That's right, finally!!

Trumpeter has announced it will be releasing it's new 1/350 scale HMS Hood, MSRP $149.95

Kits will be in China in late February, and stateside in March.

More intel as I get it.

Jeff Herne

Splice the main brace, hoist the White Ensign, and give a rousing three cheers! This is absolutely the most outstanding news I've hear in a good long while. March just happens to be my birthday. If the wife and kids don't get me this kit, I'll just have to give myself a big 50 birthday present.

Thanks for the great news.

Thanks Jeff!

Finnlay after so many years of asking from the modelers!

Thank you so much for sharing!

Skipper

one very happy bunny today

Finally!
After so many rumors and speculations, finally!
Although it looks to be a little pricy, at least it will not be Tamiya overpriced :-)

Cheers,
Tvrtko

Hood and PoW dio...... anyone?

:-) :-) how about a ark royal and a sheffield then trumpeter?????? you could model force h

Actually, all I need is a resin Prinz Eugen from Iron Shipwrights, and I'm all set...

Got the Bismarck, PoW, and Hood as soon as they hit.

Now that my #1 most wanted ship is coming, I have to find another one....

USS Indianapolis, or Sheffield, or San Francisco, or ... :-)

Jeff

How about any of the HMS carriers?!? Can you imagine a deck full of Swordfish, Fulmars, Albacores, Seafires, Sea Hurricanes, Barracudas!!!

Please Trumpeter Please

Or Portland, Juneau, ATLANTA!, Helena, Amercian early war DDs, British County class cruisers, British CVs, etc, etc, etc, All in plastic, and 1/350 scale. Guess I might kick the kids out of the house early so I can have room for all the kits I'd like to make.

I'm not sure if this link is going to go through but Trident Hobbies is taking pre-orders on her.

Trident Hobbies

They are taking orders for it at $104.99, 30% off. They will bill you immediately. ETA March 15th.

Thanks Jeff, awesome news! Made my night!

Phil

Wow...ho-hum....another kit of a kit of a kit that we now have. Granted, Trumpeter makes some great kits, but add some spice, how about some U.S Cruisers, heavy and light, Japanese pagoda style battleships or carriers ???hmmm ...hmmm!!!!!!!!!!!! British carriers or cruisers....Think that does it. No offense, the Hood being released is like another panther, tiger, sherman that are being released, only with different decals. Mind you, that are some interesting versions of the sherman yet to be released, but thats for another topic. Cheers !!

Achilles,Ajax,Graf Spee?

WEM is talking about their PE set for Hood & I think you can pre-order it.

I tried Great Models -- din't come up with the kit, but did come up with a pre-order for a PE set from Tom's ....

So if the NC is any guide line, we should be hearing from Lion Roar, Gold Medal, Yankee, etc in short order ...

Gee, I hope the hull & deck fit ....

John

Any idea if White Ensign is planning a Photo-etch set for the Hood?

YES!!!!
1/350 scale Hood!!!
Now we need a Rodney!!!
Ron

Spades I have to respectfully disagree mate. This is like the Holy Grail to many ship builders here, and on other web sites. Let's examine the kit offering of the Mighty Hood. True there are two 1/350 kits of her, in resin, each of which is OOP and normally sells for more than I paid for my car. A 1/400 scale kit from Heller, that I understand is the worst kit they've ever made. A 1/350 scale, maybe, by Lindbergh, that at best could be said to kind of look like the Hood, but was mainly like bathtub toy. True the 1/700 kit by Tamiya is decent, but people want 1/350. Lastly the 1/600 Airfix kit that was old when I was young.

As far as I know that's it. None of these are modern kits, affordable, and in the scale many people want.

I certainly want many of those kits you mentioned, but for now I'm saving my pennys, sharpening my hobby knives, and eagerly awaiting seeing this kit on my shelf.

Good point Halfyank, this is pretty much the most-wanted 1/350 injection kit of all time, at least according to the FSM Most-wanted survey of the last few years...ask me how I know about that...

I bid on a WEM Hood on Ebay about 4 years ago, I gave up at $1000.00 US, and it sold for $1300.00.

While some of us might complain that we're not getting a model of the USS Bill Clinton anytime soon, we've also got to consider the financial aspects of producing a kit of this size.

While I may want a Takao, Myoko, Sheffield, or Vittorio Venetto more than anyone else, I'm also a realist and understand that I'm far more likely to see kits that are either famous (Arizona, Hood, Bismarck, et al) or ones that were built in large numbers, like a Fletcher, Cleveland, or Atlanta. I am, of course, referring to 1/350 scale and not 1/700.

Truth is, Trumpeter is in this business to make money FIRST, and satisfying our whims is probably 9th or 10th on the list. Sure, they're willing to do the kits, but you'd better make sure it's going to sell in the mass market before you invest the time, labor, and money.

There are very few high-impact ship models left to kit...most of the models that are universally recognized are done...Missouri, Yamato, Bismarck, Arizona, etc...now we start going a little further down the ladder of renown and popularity and as we do, the potential sales get narrower because the recognition and demand is not as intense. Sure, there's an entire laundry list of kits I'd love to see in 1/350, but unless there's 50,000 other ship modelers who want to see a New Orleans, Atlanta, Cleveland, or Takao or Myoko, getting them is going to be a lot tougher than we think.

In the end, it all boils down to money. It's like pro sports...there's a balance between winning and star power that draws in the crowds. Sometimes you can do well by winning without star power. A perfect example is the IJN Mikasa. Outside of Japan, it's relatively obscure, but it's a beautiful kit that goes together incredibly well. Then there's Trumpeter's Arizona...not exactly a great kit, but it has enough name recognition (starpower) to sell.

I'm babbling again....I've been on this damned 1/350 kit soapbox for more than 3 years now, and it amazes me that people still aren't satisfied. We've had more new 1/350 kits in the last two years than we've had in the previous 30.

Jeff

halfyank & angry_ensign, I agree with what both of you said. But I think when it comes to something different, people will buy. Heck, just look at how well the North Carolina did when it was released. So why not some of the others ? Tamiya already makes the Hood in 1/350, not to say Trumpeter will not improve on it, which im pretty sure they will. I mean how many times have we seen a ship in 1/700 and think, wish they made that one in 1/350. But heck, im more armor than anything, but when it comes to elegance, a beautifully built ship model is the one at the top of my list anyday to display at home.

Spades, I rarely come right out and say that someone is wrong, but dude, you are wrong.

Tamiya doesn't have HMS Hood in 1/350 scale...

Presently, there are:

White Ensign - 1/350 resin, long out of production $1000 and up.
Iron Shipwrights - 1/350 resin, long out of production, $500 and up.
Lindberg - 1/384, plastic, but nothing more than a bath-tub toy
Heller - 1/400, plastic, not bad, but not 1/350 either
Airfix - 1/600, plastic, ancient kit
Tamiya - 1/700, the best injection kit of this ship available
Italeri- 1/720, another good offering, but in a non-standard scale.

The only ships Tamiya has produced in 1/350 scale are as follows:

Missouri 1944
New Jersey 1983
Yamato 1944
Musashi 1945 (date?)
Prince of Wales 1941
King George V 1944 (date?)
Bismarck 1941
Tirpitz 1944
Fletcher 1942
Enterprise 1980-something

HMS Hood by Trumpeter will be the first time EVER that this kit has been offered in injection-molded styrene in 1/350 scale.

Jeff

I think the demand for a 1/350 Hood stems from the fact that tamiya has had the Bismarck, Prince of Wales and King George V for years. Everyome wondered "where's the Hood?" after all that's the other famous ship from the Bismarck chase. I think people tend to get caught up in the "Where's the Hood?" uproar. Half of those that have been heard shouting for one the past 20 years won't actually buy it. I know I won't buy it if it's anything like their North Carolina-heck they have that ship to photograph, measure, feel...whatever and they still royally screwed that one up. And I sure as hell aint gonna pay more than $80 for one either. Prices are way outta control. Trumpeters Essex kits are good, their other 1/350 kits have problems. I'll wait n see on this one.

WEM's Hood

Going along the strictly money lines, Trumpeter should have come out with 1/350 IJN carriers instead...they would sell better in thier supposed largest market...the pacific rim.

But they have released US Essex carriers, and even the Early Lexington and the US North Carolina. Those are not what I would consider big-ticket items, but rather items that are rabdly wanted by a small group of builders. :-)

That said, I would LOVE a 1/350 Kaga or Akagi. Or better yet, a 1/350 Ise/Hyuga with the option of either the pure BB or to build the CV/BB. Ah, dreams...

Your right Angry.......I was wrong....I was somehow confusing the King George with the Hood. (SIN, SIN,SIN) .

Ok, now that

Did not get to finish before accidentally pressing "done". Anyway, since I have now been corrected, than, i'm as happy as the rest of you. Feel like an a**, but, good to know I have people to correct me when im wandering off in the hinterland bymelf.

Friends still ??? Buy you a beer...