What if model battleships were still a big deal?

I remember when I was young, there were several different model battleships to choose from, but today it seems hard to even find one at all.

That said, for an alternate history where young folks, maybe just mostly those from navy families or those going to the naval academies, actively build fleets of model warships as part of their education, as a fun way really learn what different designs really looked like in comparison to their foreign counterparts, could we see model warships, especially the battleships, still a big deal today?

I'm thinking along the lines of a government program that causes the models to be made, and then the hobby industry gets hold of the surplus kits under license, and...

When would such a thing be possible? In what nations? When did the whole plastic model market take off OTL? Before plastic, did kids get wooden models/toy ships? Could we see a "battleship" trading card game, with detailed drawings of the ships on the cards, something like Magic the Gathering?

Is there any hope of getting something like that done nowadays, for naval history classes or something? I would really love to be able to have a complete 'fleet' for the USA WWII battleships, but I would think that if they were made as collectibles, the market value might get out of my price range rather quickly. What if not only the historical ships "as built" were available but also rebuilds/conversions? Would there be members that would indulge their hobby to the point of having a collection including all Dreadnoughts, from all the nations that built/bought them?

Any thoughts on how we could get model battleships back in?
 
When did the whole plastic model market take off OTL? Before plastic, did kids get wooden models/toy ships?
After WWII, with US brands like Revell and Renwal, though Frog in the UK started before WWII.
the big change was styrene plastic availability.
the same feedstock, ethylbenzene, was used during the war for synthetic rubber production and with natural rubber available, chemical companies had a lot of idle facilities, so were marked for all types of molding.
It quickly replaced diecast and wooden models, for both higher detail and being precolored, as well as faster assembly for HO trains and autos, with ships and aircraft soon after


Could we see a "battleship" trading card game, with detailed drawings of the ships on the cards, something like Magic the Gathering?
Janes Naval Annual 'All the World's Fighting Ships' described as naval Kreigspiel in 1906
https://www.amazon.com/Naval-including-Royal-Navys-Wargaming/dp/1409244091
and Cigarette companies made trading cards, but you needed Jane's to play
roads_shipcards.jpg
 
Yep. Unfortunately none of that was available in 1968 :(

A lot of the younger modelers went to the war-games, board and miniatures for their sea battle thrills, leaving styrene models on the shelf.
 

Driftless

Donor
What contributed to the historic decline? Cost of materials, parental fear of their kids becoming glue-sniffing zombies, or other hobby competition?
 
I actually think we're going to see more of this in the future. 3d printing tiny drones to plink at each other while floating on lakes using remote control or AI? Yes.
 
What contributed to the historic decline? Cost of materials, parental fear of their kids becoming glue-sniffing zombies, or other hobby competition?

I think there were a combination of factors. The anti-war movement beginning the late 1960's within the US diminished interest in military models, the advent of cable television (more channels to surf) reduced the time allotted for this kind of activity for kids, and the glue-sniffing problem. Nowadays, kids including mine are glued to their video games and just can't get them away to do anything that takes time to complete.
 
Yep. Unfortunately none of that was available in 1968 :(

A lot of the younger modelers went to the war-games, board and miniatures for their sea battle thrills, leaving styrene models on the shelf.

Though the guys I were with built a lot of fleets from Lindberg&Renwal kits, ballasted and had subdivisions made with modelling clay, and shot the hell out of the other sides fleet with multi pump Crossman or Benjamin air rifles in local ponds.

Basic rules were that you got one BB for each main turret on a ship, and Battleship 'guns' got 3 pumps, Cruisers two. Secondary guns(no matter how many) got a single BB from a crappy old Daisy

If a hit caused a superstructure to fly off, was deemed a 'Critical Hit' and we would cast for the ship with a fishing pole, drag in it, and stuff firecrackers inside, with a slowmatch fuze, and then lit and shoved off towards the fleet to rejoin the squadron.

Accurate rules?
Well.....
 
Best we could do was stick firecrackers in our broken Spitfires, add a touch of gas, and fling the flaming plastic off the roof. Wish we'd had videos. I nearly lost a eye on one occasion and did have a thumb nail ripped back on another. Home made rocket motors have their drawbacks. These days they'd prosecute the parents for the crap we tried
 
Best we could do was stick firecrackers in our broken Spitfires, add a touch of gas, and fling the flaming plastic off the roof. Wish we'd had videos. I nearly lost a eye on one occasion and did have a thumb nail ripped back on another. Home made rocket motors have their drawbacks. These days they'd prosecute the parents for the crap we tried
lit49.jpg

Managed not to kill myself with the formulas for Zinc Sulfur.
 

Driftless

Donor
Bertrand Brinley also authored the "The Mad Scientist Club" series. I still have a couple of battered ancient copies in my library.
 
That said, I do actually still make plastic kits... All R/C, mostly 1/16 scale tanks and 1/96 scale warships however (Fibreglass ship hulls, plastic upperworks), but I do have the occassional conversion of a 1:72nd into RC control for my fleet. Mostly German or Japanese but a few Royal Navu hulls planned.....

Have got a half-dozen 1/350 scale kits for either building as wreck models for fish tanks or for bobbing about on fish tanks (ie Le Suriot).
 
There are still quite a bit of warship kits available. Only the plastic ones in any decent scale are not cheap. If one wants to build an alternative is cardstock.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...FjAAegQIBRAD&usg=AOvVaw2Njalu4dkGuIJDzKWl8pKr
That's just one alternative. There are other manufacturers/publishers. The modeling subjects available range from figures to practically anything one could imagine. Plus the ones offered in digital form allow one to screw up and start over. And do not think because the building material is paper the finished model is crude. Some are, some aren't. And then some are
http://www.papirove-modely.cz/galerie/index.php?showimage=311050
That's a 1/6th scale Gurney Westlake Formula 1 car. And yes it is paper
 
Most of my fleet suffered catastrophic magazine explosions after fires of unknown origin breaking out. I'm sure a number of small streams in this area still have unfound wrecks....
 
Most of my fleet suffered catastrophic magazine explosions after fires of unknown origin breaking out. I'm sure a number of small streams in this area still have unfound wrecks....
Had a few wooden hulled models I that suffered like that..... Most of my old 1/350th or 1/1200 fleet suffered shell impacts in the form of full-auto bb's at close range (In bath tub). I was surprised at how tough some of those hulls were. My 1/350 Bismarck survived my full-auto SA80 at close range, with the deck remaining intact (Turrets and superstructure blasted off though). Whereas Titanic of same scale and plastic thickness (Although different manufacturer) got obliterated. Both had 1 piece hulls and 2-piece decks..... Most of the 1/1200 scale got blown in two after turning turtle and exposing flat bottoms due to close proximity explosions of 'tall boy' bombs (ie I am a terrible shot and make up for this by amount of rounds down-range!) lol.

Goes to show!
 

Driftless

Donor
There seems to be a common thread of artistic genius followed quickly and most assuredly by warped destructive tendencies in all of us here..... "Oh, the humanity...." o_O:rolleyes:
 
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