| The HMS Hood is without a doubt the most
well known ship of the British Fleet. She was built in 1920 following the
first world war at Clydbank, Scotland. At the time she was the worlds largest
warship weighing in at 42,100 tons on a long sleek hull. The Hood was a
Battlecruiser, built for speed and thus sacrificed additional armor plating.
The theory was that what she couldn't outfight, she could outrun.
The Hood flew the flag during throughout the 20's and 30's. At the start
of world war two, the Hood was assigned to the Home Fleet and operated
in the North Atlantic and North Sea. The Hood operated briefly in the Mediterranean
during the Mers-el-Kebir battle in July 1940. She returned to Scapa Flow
to counter the German surface raider threat. In May of 1941 the HMS Hood
set out with the HMS Prince of Wales to intercept the German battleship
Bismarck which was trying to break out into the Atlantic. The result was
the battle of Denmark Strait where the Bismarck and his heavy cruiser escort
Prinz Eugen engaged the two British ships. The elderly Hood proved to be
no match for the brand new battleship Bismarck as the Hood was so vital
to the Home Fleet that she never received a much needed refit and upgrade
that would have improved her fighting abilities.
The British ships sighted the Bismarck and proceeded to close the range
while opening fire with their forward guns. The Germans returned fire concentrating
on the Hood as she turned to expose her after turrets. Hits from both ships
started fires on the Hood and soon a salvo of 15" shells from the Bismarck
found the after ammunition magazines and the ship exploded with a huge
fireball that opened the hull and let sea water pour in. The bow of the
Hood rose out of the water and she sank with over 1,400 men. So devastating
was the blast that only 3 men survived. The Prince of Wales now began to
take the concentrated fire of the Germans but was able to score a few hits
before retreating. These hits slowed the Germans enough that the rest of
the British fleet could catch up and exact their revenge for the loss of
the Hood.
Finally a 1/350 plastic kit is being produced of this long sought after
ship. Trumpeter has obviously poured a lot of research into this ship as
it looks very much like the plans and photo's of the ship that I have seen. |
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| HULL PARTS |
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| The hull is molded in one piece with either a waterline
or full hull option. The lower hull is molded in red plastic and is fairly
well detailed. The upper hull has some nice surface detail and crisp clean
lines. It looks good in the box, but you will have to be the judge as to
how well the parts fit. |
Click images
to enlarge |
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| DECK AND SUPERSTRUCTURE PARTS |
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| The deck is broken up into four parts with the bow and stern showing
very nice surface detailing. The deck has a nice wood planking and hatches
and bits are nicely done. |
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| The mid upper and lower decks are molded as two separate parts to allow
for plenty of detailing possibilities. These also feature nice planking
and surface details. |
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| The upper deck has quite a bit of detail. The splinter shields are
a bit more tapered than others I have seen, but only on the inside where
it is not as noticeable. |
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| SPRUE A |
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| The main superstructure parts are provided on this sprue. Port holes
and windows are molded open as are the stairwells. The doors and hatches
are well done and appear to all be oriented the correct way. Doors and
hatches should always be hinged towards the front of the ship. |
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| SPRUE B |
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| More superstructure parts with equally pleasing details are found on
this sprue. Smaller parts are molded at the limits of injection molding
technology. |
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| SPRUE C |
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| More superstructure walls with plenty of open doorways and port holes. |
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| SPRUE D |
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| The mast and related parts are molded nice and thin. Many items such
as the waterways and splash shields are molded separately. The prop shafts
and rudders are also included on this sprue. |
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| SPRUE E |
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| There are two of these main weapons sprues included with some nicely
molded turrets that appear to be the proper shape. Main guns are nicely
done and the gun barrels have hollowed out ends, not bad for plastic. The
smaller weapons have quite a bit of detail for this scale. The secondary
turrets are molded open, with twin guns that can be modeled at any angle
the real ones could. Searchlights and other fittings are also well done. |
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| SPRUE F |
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| The funnels are included on this sprue with all of the ships boats
and the davits to handle them. The boats are molded with separate
decks. The davits as very thin, and some even have some nice hook details. |
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| MOUNTING BASE |
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| A full hull display base is provided if you choose not
to build your ship as waterline. A nameplate is also provided. |
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| PHOTO ETCH |
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| A single photo etch fret is included, etched out of thick
.012 brass. Included are mast parts with loops for the rigging, as well
as some crane details. These are a little thick and while the fret is relief
etched, the half thickness sections are limited to just the attachment
points. This will make it easier to cut the parts, but doesn't little to
improve their appearance. They are still much better than is possible in
plastic, and I'm sure we will see a host of after market parts to remedy
this. |
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| DECALS |
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| A simple decal sheet is included with different types of flags.
There appears to be draft marking included as well, but they are hard to
make out on the light colored background. |
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| INSTRUCTIONS |
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| The instructions are an extensive easy to follow 20 page booklet with
all kinds of exploded views. They are step by step and cover all the assembly
steps. A large 11" x 17" folded color camo guide shows the colors in detail. |
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| MANUFACTURERS BUILDUP PHOTOS |
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| Here are some photo's from the Trumpeter website showing
a completed model built out of the box.
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| LINKS AND RESOURCES |
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The single best source of HMS Hood information on the web |
| Also don't forget to check the "Calling
All HMS Hood fans" thread on the forum.
You find the very latest information and tips there as well as asking any
questions you might have about this kit. |
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| Conclusions: |
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 Yet
another impressive kit from Trumpeter. This one does the HMS Hood justice
and is one of the nicer kits to hit the market today. There is still room
for improvement, but this one should be well received by all HMS fans.
This one is kit #TSM-5302 1/350 HMS Hood Battleship with a suggested list
price of $149.95.
Thanks to Stevens
International for the review sample. They are the exclusive importer
for Trumpeter kits in the US. If your hobby shop does not carry Trumpeter
kits have them contact Stevens
International or try their Hobby Shop Locator to find one. |
