Would anyone want a British K Class submarine hull in 1/72?

[Kazzer]

Here is a gem!

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/k-class-submarine

[Weissman]

Now there is a generous offer Kim - go for it - nothing holding you back.

J

Kazzer's offer is indeed generous and I thank him for it, but an M1 is still not a K Boat which is what I really want (although the M Class did inherit the K Boat jinx because they used the keels of K23, K24, and K25) and it is way shorter. Also, HMS Invincible will occupy me for at least a year and I would be holding off any submarine project until after that.
But, again, thank you for the offer.
Maybe I may get the Deans hull and shelve it for 12 months.
cheers, Kim

[Kazzer]

Here's some interesting stuff on a 1:350 scale K class

http://www.modelwarships.com/reviews/ships/hms/k-class/350-cs-jb/jb-review.html

[Slats]

I have a better idea. Why don't you give me a few weeks to get into winter mode and start firing up my vacu-former, and I'll send you a free styrene hull.

You do the build, and let me have copies of any detail parts you make so I can produce a decent end product?

Now there is a generous offer Kim - go for it - nothing holding you back.

J

[Kazzer]

I have a better idea. Why don't you give me a few weeks to get into winter mode and start firing up my vacu-former, and I'll send you a free styrene hull.

You do the build, and let me have copies of any detail parts you make so I can produce a decent end product?

[Slats]

Hi John,
Yes, still hankering for that K Boat. Interesting comments you make about near-scale models, I had not realised! I suppose I could get the Deans one and add a few inches to it. It does not have the swan bows though. I will ponder on this, still have to build Invincible first.
cheers
Kim

Go for Kim - Dean's will give you the certainty that you don't have now and might not ever have - i.e. a kit available close to your spec vs a kit a tad bigger that could never eventuate. Then there's the cost considerations too. Dean's kit appears cheap. Looks like Mike can sell you other bits that might be compatible too Kim.

J

[Slats]

Who said that?

A wise man named Captain obvious

[Weissman]

Hi John,
Yes, still hankering for that K Boat. Interesting comments you make about near-scale models, I had not realised! I suppose I could get the Deans one and add a few inches to it. It does not have the swan bows though. I will ponder on this, still have to build Invincible first.
cheers
Kim

[Kazzer]

Frankly, I don't think the model is worth fiddling with to achieve perfect scale, it's so close. I also have the mold for the M1 superstructure, conning tower, rudder and dive planes. And lets not forget the gun.

Who said that?

[Slats]

Hi Kim
I can see your enthusiasm for this has not yet waned. Good for you.
That said, if the 1/72 scale issue is purely driven by TF72 - I would suggest that you have a serious rethink about what is currently on offer.

Having been a member now since 1995 (the year it all began), I have lost count at the variation I have seen in "1/72" scale at TF72. What I mean by that is, by and large, the availability of targets specifically built in exactly 1/72 is beyond question, but thankfully the club hasn't yet put a rivet counting Nazi with a tape measure in charge of enforcing precise 1/72 scale. If they did, you'd find many ships (mainly those from overseas kit suppliers) to the surprise of their owners being under and over scale. Yes TF72 is a nice concept and constant scale is encouraged but precise scale is not the be all and end all. Quite a lot tolerance over the years has been accepted.

Eg. A key example of good acceptance of deviation in scale is David Batagol's superb Collins class. Only after I embarked on building mine, did we realise that his boat was closer to 1/79 scale. The mould that boat came from shrunk a full inch! You'd only noticed the difference in his if we parked right next to each other on the bench. Given that his boat and mine, and the differences in scale between the two were documented in the club magazine, - it was public knowledge. David's boat was not then banned from TF72 regattas. Both boats were indeed "scale" models - just different scales, and David's boat closer enough to 1/72 that sensibly no one from TF72 cared.

How many other K class subs would you expect to see gracing the water's of TF72 events where your's could be easily compared? I can answer that now -zero -there would be only yours.

Back to your issue Kim. Getting a sub kit manufacturer interested in building a sub kit can be a big deal. You can wait years, and from my experience cash is king in trying (but not guaranteeing) to get things moving. I have shelled out some four figure sums Kim in getting kits I want, and that still involves waiting. All that said - in my experience it's easier to convince someone to do a kit if there is no other kit available in your scale or close to it and the kit is popular. To me the K class in 72 scale has a couple of things against it. First is - it may be historical but it doesn't seem to be popular, the second thing is there is a kit, and its close to 1/72.

The Dean's kit may be basic but to an accomplished target builder like yourself Kim, you shouldn't have too much trouble licking it into shape. The Deans kit works out to be around 1/76 - you are still building a scale model Kim, in 1/76 scale. There are many other vessels in TF72 that are more like 1/80 and some I know are 1/64!

Best

John

[Kazzer]

Here is The M1 Fittings Kit



Priced at $70

Now online at http://www.sub-driver.com/fittings-k...tings-kit.html

[Kazzer]

Here's my M1 alongside a Revell VII

[Kazzer]

Plans etc

http://support.caswellplating.com/index.php?/Knowledgebase/Article/View/275/40/british-k-class-plans--photos--1

http://support.caswellplating.com/index.php?/Knowledgebase/Article/View/274/40/british-k-class-plans--photos--2

[Kazzer]

I might be game. If it's a quality product. A historically important design.

M

Oh! He who lost the molds for my M1 eh? :-)

Haven't you got an M1 hull already? What about a modification to that hull? Is it feasible?

[Weissman]

Frankly, I don't think the model is worth fiddling with to achieve perfect scale, it's so close.

I disagree. :)
That is a variance of about 6% or more. I am in a club which only sails 1/72 at our regattas, that difference would rule out the Deans Marine hull. If you're going to do a scale model it needs to be scale - near enough is not good enough.