you own, the more they own you. (--My mother.)