Trumpeter 1:700 Queen Elizabeth

[JHS]

Bought it for $35 from a US eBay dealer postage free. It is a spectacular model. It arrives in a very small box, smaller than the one for Trumpeter's 1:700 SAN FRANCISCO. Some might not buy it because they might think no proper 1:700 QE could be packed in such a small box. It can be! Trumpeter has clearly mastered the Dragon slide mold technology. The model blasts White Ensign's chunky, inaccurate, and expensive effort out of the water. It is sharply detailed with an almost razor thin bow. The kit comes with parts trees hand-wrapped in padding to protect the delicate parts. Amazing. Only the Japanese-made 1:700 resin 1915 QE of almost 20 years ago beats it by a hair because the screens on its bridge were onion paper thin. What astounds is that the Trumpeter kit achieves that rarely met standard for scale fidelity in its parts which is never achieved by 1:700 scale ship models, most of which look pretty but hilariously over-scale in details. The detailing of the ship's boats is mind-boggling.

I am traveling and my John Roberts 1:192 QE plans are not at hand. I can't give an accurate review of its detail fidelity, but it looks almost entirely dead-on. For some reason Trumpeter turned the little (siren?) platform beneath the foremast spotting top into a gigantic pizza box. The part is not molded onto the main strut so you can simply leave it off. Trumpeter could not resist the tradition of molding what looks like colossal French ticklers on the ends of the 15-in barrels. For some reason the 15-in rifles were not done as well as the rest of the kit so you will have to fix them or buy aftermarket items. It has two jack stays on the mainmast. Dump one. The yards on the fore mast are missing. Simple job to add them with sprue. The breakwaters ahead of the 6-in battery are photo etch. Fine work T. Even the galley smoke pipes for the quarterdeck (fitted when the ship was in port) are provided and they are not grotesquely out of scale.

This is a taster. I recommend the kit 1000%. It is the finest plastic 1:700 scale ship model I have ever seen. It has taken 97 years to get a plastic QE class model that does justice to the ships. I hope they do a 1916 WARSPITE in both 1:700 and 1:350.

[Bill Clarke]

And a 1/700 WWII QE

[drdoom1337]

I ordered my kit from Pacific Front yesterday and I'll expect it some point on Thursday. I have extremely high expectations for my 2nd favorite class of British BB (Orion class is still the coolest looking ) I'll be reviewing this for my local IPMS newsletter. Any chance you can take photos, perhaps even with a cell phone camera of the kit? I really want to see some views from a modelers perspective.

[Admiral John Byng]

JHS, thanks for the mini review.
I am now feverish with anticipation.

I hope this leads Trumpeter into a WWI production frenzy. Both of the Jutland forces are just begging to be done. I think Masterbox has other things on their mind so the way is open.

Both 1/350 and 1/700 please Trumpeter!

[ADebroux]

I got mine yesterday and I was pretty impressed with the model overall, but like it was mentioned, the end of the 15" guns are flared out for some unknown reason. Did they get that idea from Airfix!? That being said, I'd welcome a Lion, Tiger, Invincible or Dreadnought in 1/700 scale from Trumpeter.

[Ady]

Any chance of some close up pics of the parts?

[JHS]

I'll try to get the photos. Unfortunately, the table where I would take the phots is covered with a Dragon 1:48 Bf 110D's components right now. Here are the official Trumpeter photos:

http://www.trumpeter-china.com/a/en/pro ... /2026.html

[Joe Ellias]

This WWI series is screaming out for expansion. I'd really like to see the German Battlecruisers in this scale.

[X-member]

Hi,

Got mine today too.
The kit is nice, looks fairly accurate after a quick look at some photos. I will take some photos over the weekend if I have time.

Pavel

[Geno the Viking]

Please please Trumpeter, release a WWII 1/700 version.

[Persona non grata]

I picked up the QE. Here are some pics I just took:

[Geno the Viking]

Great looking model, thanks for posting the photos. I have enough time keeping up with the WWII stuff, I can't start with WWI in this lifetime........ Hmmm.

[MichelB]

Trumpeter could not resist the tradition of molding what looks like colossal French ticklers on the ends of the 15-in barrels.

I just laughed my head off at this, but couldn't explain why to my mother who was sitting across the room.

Great review btw, I have mine on order as of today.

[chewitt13]

Artwox wooden deck yummy
http://artwox.com/index.php?document_srl=2548

[PetrolGator]

I just got this kit in the mail. I LOVE the detail, minus the ugly main battery barrels. Thankfully, I ordered replacements.

I'll start the build once I get in the second part of my order from Freetime. Items were out of stock.