Hello folks, been busying myself with Academy's new kit and have some advice to share and a question to ask.
Firstly, a quick rundown on the Academy (ACA) kit and some thoughts on Trumpeters (TR) version. (I do not have this in my hands but the excellent review on site helps here)
The niggles I have with ACA sofar are:
- bad searchlights, TR has them better looking but still not correct.
- Stern eagle is downright hopeless - TR's PE part is a lot better but as I said on another board perhaps best served by replacing with an aftermarket resin part if such a thing comes along.
- Boat detail is clunky and not correct - TR is OK there. The hulls from ACA can be used though.
- Missing the two rather large cowl vents in front of the stack completely - TR has them included.
- Main battery sights in both kits are not great, TR's maybe slightly better.
- Small calibre AA in both kits is very bad! Way too large, the singles especially.
- The torpedo launcher covers are completely smooth - TR has it much better. Might be overstated like the turrets as mentioned in this thread but it sure looks better! The back end should be open but covered by a tarp.
- Door/window configuration on the sides of the bridge tower does not look right. Have no really good plan to check though. TR is different at least.
- Deck around the conning tower has two semi-circular "wells" around two of the instruments standing there, one left and one right. Should have little slats radiating out from the center pedestal. Neither kit has this, should be easy to do if you're so inclined.
- Platform underneath the stack is different between both kits, no definite info yet. TR is more correct probably.
- Main battery barbette height - TR has it right, should be around 3mm high. Thanks to Phil for that info!
- Prop guards should be added to ACA kit - Thanks to Tracy for the info!
- Small deck just aft of rear rangefinder is of a different shape on both kits and drawings. Not sure which is correct yet.
- Parts B2 (bulkheads underneath the 105mm AA) have a symmetrical arrangement of the three portholes. Not correct, TR has them perfect. They are quite visible though, right on the edge of the deck. Easy to fix!
- Main rangefinder (parts D2 and D3) is noticeably too short in height - should total 11 mm give or take a micrometer. Height is missing from both top and bottom.
- "Periscopes" missing on two of the three 105mm AA.
- Arado 196 is honestly best replaced - L'Arsenal has a very nice one. If working with the kit part, at least modify the tail from the kit slab to a more "Arado-ish" shape and remove/replace the float braces and struts.
ACA has some plusses over the TR kit though!
- rear anchor "well" is in the right direction
- rear upper deck (just before the 105mm AA) has a slight step upwards - TR doesn't have that.
- Bow has a cutout with bollard - TR goes straight.
- Crane arms are far better in shape - TR's look like those on Deutschland/Lutzow if anything. The bases on the TR kit are better though.
Well, that's what I've found sofar. That's not to say that either kit is "unbuildable" or "hopeless" if built OOB. Just the kind of things that could be fixed or replaced if you were so inclined. Hope it helps my fellow AMS sufferers
As for the question, I've noticed ACA has the armored conning tower with three viewports in total, while TR has them running all the way around. The one and only illustration of that area I found happens to be the ACA boxart and that has them all the way around! Does anyone know of an actual photo or a "reliable" set of plans that shows this area? I'm building the ship in "as sunk" configuration if that helps.
I would appreciate any and all input, both on the conning tower and my little list.
Very best regards,
Maarten
EDITED for completeness on 11-25-09
EDITED for completeness on 11-29-09
EDITED for completeness on 12-12-09