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Topic review - Calling all HMS "Mighty" Hood fans
Author Message
  Post subject:  Re: Calling all HMS "Mighty" Hood fans  Reply with quote
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!

http://www.hmshood.org.uk/hoodtoday/models/takom/takom72.htm
Post Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2023 12:36 am
  Post subject:  Re: Calling all HMS "Mighty" Hood fans  Reply with quote
EJFoeth wrote:
Unfortunately this kit is rapidly descending towards toy-status

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:
IMG_9755.jpeg
IMG_9755.jpeg [ 321.68 KiB | Viewed 12899 times ]


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.
Post Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2023 6:18 pm
  Post subject:  Re: Calling all HMS "Mighty" Hood fans  Reply with quote
Attachment:
turrets.jpg
turrets.jpg [ 363.66 KiB | Viewed 13024 times ]


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?)
Post Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2023 3:54 am
  Post subject:  Re: Calling all HMS "Mighty" Hood fans - Takom 1/72 HMS Hood  Reply with quote
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:
IMG_9587.jpeg
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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:
IMG_9586.jpeg
IMG_9586.jpeg [ 243.7 KiB | Viewed 42802 times ]


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.
Post Posted: Sat Nov 04, 2023 1:37 pm
  Post subject:  Re: Calling all HMS "Mighty" Hood fans  Reply with quote
Attachment:
5020_ml.jpg
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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

Image

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:

Image

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.

Image

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.
Post Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2023 3:26 pm
  Post subject:  Re: Calling all HMS "Mighty" Hood fans - TAKOM 1/72 Hood Tur  Reply with quote
FW_Allen wrote:
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!


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:
IMG_9492.jpeg
IMG_9492.jpeg [ 1.94 MiB | Viewed 42986 times ]

Note the “lip” around the bottom of the turret barbette…
Attachment:
IMG_9494.jpeg
IMG_9494.jpeg [ 1.6 MiB | Viewed 42986 times ]

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?
Post Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2023 8:35 am
  Post subject:  Re: Calling all HMS "Mighty" Hood fans - TAKOM 1/72 Hood Tur  Reply with quote
FW_Allen wrote:
I’m sure most of you have seen this by now: https://www.scalemates.com/kits/takom-5020-hms-hood-15-42-mk1-gun-turret-b--1483222
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!


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.
Post Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2023 8:24 pm
  Post subject:  Re: Calling all HMS "Mighty" Hood fans  Reply with quote
We remember them today....May 24.
Post Posted: Wed May 24, 2023 9:25 pm
  Post subject:  Re: Calling all HMS "Mighty" Hood fans  Reply with quote
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.
Post Posted: Tue May 23, 2023 9:45 pm
  Post subject:  Re: Calling all HMS "Mighty" Hood fans  Reply with quote
Jack G wrote:
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?h ... R8qQhISJYg

The kit appears to be FH1160S:

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/flyhawk ... 1--1353467


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/mod ... dpaint.htm
Post Posted: Tue May 23, 2023 6:29 pm
  Post subject:  Re: Calling all HMS "Mighty" Hood fans  Reply with quote
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?h ... R8qQhISJYg

The kit appears to be FH1160S:

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/flyhawk ... 1--1353467
Post Posted: Tue May 23, 2023 6:09 am
  Post subject:  Re: Calling all HMS "Mighty" Hood fans  Reply with quote
Guest wrote:
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!


EXACTLY!!!

I couldn’t have summed it up any better!
Post Posted: Thu May 18, 2023 9:46 pm
  Post subject:  Re: Calling all HMS "Mighty" Hood fans  Reply with quote
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!
Post Posted: Thu May 18, 2023 8:04 am
  Post subject:  Re: Calling all HMS "Mighty" Hood fans - TAKOM 1/72 Hood Tur  Reply with quote
FW_Allen wrote:
As for me, I plan to modify mine back to 1937…Hood at the height of her sexiness!


What is so special about 1937 fit in particular? The Spanish Civil War stripes? Just cleaner fit, etc?
Post Posted: Thu May 18, 2023 6:25 am
  Post subject:  Re: Calling all HMS "Mighty" Hood fans  Reply with quote
greenglade wrote:
Good day all, a question for you Hood guys if I may. I am currently making the main range finder which sits on the conning tower. The Trumpeter PE set has what I assume is a narrow walkway around the bottom of the rangefinder. Item number, PE-A6, this is not shown on the Pontos instruction but then there are many parts not shown on their instruction sheets. I have looked at some photos of Hoods rangefinder but can't decide if this small walkway is there or not, my search is inconclusive, some pictures seem to show something is there whereas others don't.

My thoughts are that this walkway (or is it a hand rail?) does exist as even the stanction railings which I know are there are difficult if not impossible to see in the photos
that I have to hand.

What do you guys think/know?

Pete


Sorry for not replying sooner, but I’ve been exploring the world of aircraft model building over the past few months! You are correct that there was something there on the CT and they do appear to have been railings. They can clearly be seen in a number of photos of the ship (predominately during her earlier years).

The thing is, I’m not so sure they were “permanent.”

The reason I say this is because as you’ve already noticed, they aren’t always there. Now, this can be due to photo quality/distance, etc., but even in decent photos there aren’t always rails in place. There are, however, a set of small “bumps” that can be seen in this area. There were 8 of these that were positioned around the forward edge of the CT. They can be seen in some plans (image shown below) and in some photos as late as early 1941. I’m not 100% certain, but am thinking that these are stanchion attachment points for poles/rail stanchions that could be installed when needed (why, they didn’t simply use collapsible stanchions like on the main deck, I do not know). This is just an educated guess of course.

Attachment:
IMG_7082.jpeg
IMG_7082.jpeg [ 28.42 KiB | Viewed 43906 times ]


I know this doesn’t answer the question, but this is one of those details that are a bit fuzzy…like the 1941 aerial spreader mounting points, the true height of the apparently extremely low ceilinged ACP, and/or the nature of the decking of the Air Defense platforms (some photos suggest slats, but it’s not 100% certain), so you do have some leeway.
Post Posted: Wed May 17, 2023 4:51 pm
  Post subject:  Re: Calling all HMS "Mighty" Hood fans - TAKOM 1/72 Hood Tur  Reply with quote
I’m sure most of you have seen this by now: https://www.scalemates.com/kits/takom-5020-hms-hood-15-42-mk1-gun-turret-b--1483222
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!
Post Posted: Wed May 17, 2023 9:12 am
  Post subject:  Re: Calling all HMS "Mighty" Hood fans  Reply with quote
Pete,

Thank you. That shot is one that was taken while the ship was fitting out and can also be found in Raven and Roberts as well as Maurice Northcott's monograph on the ship. I seem to recall that it is part of the Scottish national archives collection but may have that wrong. Whatever the case, I can see no handrail around the bottom of the forward range-finder cupola in it. That said, there is a host of other interesting fittings but none of those are related to the matter that has been puzzling you.

81542
Post Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2023 11:29 am
  Post subject:  Re: Calling all HMS "Mighty" Hood fans  Reply with quote
Here we go...I'm relegated to doing this on the mobil which I find very limiting in what I know how to do.

Image

Pete
Post Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2023 11:03 am
  Post subject:  Re: Calling all HMS "Mighty" Hood fans  Reply with quote
Pete,

Notwithstanding the last sentence of my most recent message: if you can post the image that you have found please do so. If it can't be interpreted, it might enlighten someone.

81542
Post Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2023 9:15 am
  Post subject:  Re: Calling all HMS "Mighty" Hood fans  Reply with quote
81542 wrote:
Pete,

In all fairness, I cannot give you much more than I did in my last post. I do not possess a copy of Roberts' AOTS. However, further examination of photographs in Raven and Roberts and some of these may have been used in the AOTS, show a vertical access ladder at the rear of the cupola with a small platform at the bottom of it. This may be no more than a position from which to transfer to another ladder or set of fix structure rungs leading on down, it ends there.

I've looked at other photographs and the image that you posted above. I now believe that what you are seeing and makes clearer to me, is an overhang of the bottom of the cupola: it is not a platform. This may have served to prevent water running off the cupola from going into what looks like viewing slits in the structure below it. It is strange that the shape at the bottom of that cupola in HMS HOOD should create such an illusion as to what is there but what I have written above is my best interpretation of what one is looking at.

I am deeply sorry that I cannot be of more help.

81542



It's not an easy one, this morning I had convinced myself that there was a grab rail ( not walkway as I first mentioned) there but this afternoon I'm not so sure and leaning the other way. In my continued search this morning I came across a picture of this area when being built in 1918, I say 'came across', in fact I have seen it many times before but hadn't looked at this particular area, I don't expect to find a totally new picture, I have probably seen all but 1 or 2 before, its just a matter of refreshing my poor memory. Its a good well focussed clean photo that shows no sign of a grab rail although the photo is a little over expossed which has washed out the top of the copular, could it have done the same to the grab rail below or considering this photo was taken during construction, had the rail not been fitted yet? Lot's of unknowns. I'm still looking but may have to put it down to one of those 2 1/2%'rs you mentioned...

Pete
Post Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2023 8:37 am

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