Between display-grade 1:350 and case-friendly 1:700 lie 1:500 ship model kits, the scale of British destroyers and ocean liners. You can build HMS Harvester or HMS Ivanhoe here, the Polish transatlantic liners Batory and Pilsudski in wartime service, the carrier Nimitz, and a spectral Yamato from alternative history. Compact hulls with respectable detail, aimed squarely at builders who find 1:700 too fiddly and 1:350 too demanding of space. The subject choice leans towards British and Polish themes, which is part of the appeal: several of these ships were never released in the mainstream sizes at all.
A destroyer measures about twenty centimetres here, a carrier more than half a metre. Part counts are moderate, the build moves along and finished hulls settle comfortably into a smaller case. The subject choice also strays pleasantly off the beaten track towards British and Polish themes, which collectors notice: ships that never appeared in the mainstream sizes can be built here without conversions or part-hunting.
The British H and I class destroyers are among the handsomest silhouettes of the interwar school: a slim hull, two funnels, nothing superfluous. They make rewarding weekend builds with plenty of room for North Atlantic weathering, from a bleached deck to salt staining along the sides. HMS Harvester and HMS Ivanhoe both carry eventful histories from the Battle of the Atlantic that give the build a story.
Batory and Pilsudski show civilian ships in the grey coat of troop transports. It is an unusual theme that speaks of convoys and landings; Batory is depicted in service off Sicily in the summer of 1943. The elegant sheer of the hulls stays readable even under a single uniform colour.
For more detail, move up to 1:350 ship model kits; to expand a fleet quickly, drop down to 1:700 ship model kits. Railings and ladders come from the universal sheets in ship photo-etched parts.
The whole fleet, sorted by size, waits at ship model kits.
