Don't sweat it, it's no big deal...I just didn't want your blood pressure up for no reason!!

I should probably not post before I've had my morning Mt. Dew, lack of caffeine makes me miserable.

Jeff

Here's the official poop:



Jeff

My best hope is the mention that Trumpeter produced this kit in conjunction with the HMS Hood Association. That's a great goup, and I doubt they would "sign off on" on this kit if it was full of inacurracies.

I think it's the best news I've heard in a long time. And definetly a must buy. But I think I would much rather have a 1/350 Warspite. But beggars can't be choosers.

What were the inaccuracies with the North Carolina ????

Here's Ron Smiths thoughts on the kit (you may not know Ron but I respect his opinion)

Ron Smith
Jan 3, 11:01 pm


OK, a mix of accuracy and flat out stupid engineering:


Hull-


Forefoot not quite bulbous enough, odd contour to stem.
Armor belt poorly defined at ends, upper and lower ends do not line up.
Bilge keels half the depth they should be.
No docking keels.
Outboard shaft exits not correct (nobody has ever gotten them correct)
there should be a recess in the hull the shaft enters, the hard abgle at
the rear of the housing is incorrect.
Inboard prop skegs slightly too thin, prop shaft housings only molded on
the outboard face, hull/skeg joint too sharp should be faired more.
Inner end of skef tunnel needs filling and fairing into hull for
smoother transition.
Rudder attachment points very weak, requires extreme care to get the
rudders mounted straight and plumb.
Bilge vents aft or armor belt not consistently molded.
Angled widget above armor belt near turret #3 (garbage chutes in fact)
not quite right.
Hawse pipe exits at bow less than half the correct size and too sharply
molded.
Paravane "eyes" on extreme bow lack "eyebrows", no paravane attachement
point on forefoot.
All cocks (open or closed) have significant mold seam, not consistent
chock to chock, all chocks too square.
Upper to lower hull fit ppor to fair, need to cut stiffeners in upper
hull, line up and glue a side, let dry, repeat for other side, install
new styrene bar stiffeners then putty and sand.....losing even more
definition at the ends of the armor belt.


Main deck-
Deck joints have Trumpeter's typical problem, the alignment tabs
INCREASE the gap, you have to cut them off and file the edges with a
slight back cut then reinforce with heavy styrene strip after tacking
together (I will give them credit where it's due, the planking will
cross the seam aligned *IF* you do it right).
Hawse pipes are shallow depressions with no surrounding lip, they should
have a heavy lip above the deck and be yawning holes leading into the
actual hawse pipe, prominent windlass drum missing outer aft end of
hawsepipes.
Some anchor chain scuff plates missing, gaps between existing plates too
large.
Anchor chain entry into chain locker too small and too square to base.
No anchor chain holdbacks.
Joke of a molded on anchor chain, waste of machining time.
Between breakwater and hawse pipes all hatches molded too proud off the
deck, the two large companionways next to the capstans far too high and
should have watertight doors.
Hatch next to #2 turret stbd side not high enough off deck.
Hatch coamings on maindeck at aft end of superstructure see comment
about forward companionways.
Aft deck hatches and plates suffer from being too high or too low,
compaionway just behind turret 3# need WT door.
Director tubs molded into deck, draft angle visible, separate parts
would be better.
All vents noticeably out of round with heavy mold seams.
Vents used outboard of capstans should be windlass drums.
All 40MM gun tubs have ejector pin marks inside the tubs, they belong on
the other side or on the sprue just off the tubs.
All 20mm and 40mm splinter shields approx. .020" too low (twenty
thousandths doesn't sound like much but it's 20% of the existing height).
20mm RSA (Ready Storage Ammo)lockers inconsistent for latch detail
"heaviness", separate parts do not match RSA's molded in place.


01 level-
Latch detail on Upright RSA's and storage lockers too heavy.
Sidewalls nice touch, fit at ends poor.
Entire 01 level approx. .060" too high.
Deck overlay nice touch since it hides the sidewall seam, fit so-so
(they should have carried this over to all assemblies with sidewalls).
Four opneings in 01 level deck are open companionways and should have
coamings (sidewalls should NOT have TW doors molded where the lower ends
of the stairs are, they should be openings, they never had doors....it
would of course be nice had the doors they did mold lie up with the
actual stair ends....note I do not rag the "aztec stairs" here since you
can't tell once the sidewalls are in place).
Previous comments re: splinter shields and tubs still applies.


Forward superstructure assembly-
Armored conning tower has machining marks that would be a nice and
extremely accurate touch........had they not been perpendicular to the
casting bands on the real thing.
Gaps behind conning tower need to be filled after mounting.
Pin marks again on wrong wide of parts or should have been moved to
areas covered by toher assemblies.
Prominent spray shield missing stbd side WT door lowest level middle of
structure.
Fag bags should have been separate parts, bottom should be close and top
open (they got that backwards) with a bar across the middle of the top.
Mold seams to clean up inside many of the spray shields.
Tower assembly too sqaure, they corners of the very top (C1 & C2) have
the correct curve and that should have been carried down along the
corners of C12, C13, C19 & C33.....ladder run diagonally instead of
vertically.
Fit so-so for all parts.


Stacks-
Not even close to correct cross-section, about 20-30% too
"svelte"....cannot be easily corrected with kit parts and if corrected
will cause other problems later.
Extremely poor design of parts breakdown, crappy fit.
Exhaust openings too small by 20-25%.
Tops of stacks represented as flat plane, this is NOT correct.


Mddle superstructure-
Previous comments for RSA's, doors, splinter shields and tubs apply.
Odd circular depression molded into 40mm mounting areas.
Doors on director towers so poorly molded they might as well not be
there, replace with PE.
Crappy fit all over assembly.
If corrected stack is to be fitted you need to carve away some deck for
it to fit in place.


After superstructure-
Previous comments for RSA's, doors, splinter shields and tubs apply.
RSA's upper level "anemic", compare to all other RSA's.
Corrected stack will look odd on supplied base.
Shallow door like depressions just behind stack base should be open
archways, this would look really stupid if you open them up since the
molded a box right behind them....either the doors or the box is in the
wrong place.


Main turrets-
3 of 5 barrles on each sprue have visibly off center muzzle holes.
4 of 5 barrels on each sprue have visibly our of round muzzles.
All barrels have a soft rib machined into the mold opposite the sprue
attachment point.
Rube Goldberg barrel mounting.
Turret has nice detail.....of course you'll end up sanding a good bit of
the rivet detail off the top fixing the large seam from the
sidewalls....see comment for 01 level deck....OOPS, this one issue is
probably the single stupidest engineering error on this kit.
Turret #3 missing 40mm director tub and director.
40mm tub has pinmarks inside, also too shallow.


5" turrets-
Rube Goldberg assembly, excellent fit would make this merely finicky,
poor to fair fit makes it a major PITA.
All turrets missing a sight hood on their port side, prominent and
obvious to all but the blind.
Hatches on rear 1/3 too wide.
Barrels have odd shape, should be straight taper.


40mm's not as nice as previous efforts. No mount shields or rails, this
doesn't bother me much since I use PE for these but for some it is
considered a ripoff.


20mm's might as well be trashed. Overly simplified, barrels fatter than
40mm's in kit and about 75% the diameter of the 5" barrels. No gun
shields, this doesn't bother me much since I use PE for these but for
some it is considered a ripoff.


I haven't gotten to the cranes, catapults, masts or boats yet and I
normally replace of them with PE or brass rod for the masts so I never
really look at the kit parts. There are no sips' bells....there should
be two. Props are so-so. Anchors flat out suck. The radars supplied look
bad but then again I use PE. The kit can only be built after her June
1944 refit in Ms32/18d (the later pattern and no deck pattern) or
Ms22....unless you wan to perform varying level of surgery.


To get something built that doesn't resemble a 1960's era Revell kit you
need at the least to replace the radars, cranes, catapults, anchors,
main turrets, secondary turrets and 20mm's....you can get away with the
kit 40mm's if you use the Lion Roar PE set. Otherwise Yankee Modelworks
for mains and secondaries, L'Arsenal for secondaries, 40mm's and 20mm's.
WEM PE is the best overall quality and provides radars for her entire
service life, Lion Roar PE is a close second in quality and gives you
lots of other goodies but only for her last fit, Yankee's PE gives you
98% of what you need, it lacks SG radars and funnel catwalks, I have not
seen GMM's PE.


I can tell you WEM, Yankee and Lion Roar all worked from original source
documents because I know exactly who's hard drive they got the scans
from and he got the scans directly from the original documents at NARA
and NHC. You might wonder how I know that, simple the hard drive is mine.

Damn Modelguy,,,,,,,you did your homework/research/whatever. Seems like you have to do major surgery just to get the N.Carolina right. Now I see why someone would not want to buy the kit. Sheesh.....................

Hey Modelguy, Is that Ron from Burtonsville, MD?


Dan

That's the guy...

Ron's proximity to the National Archives has propelled into the realm of being a WW2 naval mythbuster. His photo collection (last I heard) is somewhere in the neighborhood of 15,000 print quality images.

In fact, he's ramping up to start his own research business.

It's very rare that I will take someone's statement at face value about ships, especially if they're pointing something that's considered new, but Ron usually has photos or copies of the original plans (most that we've never seen) to back up his commentary.

Jeff

As soon as I read it, I said to myself, "That's Ron." I was the manager of the Laurel (Maryland) Hobby Works for a while and spent a lot time chatting with him. He really does have a vast amount of knowledge and can produce some of the best models I've ever seen.

Dan

I had seen posts on the proposed 2006 releases by Trumpeter, and the Hood was not listed, so this is an extremely pleasant surprise. I have also heard that they are going to put out an Alabama / Massachutsetts later this year. Any word on when that will be Jeff?

Now while the Hood is not one of those ships I "drool" for, I can be counted on to pick up one for the collection. My 350 scale wants are a cage-mast BB from the 1941 Pearl group. One of the other Japanes BB's and an AC would also be highly welcome. I don't think they'll ever get down to a crusier level so you'll probably have to go resin or just stick to 700 scale and a shame it is. But, like jeff says it's all abount the benjamins baby !!!!!!!!!!!

I have no intel on the timeline for the SoDaks other than "this year", along with a late-war square-bridge Fletcher, a Buckley, and a Saratoga.

As for smaller subjects, I wouldn't be too hesitant. There aren't many "must-have" large-impact subjects left to model in 1/350, maybe a Forrestal class, perhaps a 1944 Enterprise, or Indianapolis or Prinz Eugen, but that's about it.

This of course, doesn't mean that there aren't ships out there that deserve to be kitted, but there aren't many that have that universal market appeal like Bismarck, Hood, Arizona, Yamato, etc..

I see a double-edged sword here...because Trumpeter decided to issue one "impact kit" after another, it seems to me that they've shot the works far too early.

Given the opportunity, releasing one impact kit a year, an Essex, Lexington, North Carolina, Hood, etc... coupled with smaller releases in between, cruisers and destroyers, could have cornered and monopolized the market for the next decade.

Surprisingly, this is a case of too much of a good thing, because between the Essexes, North Carolina, and now Hood, my model budget is pretty much tapped out, and will be for some time.

My two pence,

Jeff

Jeff:

I agree -- limit the "impact kits" & do a lot more filler with the smaller stuff.

I am not a ship-guy per se, but I'd be far more interested, as I am with armor & a/c, in the little guys, the support stuff, etc ... PC's, YP's, DE's, oilers, cargos, AK's, APA's, tugs, floating docks, machine shops, tenders, CVE's, etc, etc - the stuff you can build on & add in with one of the impacts ...

John

I found this online at a forum linked to the HMS Hood Association.

"Yes, it is indeed true...Trumpeter have indeed developed a nice 1/350 scale model of H.M.S. Hood!

The model depicts the ship as sunk in May 1941. It should be very accurate. Definitely more accurate than any other kit released to date to include the two resin kits. We were asked to look over the drawings/plans and make suggestions. We provided as much information as we could during the development period. We were able to get a few new discoveries put into the model, but a couple of minor things were missed. Nothing major at all though. Not to worry, these will be easy to fix (I'll let everyone know what to change when I ultimately write our review of the kit in a couple of months).

Sorry for not confirming or denying it much earlier, but after the ICM debacle of a couple of years ago, it was wise not to announce anything until it was time for the debut.

Those of you in Germany will get to see the kit first- it will be at the upcoming Toy Fair in Nuremburg.

Frank
Webmaster, http://hmshood.com"

Hood Forum

To answer the various questions, yes, White Ensign Models is working on a dedicated PE set for the Trumpeter 1/350 Hood. This will be an all-new design, and not a re-work of the set from our own 1/350 resin Hood kit. You can pre-order both PE 3514 and the Hood kit from us right now. Before you ask, no, we don't know what the price of the PE set will be (probably something like our North Carolina set), nor what the final kit price will be. No charge made until we actually ship your order.

Cheers,
John Snyder
White Ensign Models
http://WhiteEnsignModels

Here's your chance boys, pony up now...WEM also has the necessary colors for Hood, AP507B in enamels.

Jeff

Just pre-ordered one from Great Models at 112USD.

Unlike the NC, where I bought one of every A/M set, I'm going to wait until the dust settles.

BTW, I noticed above that "The model depicts the ship as sunk in May 1941." -- does that mean I'm gonna have to fill and restore all the holes, drain the water & fish, etc ??? :-) :-) :-) Sheesh ...

John

This is very good news indeed! My wishes for other releases would be one of those funky British carriers or some of the Japanese in 1/350.

Fuzzy

OK folks, as Jeff mentioned, we have the correct paint colours for HOOD, but it's more than just AP 507B. Here's what you'll need:

AP 507B Admiralty Medium Grey (Colourcoats RN 02)--all vertical surfaces of hull & superstructure;

AP 507A Admiralty Dark Grey (Colourcoats RN 01)--all steel decks & walkways, and decks of motor launches (except Admiral's barge);

Black (Colourcoats C 02)--funnel cap, pom-pom & machine gun barrels, boot-topping;

White (Colourcoats C 03)--cabin tops and underwater hull of Admiral's barge;

Mid-green (Colourcoats ACUS 16)--hull of Admiral's barge above waterline;

Teak (Colourcoats C 01)--planked decks, and deck of Admiral's barge [note: there is some speculation that HOOD's planked decks may have been painted AP 507A by the time of her loss];

Antifouling Red (Colourcoats RN 19)--underwater hull;

Bronze (Humbrol 55)--propellers [sorry, we don't do Bronze, though we DO have a very nice match for weathered bronze if there is enough interest....];

Mahogany (Colourcoats US 15)--interiors of open boats, boat booms, jackstaff, ensign staff;

Off-white (Colourcoats RN 10)--blast bags on 15" guns, high-angle director covers.

Comprehensive enough??

Cheers,
John Snyder
The Token Yank
White Ensign Models
http://WhiteEnsignModels.com

Just thought I would let everyone know I was just on www.e-hobbyland.com and saw that you can pre-order the Mighty Hood for $109.99.Now all I have to do is convince the wife that its a bargain. Yeah right like that'll work!

Worse than that, she broke in half before she went down

Well, that neatly solves the multi-part deck problem ....

John

Actually more like in thirds. The very furthest part of the bow broke off, then the remaining part broke in half.

http://www.primeportal.net/models/thomas_voigt/trumpeter_1-350_hms_hood/

Thanks Jim for those additional photos. That is OOB folks. I think we've got another grade A winner on our hands. Thank you again Trumpeter....long may you reign as el supremo in the 350 scale ship category