1/700 SMS Lutzow

Derfflinger Class Battlecruiser
Reviewed by Timothy Dike
One of the big guns at the Battle of Jutland was the Lutzow. As battlecruisers go she was among the biggest and best in the world at that time. Lutzow was 30,850 tons fully loaded and had an overall length of 689' and a beam of 95'.  She carried eight 12" guns in four turrets, with twelve 5.9" and two 88 mm secondary gun. As a battlecruiser she traded armor protection for speed and that was to prove her downfall. Her sister ship the Derfflinger and her helped to inflict considerable damage on the British fleet at Jutland. But Lutzow was heavily damaged in that encounter, receiving about 24 heavy shell hits and 1 torpedo. She was later scuttled and sunk by a German torpedo boat
The hull is well cast with plenty of detail, it is has not signs of any defects. The boat cradles are molded on and quite thin. The deck planking looks pretty good, although the gap between the planks is a little overscale. I don't care for the molded on anchors, these are better left separate.
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The superstructure parts are all cast on a resin wafer that is pretty thin. The splinter shields are thin so be careful handling them. The funnels have cast on grills that most modelers will want to remove and replace with photo etch, but since this is resin it is very easy to work with.
The turrets look pretty accurate, the barrels are separately cast in resin. I would suggest chucking the barrels in a low speed drill and turning them to a smoother appearance. The 5.9" secondaries look good as far as the housings goes but will look much better with new barrels made from brass rod.
The boats, searchlights, and miscellaneous fittings are all well formed. I think that some could have a little more clearance under them on the resin sprues to aid in removal. There are two white metal masts that came out real nice.
The Instructions are pretty good. There are several sheets with detail view that show where the parts fit.
 
The decals are printed on a sheet of paper and are a little too blurry for my taste. Dunagain decals make set that would be a much better alternative.

Thanks to Pacific Front Hobbies for the review sample. Check out the other HP Models in the latest Pacific Front Update.


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