WOOOOOO!!!!!!!!
1/200 HMS Nelson 1944 kit arrrived from Free Time Hobbies, corrugated overpack box is big as an electric bass case. First impressions, crazy-standing applause nice. All small parts nicely isolated in 3 sizable interior boxes and many enticing individual sprue bags.
1 piece hull comfortably thick plastic, molding looks perfect, no warps... and okay the plating is overdone, we all have sandpaper. Hull is so big and "smooth, 'may use a roller. Yes, even on painting the camo.
1 piece deck, nice thick plastic and planking looks fine. Lots of unopened holes beneath deck, so there are time period and fit options. May take some thought if you do non-kit-date buildup.
Main and 6" tubes do have moulded-in "drilled" out muzzles. Wait for metal barrels...? Mebbe, mebbe not.
Main and secondary turrets look really good to these eyes.
Octuple 2 pdrs okay-plus, so do the 6-4.7" HA.
20mm not perfect, but have PE shields, also some have the foot-brace part-circle bases, nice touch.
Superstructure and funnel look pretty fine to these eyes. Clean, flashless molding. Nice boat outfit. have not checked them for shape and outline (where are any good sources for RN ship's boats?).
Lots of PE, 7 frets, including all perimeter railings, like almost 400 pieces. BTW, near a thousand plastic parts.
Instructions and colour sheets are pretty hip. No desire to put them on bottom of birdcage.
Warning; am not a super-nit-picker who knows these ships in nano-detail; more a grateful humanoid who now has in grubby paws, a kit of this most unique and fascinating design. Both ships had busy, illustrious war records, serious accomplishments. This will likely be the only 1/200 battleship to be built personally, so it is intended to be fun, a clean, OOTB job for the most, not an uber-perfection AMS angst-whiny ordeal which leaves one drooling, quivering and thinking of taking up cutting oneself as a new hobby.
'Grew up on box scale "rug-play-hull" Revell and Aurora kits, so this big boat is (here) like super bad-afs smurf dance smiley face great.
Overall, 'looks like you do not have to be a real shipmodeler to construct; being an okay plastic kit assembler will likely deliver you a tasty, sweet-looking build.
BTW there is a dedicated book done 'bout '85 on Nelson. Found a good used copy w/dustjacket with a Brit bookseller and it is on the way. Might be a few more out there.
Guess is, by the time one finishes gluing and sanding and painting and rigging this big fella and sets the glass case over it, your entertainment cost will be about $1 per hour, from the time you take overpack box off yo' porch.
Just one opinion, so wail away if this first look-no-images review is not to your liking.
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