1:3000 Ship Comparison

I received my 1:3000 ship orders from four different companies:

• NAVWAR
• Davco
• Mick Yarrow Miniatures
• North Head Miniatures

Before I placed my order, I had only seen NAVWAR miniatures before.  I was pretty much going in blind on the other three companies.  Overall, I like all four companies both for my orders arriving so quick and for quality.  I recommend all four.

Here are some brief comments about each company, in no particular order:

• NAVWAR
• You have to order via snail mail using a paper order form, but you can add your credit card info on the form.  Ummm...NAVWAR, we are no longer in the 1980s.  But they do have a web site.
• This company offers the largest variety of ships for 1:3000.
• Quality is good.
• I thought my order would take longer, but came pretty fast (just less than a month).
• Davco
• Not the best online listing, but eventually figured it out. They need a better simpler page listing of stock, rather than big blank boxes with no photos.
• I thought I had not heard of the company before, but discovered I actually bought their port facilities years ago.  I have yet to use them.
• Quality is good.
• Mick Yarrow Miniatures
• Similar packaging to NAVWAR.
• Quality is good.
• Offers a good variety of ships that NAVWAR does not have.
• North Head Miniatures
• This was my first time buying Shapeways models, and the Frosted Ultra Detail quality is pretty darn good.  The models are as smooth as the metal models and do not need any cleanup.
• Quality is excellent.
• I think the only down side maybe is price. I bought from North Head Miniatures for those ships that were unavailable from the other companies.

I did not end up with a large selection of the same class of ship from each company.  Maybe in hindsight, I should have bought the same ship from all the companies and been able to show a better comparison.  I do not see any large scale differences from the companies and even though there are some differences.  I doubt anyone will see the difference on the table.  Heck, historically I think even within some of the merchant classes, they were not identical (except maybe US merchant classes).

Most of the ships I purchased are merchants or small escorts, so potentially the larger warships have a greater variation between companies.

Comparison photos:



Left: NAVWAR, Right: Davco
A/B type merchant

Left: NAVWAR, Right: Davco
Hunt 1 class DD

Left: NAVWAR, Right: Mick Yarrow Miniatures
Liberty class merchant



Left: NAVWAR, Right: Davco
F type merchant

North Head Miniatures
Hog Island class merchant (three still attached)

 

Next, I'll be painting the ships.  I guess you can say...the fun part.

Previous related posts:

Arctic Convoy in 1:3000

Arctic Convoy Game Research