Mike E. wrote:
Embarked/Quincy:
I looked at the pictures of the forthcoming Aoshima releases of Dorsetshire (a re-release) and Cornwall (a new release) on the HobbySearch website and I can say with a degree of confidence that the Dorsetshire kit is indeed a "corrected" 1/700 scale version. I say this because it shares a number of distinctive engineering features with the more recent Norfolk kit, rather than the original Dorsetshire kit (I have both).
The photos of the Cornwall model looks like it is still under development, as it is crude in places; the hull bulge looks good, but the bow knuckle is not in evidence. I assume this will be added later. Aoshima took the effort to correct the inaccurate bow knuckle in the original Dorsetshire kit in their Norfolk release (and it looks like the Dorsetshire re-release has the corrected knuckle as well). So don't draw too many conclusions from this early preview of the kit.
The Norfolk kit is really nice--very reminiscent of the best of Dragon's past 1/700 releases--though perhaps a bit over-engineered, as deckhouses consist of many/multiple parts. But the detailing is, overall, quite delicate and nice, so Aoshima seems committed to doing a good job with these kits. The re-release of a corrected Dorsetshire kit is testimony of this.
HTH
Mike E.
Is it probable that the retooled Dorsetshire shares the Norfolk hull, internal supports and waterline plate plus a slightly retooled main deck from he original Dorsetshire kit to fit the Norfolk hull? I assume that the balance of the original kit parts are unchanged.