Just as I was pulling out of the garage to go Christmas shopping for my niece and nephew the mail lady drove past. I have a long driveway and by the time I got to the end of it she had turned around and pulled up in front of our block of land. We exchanged pleasantries and she said she was going down to number 11 but saw me reversing out of the garage and came back. She then told me she had two large parcels for me, and my attention immediately went up about 500%, so not the usual tiny box of paint or glue then. Could it really be? I went to her car and noticed a couple of boxes taking up the rear set of the Honda CRV, and one of them looked about the size of the Trumpeter 1/200 Bismarck box. Interest ratchets up again.
Sure enough the huge box, and the slightly smaller one were both for me! Happy dance, on the inside.
Thanked her and put the two big boxes in the back of my Pajero and reversed back down the driveway where I pulled up and took the boxes inside, Christmas shopping forgotten for the moment.
I opened the box and staring back at me was the side view of the USS Missouri. To say I was a little happy was an understatement. I have three others of the class in 1/350 to build with full PE sets for them, but I think they can all wait for a bit.
So on opening the box you find an area partitioned off with sturdy cardboard. Here you find the main part of the hull, all except the nose parts. It has a couple of cardboard boxes each end that holes have been cut in to hold the hull safely. Under the hull where two superstructure parts.
On the other side of the box were four boxes, A,B,C and D which was underneath A and B. D has the two deck pieces in it.
I will go into what is in each of the boxes in a full review later.
But I can tell you there are 34 Plastic Sprues, 11 PE frets (with custom fitted rails even! Joy), 2 metal prop shafts, 500mm of anchor chain a decal sheet, Instructions and Painting guide in full colour.
The pictures of the hull.. one has a 1/35 Su-152 on the top and the other a 12 inch ruler at the base.
Tried to give you a sense of scale.
Better photos later. Just wanted to get this up fast! :)
Quick edit; the box is about 100mm shorter than the Bismarck.
SUMMARY
Highs: It's a 1/200 Missouri...Lows: I have to wait until PE sets and wooden decks come out before I can build her..Verdict: Hurry up with the PE sets!!
About Warren Inman (warreni) FROM: SOUTH AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA
Greetings! I have been modeling for about 45 years on and off and have just started learning about weathering my AFVs etc. Started when I was about 3 or 4 and got to a peak of production in the late seventies with a Airfix or Matchbox kit every day or so at times. Most of those have gone but when I ...
Hi
I just pick up mine Mighty Mo, I have to admit that Bismarck look much more luxurious inside the box, but ship is great (instead of some discrepancies).
Hope that we will see soon IJN Yamato or HMS Prince of Wales in this scale (I will buy both of them )
Cheers
Wojtek
MAKIETARIUM
I'm pretty sure that, besides the hull shape issues, the Missouri has a banana-shaped rising stern, which is due to the available drawings: I've looked at their 1/700 Iowas, and it is exactly the same as the most used drawings, and the same goes for the 1/200 kit.
If we want to know what the upcoming 1/200 Hood will be like, and good starting point would be to see the issues in the current Trumpeteer Hoods in other scales...
In the meantime, except for the excellent 1/200 Nichimo destroyers, I've decided to make the switch to 1/350 scale until the day genuinely serious kits come out in 1/200...
Gaston
One of my suppliers is one of the US importers for Trumpeter, and they recently posted in their "coming soon" list of a 1/200 Iowa (not really much different than the Missouri), and a 1/200 HMS Hood, as well as a rumored USS Enterprise.
The Iowa is really no surprise, pretty much same ship, different markings (sans bathtub). Enterprise is not really a surprise either, since the Merit Hornet was designed and made by Trumpeter.
The Hood is a welcomed version. Can't think that the Yamato is that far behind, as they have done pretty much every famous BB from WWII.
Now....if they decided to do a modern USS Iowa/New Jersey, I would be tempted by that. Really not that much they would need to change. Different antennas, modern weapons, and a different stern for the helo deck.
Very unfortunately, I would not hold my breath for a new 1/200 Yamato...
Trumpeteer has never made one, and they tend to stick with upsizing previous releases... The upcoming Abercrombie in 1/350 is an exception, but little of what they do is ever Japanese, and they maximize whatever "research" they can size up: If you look at what they did in 1/350, they are following it quite closely in 1/200... Also, unless they "invent" a new brand like Merit to cater to Japanese stuff, they seem to have an antipathy towards Japanese subjects, wartime issues still being touchy apparently...
Sadly I fear that 1/200, whatever its short term success may be, will wither from poor quality research, poor quality underdetailed hulls, and lack of a competition willing to make the scale "alive"...: The key issue is wether or not serious mainstream injection-moulding makers will join Trumpeteer in this scale, and I don't see this happening at all: To the point now that I would be very surprised if it did happen: It has been a while...
The size of this scale make it a too large mould investment for other makers, and without other makers joining the fray, people will tire quickly of one-sided Trumpeteer subjects, low detail levels and especially poor accuracy quality at a high price. Tamiya did the exact same thing with 1/48th armor, poor detail, initially poor accuracy and poor or mismatching "opposing" subject choices, and it failed to take off with any other maker: It is now essentially a dead scale for armor, as one company cannot really "make" a market all by itself...
Gaston
Hi Scott,
hope to see 1/200 Yamato soon, I heard rumors about big KGV and PoW from Trumpeter. Hope to see one of them under my Christmas tree in 2014 or at last 2015
Did I mentioned that I need big Christmas tree ?
Cheers
Wojtek
MAKIETARIUM
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