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| OVERVIEW |
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| This new set from Lion Roar of China is specifically designed
for the new Trumpeter
HMS Hood kit. It includes just about every after market item you would
want to add. It comes packaged in as an attractive boxed set with 12 different
photo etch frets, machined brass gun barrels, resin turrets, cast propellers,
and even scale anchor chain. As an additional bonus, a beautiful ships
badge is included to mount alongside your ship. All the parts are securely
wrapped and protected. |
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| PHOTO ETCH FRETS |
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| Fret A
The first fret etched in brass includes the railings. The railings include
braces spaced at regular intervals, and the lines are etched at half thickness. |
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| Fret B
This fret includes two and three bar railings with different stantion
spacing. The three bar rails are relief etched, while the two bar are not. |
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| Fret C
This fret consist the degaussing cables for the hull. |
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| Fret D
New ship rudder plates, and a variety of boat details and cradles to
mount them are on this fret. |
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| Fret E
This fret included a lot of the weapons parts and rigging details. |
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| Fret F
Doors, hatches, boat davits, and cable reels are among the details on
this fret. |
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| Fret G
This fret includes replacement superstructure walls. They are relief
etched so the gutter stand out nicely over the port holes. Lettering spelling
out "HOOD" is included. |
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| Fret H
The fret is etched in stainless steel and includes mesh grills. |
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| Fret I
This fret includes the mast mast starfish assembly, and more boat details. |
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| Fret J
More etched walls are on this fret. |
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| Fret K
The funnel grills, inclined ladders, and various platfroms make up this
fret. |
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| Fret L
The braces for the starfish are included on this fret. |
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| RESIN REPLACEMENT TURRETS |
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| Four new main gun turrets are included with a corrected shape. They
are well cast with resin blast bags that readily accept the brass gun barrels. |
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| METAL PARTS |
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| The metal parts in this set are what really makes it stand
out. Replacement main and secondary gun barrels, propellers, and anchor
chain are details that will really enhance your ship. |
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| Main Gun Barrels |
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| The main gun barrels are machined from brass with realistic tapers
and hollowed out ends with realistic thin walls. The barrels have a locating
pin on the end to help with placement. |
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| Secondary Gun Barrels |
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| The medium caliber guns are extremely nice. The are center drilled
with mounting pins to help locate them on their plastic counterparts. |
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| Cast Metal Propellers |
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| There are two each of the left and right handed propellers included
to replace the crude plastic ones in your kit. |
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| Anchor Chain |
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| Modelers have been adding real chain to their ships for
years, and now you can too. There is enough anchor chain to really make
your ship stand out. |
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| SHIP CREST |
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| A really cool bonus in this set is ships crest. It comes attached to
a numbered and embossed card. The colors of the bird holding the anchor
are quite striking and this little jewel will make a great addition to
the base you mount your ship onto. |
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| INSTRUCTIONS |
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| Instructions are eight pages with several subassembly view
and one page dedicated to identifying the parts. These are well drawn and
should be very helpful in detailing your ship.
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| BUILDUP PHOTOS |
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| These photo's of the Trumpeter
kit built up with the photo etch components are provided by the manufacturer.
The unpainted photo etch really stands out on this model and helps to illustrate
how the parts dress up an otherwise plain kit.
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| CONCLUSIONS |
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 This
set includes a very nice photo etch set with a wide variety of the parts
that the typical modeler would want to use. The folding assemblies should
make it easier for the average modeler to assemble. The addition of the
machined gun barrels and Hood badge is an incredible bonus for this set.
Check out this and other Lion Roar sets at your favorite retailer. You
can find out more at the Lion
Roar website. This is set #350004 HMS Hood Update Conversions Series.
Pricing for this set should be in the $120-140 range. Steep yes, but when
you add up the costs of the machined gun barrels, replacement turrets,
chain, props, and the awesome badge, it's doesn't seem out of line. |
