The Ship Model Forum

you are welcome.

[quote="FW_Allen"][quote="FFG-7"]http://www.modelerjoe.net/shipmodellist.html#AirfixHood
http://www.hmshood.org.uk/hoodtoday/models/tips/hoodpaint.htm
http://www.hmshood.org.uk/hoodtoday/models/airfix/airfix600.htm
http://www.hmshood.org.uk/[/quote]

Those links that FFG-7 has kindly provided are exactly everything you need![/quote]
Wow-- they sure do! Thanks, FFG-7.

you are welcome.

[quote="FFG-7"]http://www.modelerjoe.net/shipmodellist.html#AirfixHood
http://www.hmshood.org.uk/hoodtoday/models/tips/hoodpaint.htm
http://www.hmshood.org.uk/hoodtoday/models/airfix/airfix600.htm
http://www.hmshood.org.uk/[/quote]

Those links that FFG-7 has kindly provided are exactly everything you need!

http://www.modelerjoe.net/shipmodellist.html#AirfixHood
http://www.hmshood.org.uk/hoodtoday/models/tips/hoodpaint.htm
http://www.hmshood.org.uk/hoodtoday/models/airfix/airfix600.htm
http://www.hmshood.org.uk/

I apologize if this has already been addressed somewhere in the preceding 59 pages of this thread, but that's an awful lot of material to try to skim through in search of one particular piece of information.

I'm about to get started on the old Airfix 1/600 [i]Hood[/i], and it looks to me like the period for which that kit is least wrong is circa 1932, after the aircraft-handling arrangements were removed, but before light AA weapons started to proliferate. What does that mean in terms of color scheme? My impression is that the Battlecruiser Squadron in those days was an element of the Home Fleet (which would imply overall 507B), but that unit also seems to have spent a lot of its time in the early 30's on cruises to the Caribbean and Mediterranean Seas. Would the ships have repainted into 507C for a voyage like that, just to make things less miserable for the crews? Or was there yet a third scheme for Home Fleet ships taking their acts on the road, as it were? I've seen several early-30's [i]Hood[/i] photos in which it looks like she [i]might[/i] be wearing a two-tone scheme, something like the 507B hull/507C upperworks paintjob for destroyers on the South Atlantic station, but that could easily be just an illusion created by the pronounced flare of the hull from the torpedo bulges up to the forecastle deck.

Just a note to let everyone know that we’ve just posted a full review of the Takom 1/72 Hood “B” turret to the Hood Association website. We also included some improvement suggestions that we hope folks will find useful!

[url]http://www.hmshood.org.uk/hoodtoday/models/takom/takom72.htm[/url]

[quote="EJFoeth"]Unfortunately this kit is rapidly descending towards toy-status[/quote]
After having spent a few days dealing with this kit, I can say I wholeheartedly agree. This thing is a toy.
I wanted so much to like this kit, but I’m just not pleased with it. It was poorly researched and I find this frustrating considering all the resources that are out there. Yes, it does look enough like Hood’s “B” turret to satisfy folks who don’t necessarily care about total accuracy, but it will drive Hood rivet counters to drink. Well, at least those like myself (I know “what” to do, but struggle with then”how” to do it portion. I also sometimes lack the patience necessary to make all the required updates, LOL).

I don’t want to give up, but I also don’t want to put too much time into this one, so I’ve kept my updates very basic and have even chosen to skip some (too much trouble/time IMHO). Hey! It beats throwing it against the wall! Besides, once complete, I’ll only see it from across the room. So, it’ll look okay from that distance!

Here’s my “minimalist” approach (no laughing please!):

1. I rearranged some of the rectangular vents and omitted two in the process (not needed for 1937). I had to cut one vent down to make it closer to the true scale height. One thing I wasn’t able to correct was the width of some of the vents (some aren’t wide enough). I didn’t bother to slim down the connection straps/brackets either (left them chunky).

2. I added the periscope and two viewfinders to the centre area on/near the Director “wing.” I also wrapped the rear bulkhead vents under the gun house. Unfortunately, I was unable to make satisfactory facsimiles of the three devices found on the end of each director end cap. I got very frustrated and nearly tossed the whole thing out the window…so I calmed down and opted to just “overlook” those features (I’m still NOT very happy about this one though).

3. I opted not to add the correct number of mushroom vents, pipes, stanchions and other small details clustered around the breakwater. Don’t even get me started on the breakwater…not quite accurate!


My progress so far:

[attachment=0]IMG_9755.jpeg[/attachment]

Other than the aforementioned minimal work, I’ve also primed some of the key components. Not quite done yet as I need to prime my set of cheap metal barrels. I’ll stick a cheap wood veneer over the deck area (the lower base will stay dark brown) and add the breakwater. Once it’s prepped, all but the base and deck will get a coat of AP507C followed by a dark grey kicking strip and of course the neutrality stripes.

Did anyone have trouble like this with any other Takom turrets? How does “Bruno” look? At first glance, it seems a bit of an early configuration to me…but still seems more accurate than this Hood kit.

[attachment=0]turrets.jpg[/attachment]

I also noticed that there is a step in the turret roof edge that is not present on the actual ship, and the entire bolt line is situated more towards the outside of the roof plating. (see attachment) More correction work needed?

(Unfortunately this kit is rapidly descending towards toy-status, the Micromaster turrets suffer from none---though it has a slightly exaggerated panel line between the turret roof plate and side plating---of the shortcomings in the Takom kit?)

Many thanks for your observations Evert-Jan. As always you are spot-on. Now that I’ve had time to build most of the model, I have the following list of issues (some major/some minor). I’ll start from the bottom up:

1. Deck: As EJ says, the planking is a bit “lacking,” in that it doesn’t extend all the way to the barbette (there is a blank “ring” around the barbette) and it omits the borders and nibbing to port and starboard. I suppose someone could extend the planks and etch the border pieces in. One could also lay a new deck with plastic strip I suppose. See the image below.

[attachment=1]IMG_9587.jpeg[/attachment]

2. Vents, et al: as EJ noted, the mushroom vent is not tall enough…for wartime. It’s height is okay if you wish to build her at some earlier point in the 1930s. The mushroom vent is a bit oddly shaped though and lacks detail (mesh opening, etc.). I think it would be easy to correct. As EJ also noted, there is another mushroom vent missing, but I think this would be fairly easy to create. As for the tall rectangular vents, these are pretty decent though the securing bands are very thick (should be easy to flatten or replace them).

3. Barbette: As mentioned previously, this is the single biggest problem of the kit. It’s a teensy bit large when compared to the AOTS drawings, but maybe by a foot (height and width). Most folks could ignore this. The most serious issue with the barbette is the aforementioned “lip” that protrudes out around the bottom of the barbette. There was no such thing on Hood’s “B” barbette. If I had to venture a guess, I would think that Takom probably mistakenly assumed there was a lip based on the fact that some of the upright, rectangular vents flare out towards the bottom. Anyway, this will take some major surgery to mend. I suppose one could attempt to recreate the barbette with some other material.

4. Gun house structure: Overall, it looks like a Hood turret with the dimensions and shape being very close. I’m not sure the roof angle is exactly like those on Hood, but it’s close. The same applies to the faceplate between the gun openings. The scopes/devices in the three front windows are a bit large and prominent, but again, this is no show stopper.

5. Guns/blast bags: these seem okay to me. I suppose they could benefit from some extra detail around the muzzles (if building a pre-war Hood). Rifling and/or Chough and anchor tampions would have been a nice feature to have.

6. Gun house director “wing”: overall, these are pretty close though not 100% accurate. They lack some key details as well. Starting at the outside and working inboard:

A. End caps: the end caps of the directors are a bit off in shape. The inner section of these caps were rounded on the front/aft ends…they are slightly rounded rectangles on the kit. There are three protrusions missing from the end caps (one at the top and two below). These three items are easily added with plastic strip.

B. Direction sight hood (the thing in the front/centre of the director wing): this is generally correct in shape (though not exact), but it’s biggest problem is that it’s very thick and chunky. It could be much more refined.

C. Missing periscope and viewport: Hood’s turrets featured a small periscope and another viewport just to port of the aforementioned sight hood. These are missing from this model. I doubt anyone would notice this if building the 1941 version as the UP platform would cover this area. Those of you building an earlier version of Hood, could easily add these features.

D. Vents on rear bulkhead of gunhouse: Takom does include these vents, but they do not wrap under the gun house/turret like they did on the actual ship. This could be remedied with some plastic strip.

[attachment=0]IMG_9586.jpeg[/attachment]

7. Other missing details: When compared to other Takom turret kits (particularly the Yamato and Bismarck main turrets), this one is pretty basic. They omitted some of the small vents around the barbette and breakwater. They failed to provide mesh for the UP projector. There is no lower rear escape hatch (easily added). As EJ mentioned, they also forgot to include the two raised sections of UP splintershield…something that’s been well documented for going on 20 years now!

Final Overall Impressions: though a wee bit toylike, I think that if built as-is, many people would be perfectly happy with it. Despite the errors, at the end of the day, it DOES look like Hood’s “B” turret (and it is a pretty “different” type of model). So, for folks who don’t care about absolute precision it’s just fine.

For those who want accuracy, you simply have to weigh whether or not you want to do the work to “accurize” it; I do believe this could be made into something special with the right approach. As for me, Big-time Hood fan though I may be, I’m hesitant to put too much time into this one and will likely just build it as it is (1937 of course) with only minor corrections/additions.

We hope to put a basic review with detail suggestions on the HMS Hood Association site soon. I will likely complete my basic build first.

[attachment=0]5020_ml.jpg[/attachment]

So, I'm glad it no longer looks like the above with these added river lines around the barbette. From what you've posted (and a most brief search online) I cannot tell what more was changed, but it appears the UP-launched emplacement lacks the raised step in the splintershield like below

[img]https://ontheslipway.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/decks_65.jpg[/img]

The mushroom vent should also be placed a bit higher and a small minivent is missing (but almost not visible in pics though!) below top-left:

[img]https://ontheslipway.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/decks_62.jpg[/img]

A fun thing to add for those who care. Plankwise they---as we would say in Dutch---they missed the plank: no margin plank, nibbing, and the plank ends are not really... good.

[img]https://ontheslipway.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Gallery_Hood_03.jpg[/img]

The slope of the turret front is difficult to gauge front the photograph, but the rear of the turret looks quite alright though. If they followed the AOTS (as did I) I guess it's ok? The pic (as well as their own drawing) shows a few flat faces in the armor plating just above the barbette and a ring outline that are... barely?... in the Takom kit? Nothing major but also something not too difficult to have captured.

So, few small issues only.

[quote="FW_Allen"]Well, I’ve finally been able to see the new Takom 1/72 Hood “B” turret and am happy to report that the “problems” I previously mentioned are non-existent! The barrette has smooth sides and the gun house does have clipped corners! Best of all, there is an option to build the 1940/41 configuration or the 1931-1940 configuration! So, this should be quite a nice model![/quote]

This is a follow-up to my previous post regarding Takom’s 1/72 H.M.S. Hood “B” turret model. At that time, I’d only been able to view photos and videos of the box contents. Since then I’ve actually received one to build. I have some additional comments on the kit now that I’ve actually held it in my own two hands.

1. Overall Impression: it’s a pretty good representation of “B” turret. Indeed, most folks will be quite happy with it. The rivet counters among us may feel different (for reasons mentioned below):

2. Measurements: Things looked “close but not quite” to me (a Hood rivet counter), so I took measurements of “B” gunhouse and barbette from the ship’s plans. These are paper photocopies made from the original 1/96 scale linen plans. Overall, things were either a match or very close (differences of .2mm or less), with the barbette seemingly being the main area of difference. These mismatches could be due to errors on my part or the copies et cetera.

3. Gun house roof slope: it seems a little shallow to me…not as steep an angle as the actual ship…but as I was mistaken about the measurements, perhaps this one is just me. Maybe Evert-Jan Foeth can comment on this one.

4. Raised “lip” around the bottom of the barbette. This is the only significant and absolutely verifiable error I’ve come across so far. There was no such thing on Hood…just a kicking strip with darker paint.

Here are some photos:
[attachment=1]IMG_9492.jpeg[/attachment]
Note the “lip” around the bottom of the turret barbette…
[attachment=0]IMG_9494.jpeg[/attachment]
Does the angle of the roof look a little shallow to anyone else?

I haven’t had a chance to examine the vents and directors yet. I plan to do so as I build the model. If I come across any other issues, I’ll post them here. We’ll also put something on the Hood website itself (we do still make small periodic updates though at a much slower pace than before). For this model, I plan to build it as-is/out of the box (as the 1937 variant…so, no stupid UP launcher…which is fine by me). I don’t feel like attempting to correct errors however major or minor (even Hood rivet counters sometimes want to build just to build or for fun).

Anyone else have thoughts on the kit? Anyone built it yet?

[quote="FW_Allen"]I’m sure most of you have seen this by now: [url]https://www.scalemates.com/kits/takom-5020-hms-hood-15-42-mk1-gun-turret-b--1483222[/url]
We’d heard rumours about this, but never got involved. I do rather wish we would have done so now though as there are some notable problems…but I’m thinking they can be easily remedied. For some reason TAKOM have our rivet details on the turret barbette and they also forgot to add the clipped corners at the bottom rear corners of the gun house. Gun muzzles seem to lack a little detail as well.
I bet this is all easily remedied though. As for me, I plan to modify mine back to 1937…Hood at the height of her sexiness![/quote]

Well, I’ve finally been able to see the new Takom 1/72 Hood “B” turret and am happy to report that the “problems” I previously mentioned are non-existent! The barrette has smooth sides and the gun house does have clipped corners! Best of all, there is an option to build the 1940/41 configuration or the 1931-1940 configuration! So, this should be quite a nice model!

I see that there are already aftermarket metal barrels and wood deck veneers available. Now, if only someone would release some PE tampions for the 15” guns (and maybe some vent plaques), teeny tiny though they obviously would be. 3D printed end caps for the gun directors would allow one to build a 1920s era Hood.

We remember them today....May 24.

Thank you very much Frank, that is good to know.

The painting guide has been favourited, and I believe I am on the right track with my model. Thank you all at the Association and the experts on these pages whose knowledge we can access.

100 years ago the Empire Cruise down to Australia and NZ. The Southern Ocean is lit up at the moment, delivering those long period swells Hood and Repulse encountered there.

24th of May today here in Australia.

[quote="Jack G"]I've come across a Flyhawk 1/700 HMS Hood 1941 kit on ebay with upgraded parts and a letter from the HMS Hood Association confirming their assistance in research.

Curious in the pictures is a Hood colour pattern where the bootstrip appears light grey, and the bottom of the hull a darker grey, almost black.

Has the consensus of Hood's hull painting changed again?

Here is the link, with picture links to the letter, and the curious light bootstrip paint scheme:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/203563954447?hash=item2f655b710f:g:OhUAAOSwNr5hGxze&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA8N00kb3pMvPe9qjONU9pWGtHz0hkN8RbulMUr9I8NQChSX8Q4dlVP0syHoFO2hCK7IUFL1io%2BY6n7joZLWFjVFxHV291bGEr9kjHsGx2Do0nKOWkdfNRLesil4l4XCeLg6TA8Qwl7VDpCIB%2BxbIJW7%2FF9mWXmoiVGCRGRxqVVlNhlVc2RceUw8WbemKq1TDNJ%2BP8TNkXrJ9duJkiFylpQaQWBK8hR8RJ%2Fa4MrFOz36a1X2qvd4WBukX%2FjCEhjnSKGVMNoFU1iMSBRKR0FInsX0A9rCNv0FxwuzmTq2M%2Bx%2FWOx%2F%2FDz%2BuRJWW6UfFdvlQF%2Bw%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR8qQhISJYg

The kit appears to be FH1160S:

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/flyhawk-model-fh1160s-hms-hood-1941--1353467[/quote]

No changes Jack. Black waterline (glossy black at that…but that wouldn’t look so glossy at 1/700 scale) and grey bottom.

As for the odd look of the image, it’s just a byproduct of the photo and the nature of the colour print itself. Even when viewed in person, I wouldn’t rely on a print to be an exact representation of specific colours, but consider it more of a guide. Instead, go by the colours they recommend, or even better yet, go with our painting instructions: http://www.hmshood.org.uk/hoodtoday/models/tips/hoodpaint.htm

I've come across a Flyhawk 1/700 HMS Hood 1941 kit on ebay with upgraded parts and a letter from the HMS Hood Association confirming their assistance in research.

Curious in the pictures is a Hood colour pattern where the bootstrip appears light grey, and the bottom of the hull a darker grey, almost black.

Has the consensus of Hood's hull painting changed again?

Here is the link, with picture links to the letter, and the curious light bootstrip paint scheme:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/203563954447?hash=item2f655b710f:g:OhUAAOSwNr5hGxze&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA8N00kb3pMvPe9qjONU9pWGtHz0hkN8RbulMUr9I8NQChSX8Q4dlVP0syHoFO2hCK7IUFL1io%2BY6n7joZLWFjVFxHV291bGEr9kjHsGx2Do0nKOWkdfNRLesil4l4XCeLg6TA8Qwl7VDpCIB%2BxbIJW7%2FF9mWXmoiVGCRGRxqVVlNhlVc2RceUw8WbemKq1TDNJ%2BP8TNkXrJ9duJkiFylpQaQWBK8hR8RJ%2Fa4MrFOz36a1X2qvd4WBukX%2FjCEhjnSKGVMNoFU1iMSBRKR0FInsX0A9rCNv0FxwuzmTq2M%2Bx%2FWOx%2F%2FDz%2BuRJWW6UfFdvlQF%2Bw%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR8qQhISJYg

The kit appears to be FH1160S:

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/flyhawk-model-fh1160s-hms-hood-1941--1353467

[quote="Guest"]Pascalemod,

Forgive my cynicism: it was not the "fit" that probably accounts for the sexiness but the light grey colour scheme, the neutrality stripes and the fact that she was in the Med, where the sky and sea were always blue. She was, arguably, the epitome of what a warship should look like until, that is BISMARCK called time on her. No disrespect is intended to those who were lost with her but we fell into the trap of thinking that one can make war with looks and reputations![/quote]

EXACTLY!!!

I couldn’t have summed it up any better!

Pascalemod,

Forgive my cynicism: it was not the "fit" that probably accounts for the sexiness but the light grey colour scheme, the neutrality stripes and the fact that she was in the Med, where the sky and sea were always blue. She was, arguably, the epitome of what a warship should look like until, that is BISMARCK called time on her. No disrespect is intended to those who were lost with her but we fell into the trap of thinking that one can make war with looks and reputations!

[quote="FW_Allen"] As for me, I plan to modify mine back to 1937…Hood at the height of her sexiness![/quote]

What is so special about 1937 fit in particular? The Spanish Civil War stripes? Just cleaner fit, etc?