1/700

Reviewed by Timothy Dike

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. 

After the successful release of their 350 Hood, Trumpeter has followed up with a scaled down version for 700 scale ship enthusiasts. 
 
HULL PARTS
 The hull is molded in the typical waterline style with a separate lower hull and waterline base. The hull is nicely shaped and closely matches all the drawings I have seen of the Hood.  Click images
to enlarge
DECK AND SUPERSTRUCTURE PARTS
The deck is molded in three sections. They are designed so that the seams will be easy to hide. Surface detail is plentiful and crisp.
The upper decks feature nice planking and surface detailing. The only thing I don't like about this part is the excessive taper on the splinter shields. 
SPRUE A
This sprue includes some of the superstructure walls. They feature open portholes and nice surface detail.
SPRUE B
Platforms and deck levels are well molded. Mast parts and other parts are well done.
SPRUE C
The turrets are nicely molded and pretty close in shape. The funnels are properly shaped and feature grills for the top.
 
SPRUE D
The weapons and boats are nicely done. Some of the boats have separate decks that will give them a more realistic appearance.
SPRUE F
More deck levels are on this sprue. Nicely molded and some feature open stairways with disappearing steps that have will look great regardless of whether you add photo etch ladders or not. 
SPRUE G
More superstructure parts with many of the same features already commented on. Again nice molding.
DISPLAY BASE
The standard Trumpeter base is included with a nameplate to mount next to it.
DECALS
A decal sheet with several different types of flags
INSTRUCTIONS
A full color painting guide is include as well as a twelve page set of instructions that show the assembly in a step by step method that is easy to follow. 
CONCLUSIONS:

This is one of the nicest 700 scale kits from Trumpeter. It appears to be very well researched and accurate. I hope Trumpeter puts the team that designed this kit to work on more British subjects. This is kit #TSM-5740 1/700 HMS Hood 1941 British Battleship with a list price of $39.95. A fair price for this extensive kit.

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.