Purchasing the Pontos Detail Up Set without Deck for the 1:200 Trumpeter MISSOURI last week - I received it today - WOW!!! There is MUCH to this set.
First off - the machined parts are bagged separately (gun barrels, bitts, mast parts, antenna, etc.) and the 16" barrels are really so much better than the Trumpeter Upgrade that Trumpy should remove that set from the market - it ain't worth a s##*!!! in comparison. All the barrels were included as stated in the instructions.
There is a separate bag of resin cast parts - bloomers for the 16" and 5"/38 guns and other parts. I'll have to compare these to the kit supplied bloomers and use whichever is more realistic. They are both comparable, I think.
Then there are the various sheets of brass etched parts - more, much more than I will be using on my build (67-69 NEW JERSEY). I guess the more unusual aspect of this set is the very nice colored instruction sheets (7 sheets - doubled sided) that would make an Egyptian hieroglyphics researcher jump with joy
I guess that since hiring an English translator to actually come up with Printed Instructions (to accompany the photos) is out of the question, this is the next best thing
. OK, criticism aside, the parts themselves, seem to be very well etched and detailed. I
will, however, compare them with the PE included in the kit and use the better of the two. In some fashion, I don't see at this point why Pontos chose to redo everything that Trumpeter included in the kit, but I'll go through this with a fine tooth comb once I get back to my shop in early January. I will note one other item - the waterways - while this set does include them, they are not what I would consider as totally correct. They are one dimensional and to my way of looking at this detail they should be at LEAST a brass angle with its short leg being inside as the very edge butting up to the teak decking. I may have to explore this a bit more before I make a yea or nay on it.
One thing I do like about this set is the rung hole patterns for the correct placement of hand rungs on the stern of the ship as well as elsewhere on the superstructure. I'm not sure if they include enough to put them in the proper locations at the stern as were on NJ in the late '60s, but I'm sure there's a workaround if not.
So, my initial assessment is that this Detail Up Set is probably a big plus for the model - whether it's worth the retail price may be up to the modeler to decide.
Hank
Purchasing the Pontos Detail Up Set without Deck for the 1:200 Trumpeter MISSOURI last week - I received it today - WOW!!! There is MUCH to this set.
First off - the machined parts are bagged separately (gun barrels, bitts, mast parts, antenna, etc.) and the 16" barrels are really so much better than the Trumpeter Upgrade that Trumpy should remove that set from the market - it ain't worth a s##*!!! in comparison. All the barrels were included as stated in the instructions.
There is a separate bag of resin cast parts - bloomers for the 16" and 5"/38 guns and other parts. I'll have to compare these to the kit supplied bloomers and use whichever is more realistic. They are both comparable, I think.
Then there are the various sheets of brass etched parts - more, much more than I will be using on my build (67-69 NEW JERSEY). I guess the more unusual aspect of this set is the very nice colored instruction sheets (7 sheets - doubled sided) that would make an Egyptian hieroglyphics researcher jump with joy :lol_3: I guess that since hiring an English translator to actually come up with Printed Instructions (to accompany the photos) is out of the question, this is the next best thing :bash_2:. OK, criticism aside, the parts themselves, seem to be very well etched and detailed. I [b]will[/b], however, compare them with the PE included in the kit and use the better of the two. In some fashion, I don't see at this point why Pontos chose to redo everything that Trumpeter included in the kit, but I'll go through this with a fine tooth comb once I get back to my shop in early January. I will note one other item - the waterways - while this set does include them, they are not what I would consider as totally correct. They are one dimensional and to my way of looking at this detail they should be at LEAST a brass angle with its short leg being inside as the very edge butting up to the teak decking. I may have to explore this a bit more before I make a yea or nay on it. :scratch:
One thing I do like about this set is the rung hole patterns for the correct placement of hand rungs on the stern of the ship as well as elsewhere on the superstructure. I'm not sure if they include enough to put them in the proper locations at the stern as were on NJ in the late '60s, but I'm sure there's a workaround if not. :shipcaptain:
So, my initial assessment is that this Detail Up Set is probably a big plus for the model - whether it's worth the retail price may be up to the modeler to decide.
Hank