Rick E Davis wrote:
John,
I still think that if you ordered the Black Cat kit that best meets what you want to build, that you are better off. Saving you a lot of alterations. I alter plastic kits all the time, but resin kits are trickier for me to alter, particularly IF SAWING is involved.
You could sell the kit you have and recoup at least some of that cost. Freetime carries many of the Black Cat kits, and you could have it sooner if time is an issue.
Maarten,
From what I can see from the in box review you posted, cost comparison aside, I feel that the Black Cat model is better. His 3-D printed parts are excellent and the weapons alone are much better detailed than the resin weapons I saw in the Naval Models kit. By the time one bought 3-D printed weapons from Black Cat or others along with PE and other parts (that may or may not be missing from the Naval Models/Trumpeter kit), the cost will quickly rise to near the same.
Hi Rick et all,
As we haven't had the chance yet to examine the new Black Cat kits on our workbench, any final verdict is a bit premature. But I share your feeling that the new kit must be superb in quality. And so it very well can be. The Trumpeter USS England kit certainly has it basic flaws, the hull shape for a start is way off (I have corrected it for myself and that was quite a job). As the Naval Models conversion set was only intended to match the quality of the Trumpeter kit, not to exceed or correct it, we deliberately didn't include a new corrected hull in our set, to keep the cost down: the hull is in ship kits by far the most expensive casting.
The total result is passable, but for achieving a first class result you have to do and invest more effort and money. Starting with a GMM PE set is a minimum I would say. The secondary weaponry and directors certainly will benefit greatly from an upgrade, and in the instructions of the kit suggestions are made which items were available, l'Arsenal being the major source for those at the time. Today we have several more options for improved parts - with their associated price tags.
So I don't contest the Black Cat kits at all, I applaud there is a new option to build these classes. But quality obviously comes with a price, and if someone is willing to pay that, he should definitely go for it!
As long as there are people wanting to build a Cannon/Edsall class DE in 1:350 but are not seeking the top notch quality or are on a more constrained budget, the Naval Models kit based on Trumpeter remains an option, just as it was intended. And € 60 is for some people still a lot of money, if they compare it to the price of the original USS England kit of about € 17. We often have discussions on shows where we meet novice builders, staggering at the prices some manufacturers demand for their products. And of course we also know the modelers that seem to have very deep pockets. So there is a diverse audience out there.
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