The Ship Model Forum

It's been a long wait but I finally have the new Pontos Hood detail set in my hot little hands... it took me about 30 seconds after opening the box to know what my my next project would be. All I have to say is wow... this build is gonna be something special.



My plan is to model Hood as she appeared in the months before the battle of the Denmark Strait. I am aiming for a high but still realistic (for a model) level of accuracy and I want to push very hard to make my version of this famous ship look convincing up close as well as at a distance.

As I did on my previous build (HMS Nelson) I am setting a goal to do something on this project at least once a week, no matter how small to hopefully keep this build progressing and I am going to try to update this thread just as often. This is gonna be a LONG build though... I'm estimating this one will take about a year to finish. So let's get started!

Step one is to "detrumpeterify" the hull (or in other words make a big mess of a pricey piece of plastic ). I am going to redo the hull plating to be more realistic and rework/replace the portholes.

Rather than try to sand off the way too thick plating like I did on Nelson, I am working the other way around and am filling it with Squadron Putty. I am not obliteriating every line on the hull, just the molded deep rectangular runs which pass as plates on the stock kit. After smoothing it all out, I will replace the plate lines with the "tape and filler primer" method.

Anyway, a couple hours and an entire tube of putty got me this:





More to come!

Oh wow!

Alright Jason:

You're off to a good start, I will be watching along as you undertake this beast. I have one, but; doubt I will build it. Your's may inspire me. I like your approach, at least once a week get something done.

Jason,

Good to see you back at it again. The Hood is one of my favorite ships of all time and in my opinion the best looking warship ever built. Hope this one turns out as good as your Nelson did, it surely will be a masterpiece. I will be following along with interest.

Bill

Thanks guys!

Back in my Bismarck building days I honestly didn't get why so many people found Hood to be so attractive but her design has definitely been growing on me, especially as I have been hunting for reference photos.

I'm on round two on the hull putty:





This job is easier in concept than in practice as it's difficult to get a smooth hull when sanding the softer putty areas between the harder plastic rises. Still, it's doable and will be far less of a nightmare for me than Nelson's hull was.

If all goes well, this modification will really bring out Hood's fine lines, especially in the bow where the overly thick and simplistic kit plating muddle it up in my opinion.

I've also noticed the kit's hull portholes are too small in diameter. They look much larger on photos of the real ship:



Pontos included porthole rings but they match the small diameter portholes, not the larger ones which should be on the hull:



So, I'm gonna have to dig up some bigger porthole rings...

Hey!

Glad to see you back at it, Jason, and with such a beauty at that! Good luck on the build, you're definitely off to a good start.

Small screws but large blades.

Keith

Jason, looking at the photo of Hood in dry dock reminds me of a question i asked in the Forum some weeks ago regarding
the stern anchor. I asked if, at the time of her sinking, the opening at the stern was still there, or if it had been plated over.
There was not a definitive answer so was wondering if you you are going to leave the hull blank, or are you going to drill
an opening were the anchor would have been. I am assuming that the deck itself would have been grated over. Not sure with
my own project which way to go.
Tim.

Timhan wrote:Jason, looking at the photo of Hood in dry dock reminds me of a question i asked in the Forum some weeks ago regarding
the stern anchor. I asked if, at the time of her sinking, the opening at the stern was still there, or if it had been plated over.
There was not a definitive answer so was wondering if you you are going to leave the hull blank, or are you going to drill
an opening were the anchor would have been. I am assuming that the deck itself would have been grated over. Not sure with
my own project which way to go.
Tim.

I'm 98% sure the hawsepipe was still there but without a stern anchor. You can see it fairly clearly in this filmstrip; one of the last taken of Hood: https://youtu.be/qtVDXntjMHI

I plan to include it on my build. I assume there was a grille placed over the deck end of the hawsepipe; just like on the vacant 3rd bow hawsepipe. You can actually see that grille still in place on the wreck.

Thanks Jason. If you are "98%" sure that the hawsepipe was still there (open) then maybe that is what i will do.
I intend to drill out the opening but if we are wrong, maybe someone out there can prove us wrong and let us know
before we make a wrong call. There will be many builders out there maybe asking the same question.

Jason,
WOW, looking forward to following this build there buddy, your hull "plating" is looking sweet, are you doing a wet sand to get the blending smoother? If not maybe give it a try and see how much better you get the transition to work out.

I like it! i'll be following this..




Jose

I finished the "rough patch & sand" of the hull:







Next comes the hull portholes, then the gluing together of the basic hull elements before going into some "creative priming" to replace the hull plating effect.

This means I need to figure out what I'm gonna do in the semi-open space of the forcastle deck, since it won't be accessible once everything is glued together...



It seems Trumpeter got the basic shape of the bulkheads and spaces correct:





and a view from the other direction:



... and the Pontos set addresses some of the details such as the deck and hatches but there is LOTS of room for improvement.

First off, I would like to add the ceiling structure instead of just the flat plastic of the kit. I am still trying to figure out a plan on how to do that exactly though I am leaning towards cutting out the boat deck entirely around the superstructure blocks and replacing it with thinner styrene sheet and strips to replicate the boat deck support beams and extensions. This is easier than it might sound as the superstructure pieces on the boat deck fall on the same superstructure blocks on the forcastle deck (naturally) and virtually the entire boat deck surface/details are going to be covered with photo etch and wood veneer from the Pontos set anyway.

So why not just add strips to the kit piece? Well boys and girls, the plastic is too thick and making it any thicker will look wrong.

Anyway, still kicking around ideas...

The hull turned out nice. You will be breaking ground on this build as I can't think of anyone else who is doing this model, so "all eyeballs" will be on you. I am looking forward to seeing this build unfold.

I'll echo Mgunns comments. I have just purchased the Hood and it will be my next project after I complete my 1/200 Arizona. By then I should have saved up enough to get the Pontos upgrade kit.

Good luck with the build.

Keeping an eye on this one as I do have one to build albeit, as I've got the Iowa and Hornet in 1/200 to do first, it may be some time before I get to Hood...

John

Thanks for the interest and support. I am a bit surprised nobody else is doing a online build of this one as it was such a highly anticipated kit... especially now that the equally anticipated Pontos detail set is out.

Anyway, my modeling time is limited with a big yard to take care of and spring in full bloom but progress continues to be made. I'm currently working the portholes (scuttles in the Queen's navy I suppose ):







I found a good match for the Pontos brass etched porthole rings in some leftovers from a Bismarck detail set (purists please don't kill me! ) that I will use to ring each porthole before final painting though I will likely have to make the "eyebrows" as they are longer on Hood, coming almost half-way down the sides of the ports.

I am also relocating some of the portholes as per the kit accurization notes from the HMS Hood Association ( http://www.hmshood.com/hoodtoday/models ... ter200.htm )... this is definitely a "must read" for anyone who wants to get the most out of this kit.

Anyway, my end goal here is to get something like I had on Nelson, only better:



Until next time!

Jason,

Looks great, coming along nicely. I too have a Hood and a Pontos set to go along with it. However, about a month ago just completed a Bismarck with all the Pontos trappings. I need a rest from these huge ships and insanely intence, but warranted, detail sets. Not for the faint of hearted for sure. So for the time being will follow your brilliant build and any others I can find.

Bill

Yikes! You are braver than I, thinning out the inside of the hull sides to get the scuttles you want. I'd probably go right through the damn hull!