I’m wanting to get a large model (close to 350) of HMS Hood. I was in the LHS today and saw the Lindberg 1/400 kit for $20. Great price and scale is fine, but I was wondering if this is the best available in this size? I don’t want to go the route of resin, for money reasons. Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Chris
I know that Heller do the 1:400 HMS Hood British Battlecruiser WW2 sorry I can’t tell you anything about it never built that one .
I’ve found one on the great models webstore.http://www.greatmodels.com/
its listed as…
1/400 he81081 HMS Hood British Battleship
Category: Ships Models 1/400
Built 1933 as a Battleship/1940 reclassfied as a heavy crusier and ended as a fixed battery 1943 26"L w/245 pieces
Status: Limited
Retail Price: $49.98
Your Price: $42.50
Also WEM does a PE detail set for the heller kit listed as below…
1/400 wem4004 HMS Hood Detail Set
Category: Ships Accessories 1/400
Photo-etched. For Heller kit.
Retail Price: $56.95
Your Price: $51.25
this is the only one that I know of except the one from Lindberg , there my be some more .
cheers mike
You picked a good time to get interested in this project - and you may be glad you posted this query. Enthusiasts generally seem to agree that the Lindberg Hood is one of the most awful warship kits ever released. It originally appeared in the early sixties, and seems to have been marketed primarily as a toy. The original issue (I don’t know about the latest one) had an electric motor, which was equipped with a series of pushrods and cams that made the gun turrets rotate endlessly back and forth and, if you were lucky (I wasn’t - but I was twelve years old at the time) moved the rudder so that the ship would “follow a pattern pre-set by you” in the swimming pool. In terms of scale accuracy it was hopeless - and bewildering. It had, for instance, a small triple gun turret one one side; the real ship never had any sort of triple turret. The Lindberg kit probably would still be a nice birthday present for a kid, but scale modelers avoid it like the plague.
The Heller 1/400 kit was originally issued in the late seventies, if I remember right. By that time plastic warship modeling had become a serious adult hobby, and the enthusiasts gave that kit a lukewarm reception. The basic shapes in the kit are reasonably sound, but the detail wasn’t up to the standards of the seventies and is even more disappointing now. A good modeler could build a fine model based on that kit, but it would take quite a bit of work.
The good news, though, is that the new Chinese manufacturer Trumpeter is set to release a Hood on 1/350 scale within the next few months. Based on Trumpeter’s track record, and the fact that each of its warship kits has been better than the last, there’s little doubt that this one will be an excellent product. It won’t be cheap, but we can assume it will blow all the others out of the water in terms of accuracy and detail.
If you’re willing to consider something smaller, there are two excellent
Hoods on the market. The Tamiya 1/700 kit represents her as she appeared during her battle with the Bismarck, and the Italeri 1/720 version depicts her as she looked in the mid-thirties. The latter is my favorite of the current Hood kits: beautifully detailed, and showing the ship in her prime.
Hope this helps. Good luck. She was one of the prettiest warships ever.
Thanks for the info. Looks like I’ll be waiting until Trumpeter releases their version.
Chris
As far as I know that has been speculation since Trumpeteer has not made any official accouncement of a Hood (it has been hinted at by some however).
Interestingly however the Hood now appears on the cover of the ICM 2005 catalogue which based on the history of this I don’t know what to make of this. (It is not listed in the catalogue).
I believe Iron Shipwrights had an excellent rendition out a few years ago in Resin. It was a full-hull kit. www.commanderseries.com
For those interested there is a good web site reguarding Hood with reference to kits and that site is HMS Hood association. I think the problem for mfgs is what Hood do you make ? She was modifed a few times in her service. There are lots of excellent plans available, pity no decent model. I have built the Heller kit and with the addition of WEM phot ech it turned out not bad, sort of a silk purse from a sows ear
FOR THE BEST INFO ON THE MIGHTY HOOD, CKECK OUT HER WEBSITE www.hmshood.com . THERE YOU WILL FIND A COMPLETE LISTING OF ALL MODELS OF THIS FAMOUS VESSEL AND A DESCRIPTION OF THEM. YOU WILL ALSO FIND PROFILES OF WHAT SHE WOULD HAVE LOOKES LIKED IF SHE UNDERWENT REFIT AND MODERNISATION. ALSO SOME AMAZING PHOTOS OF HOW SHE APPEARS TODAY. BEST OPTION NOW IS THE HELLER KIT WITH A WHITE ENSIGN PE SET.
Anyone have any ideas/views as to why Tamyia have never produced a 1/350 Hood? It would sell truckloads over here in the UK.
We cannot understand why no major model manufacturer has gone all out and produced a mind-blowing 1/350 scale version of this model.
WEM & Iron Shipwrights have done their own resin-based versions, but they cost an arm and a leg.
Come on Tamiya - Hood would go nicely with the KGV, POW & Bismarck kits already in your range.
…Waits with bated breath…!"
The mind boggles which ship this is about
Certainly NOT HMS Hood!!!
Tom
Yikes! Someone REALLY doesn’t know what they’re writing/talking about!
They are obviously confusing HOOD with whichever of Scharnhorst or Gneisenau that contributed a gun turret to fixed defense in Norway (battery still exists). I don’t have time at the moment to look up which ship it was. And even then, neither of them was reclassified as a CA…
Cheers,
John Snyder
White Ensign Models
the fixed battery defences in norway came from the gneisenau.there are references to this on the website about scharnhorst/gneisenau. i doubt if someone raised the main betteries from the scharnhorst as she was sunk in the battle of north cape in december 1943 with only 36 survivors.the 245 pieces of the heller kit refer to the gneisenau and not the hood.you can get to the scharnhorst website from the bismarck link on www.hmshood.com. i hope this helps to clear up the confusion. cheers from oz.
Methinks Tamyia has abandoned the 1:350 ship business that they created in favor of other lines they have deamed more profitable.
Methinks (also) that the reason we have not seen a Hood up-to-now is that the Hood was a one-off. One couldn’t take a Hood kit, put it in a new box and have a new model.
I would caution anyone who plans on building heller boat kits…I found the 1/400 boats need a bit of improvements such as PE parts especially for the rails…in addition, the decals are shabby so that means aftermarket ones there as well…Finally, the worst part of a Heller kit are their very very vague attempt to explain the color scheme of the model…It was one of the worst I’ve seen…
Since however building kits for the Hood are far and few…you might try Heller’s kit…but be prepared to do extensive research to get it right…The fit of the kit was pretty good…
Oh and you’ll definitely need a better display stand…the one it comes with isn’t the spot on one you’d expect from a ship of her majesty’s royal navy.
So nevermind the shortcomings maybe?..just be sure once you’re finished to keep her away from the bismark…
Take Care,
Tank
And…if you want insane amounts of info regarding the Hood and it’s mechanical workings, structures, general arrangements, ect… pick up “Anatomy of the Ship: The Battlecruiser Hood” by John Roberts. ISBN# 0 85177 900 X
The inside of the jacket of this book contains an EXCELLENT outboard profile line drawing. More info on the Hood in this title than you could ever expect… Craig
Ahhhh…HMS Hood, one of my personal favorites…
Ironically, some of Hood’s secondary armament DID end up as shore batteries, they were, however, in the Falkland Islands. If I remember correctly, one of them now sits as a memorial.
Jeff