• Welcome to Solid Model Memories.net.
 

Comet Battleship Kit

Started by Lynn, April 11, 2020, 07:39:52 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Lynn

I'm really just a collector of kits, and like to learn of the history behind the kits. 
In the course of my collecting, I found that Comet had two versions of their K-10 battleship kit.  One has a 12 inch hull, while the other has a 10 inch hull.  The 12 inch hull version has three sheets of parts, while the 10 inch has only two sheets.  The 12 inch kit identifies the vessel as the USS Texas in the instructions, but the 10 inch kit makes no specification, leaving both New York class battleships, New York and Texas, as build candidates.
Of course, buying these kits used, I have no idea whether they are complete and / or if parts were exchanged, combined, or other sometime prior to the point at which they came into my possession.
I'm curious if anyone can provide information about these differences and about the timelines associated with these kits.
The K10 kit appears in the 1941 Comet catalog, along with the K-7 Cruiser ( USS Indianapolis ), the K-8 PT boat ( PT-9 ), the K-9 Destroyer ( USS Gridley ), the K-11 Aircraft Carrier ( USS Saratoga ), and the K-12 submarine ( USS Perch ).  None of these appear in the 1940 Comet ( AMCO ) catalog, but there are sailing ships that appear beginning in the 1936 catalog. 
In the 1943 catalog, the same LK-7 through K-12 series appears, but only the K-7, K-8, and K-9 mention a specific vessel.
My access to Comet catalogs jumps from the 1943 issue to the 1955 issue, and that last issue has no ships at all.  I don't know if the ships were dropped sometime after 1945, or if they just went to a different catalog.
The 10 inch kit has a 1945 copyright on one of the box's end flaps.  The 12 inch kit has a date of 1937 in the instruction notes.  I found no other dates associated with that kit, but the box is missing one end flap.
My speculation is that the 12 inch kit was initially produced, but wartime material shortages and / or a desire to reduce material costs led to the creation of the 10 inch kit.  I wonder if the same measure was implemented for other kits in the K-7 through K-12 series.  Again, that's only speculation, and I'm not a big fan of speculation !
If anyone has info to share, I'd be glad to hear it !  Also, if someone can recommend a good reference book on the history of wooden ship models in this time frame, that would be great.

lastvautour

I have no answers for you, however I do enjoy reading your posts.

Lou

Oceaneer99

Fascinating, and thank you for the photos and scans. I was only aware of the 10 inch version.

Garet

Flying T

thank you for posting this,i try to look for a solid kit i would like to copy,sometimes people have a large collection of plans and or kits they have saved but it stops there,a lot of interested modelars are interested,also collect on internet stick and tissue plans i can download for making 1/72 solid models
FLYING T (AKA. LARRY)