The Ship Model Forum

sounds good Tim, was wondering about that deck. Once at the stage you are with it, do you think it might be just as easy to replace the deck with thinner sheet plastic? I ask because I would like to add extra detail on the underside that will be seen, and using the kit deck, being rather thick, would make the whole affair rather chunky.

Should anyone be wondering, no, I am not a fast builder but simply jumped ahead and doing some sub assemblies for a change of pace. If you haven't already encountered the following issue, you will so read on.

I submitted the following observation to Mr. Kim at Pontos. At the lower left on page 10 of the Hood instructions, when building the boat cradles the parts 473 and 476 are obviously at right angle to the superstructure and located in the slots provided by Trumpeter. Unfortunately, when assembled so, part 471 is not nearly wide enough. To put it another way, the distance between the cradle locating points in the plastic part is 1.65 cm wheres the distance between the locating cuts in part 471 is 1.3 cm. See picture below showing part 471 resting on 473 and 476. Have I misinterpreted the instructions?

Mr Kim replied as follows: We have checked today this matter and we had analyzed both cradle size as same though the kit has different cradle as you mentioned though one boat may be tight to install.

So, a question still hangs over the assembly. Should I relocate parts 473 and/or 476 closer together to make 471 fit or simply make a wider part 471 out of plastic strip?? Your thoughts.

hmm...have you checked known good plans? Trumpeter already has made mistakes with this kit, and Pontos has done due dilligence in correcting a ton of them. I would trust the Pontos parts before Trumpeters.

I'm not picking either Trumpeter or Pontos and saying one is right. Rather, I'm pointing out that either the Pontos instructions which have you place parts 473 and 476 in the Trumpeter locating slots are wrong or part 471 is wrong. And no, I don't have access to a good set of plans. That is why I'm raising the question.

To Pete, not sure what you are trying to achieve by removing the thick deck. Don't forget that the wood deck
is designed to fit the kit deck. By removing the deck itself, you are left with "nothing". Maybe i have missed your
point.

Hi All

Hello Grizly, I'm afraid I'm probably a slower builder than you are as I'm still getting to grips with the Pontos kit and what goes where!

To put your mind at rest I'm pretty sure you have the instructions correct, parts 473 and 476 fit to the bulkhead wall and 471 fits on top between those two parts and parts 475 (474) and 472 the cradles.

There are a couple of nice pics on the Hood association website that confirm this. I'll do a little bit more digging as to whether there is a slight angle but on first sight they appear 90° to the bulkhead sorry I can't be of more help.

As for the under deck detail, mmm, Pontos do provide both wooden and metal shelter deck parts so if you are so inclined then a large piece of thin plastic card with these stuck on top with the kits forecastle deck support structure (plus a little bit to make up for lost deck thickness) and the removed shelter deck edge 'side structures' may allow the beams to be worked in underneath the shelter deck to the correct scale thickness?

A lot of work though! I also think that Hood had two expansion joints in the shelter deck, one where the metal deck turns to wood behind the after funnel, and one in between the two funnel structures running just forward of the two pom pom mounts but Mr Allen or Mr Foeth may know better.

I'll dig out what I can on those boat cradles.

Best wishes
Cag.

Hi Tim, I was thinking of replacing the deck with thinner plastic sheet, and adding the Pontos parts to that, plus some scratchbuilt detail to show the support stucture underneath. I was thinking that if the kit deck piece was used, then the whole affair would come out too thick.
Hi Cag, yes, exactly that. The kit deck looks like it will be decimated anyway for the Pontos parts.

Cag,
I think you missed my point, if you install parts 473 and 476 as per the instructions, part 471 doesn't fit. What I can't figure out is how Pontos was able to assemble everything for their demo without discovering this conflict.

Hi Grizly, just looked at page 10 and I see your point. Looks like the quick and easy fix would be to replace part 471 with plastic strip. Regards, Pete

Hi All

Hi Grizly, sorry I don't think I put it correctly, I did understand yes there is something amiss there, I just wanted to check if those two pieces angled inwards on the real thing so that 471 might be able to be dropped in, no luck so far as they seem straight!

Hi europapete yes I think that is one way of doing it to keep scale, there are some nice pics on the Hood association website showing the spars underneath to work from. Look forward to seeing how it goes that will be a super superdetailed Hood!

Best wishes
Cag.

thanks Cag, hope so. this model is too big not to. Have actually made a start, spent today filling the excessive hull plates with 10thou sheet, and sanding off all the mold lines from the hull.

ok, these are new to me. Looks like Model Monkey and Micro Master are producing 3D printed turrets, booms, and boats for this kit. They look VERY nice too. However, to play devils advocate, does anyone know the difference between them and the kit ones? The Association recomendations don't seem to find any serious issue with the kit parts. Just asking, as I would like to make this model the best I can, and that includes kit, aftermarket, and scratchbuilt parts. Aftermarket, for me, defines a serious time saver. regards, Pete.

It IS possible to go too far with add-ons and 3d printed stuff doesn't come cheap. It also has microlayer lines that have to be cleaned/filled out match the texture of the rest of the kit; sometimes it's better to have less detail that looks like it belongs rather than more detail that sticks out as different than the rest of the model.

To be honest, I'm tempted to box my hood stuff back up and tackle something smaller instead. I'm getting that overwhelming feeling again, especially with so much tempting aftermarket stuff finally hitting the market.

_________________
-Jason Channell

Current Project: 1/200 Bismarck

Don't give up just yet, Jason. Have made a reasonable start to my project, with the hull almost detailed and
painted and my appetite is now well and truly whetted. I was'nt really motivated, but now i see some progress, and
am raring to go. The Pontos detail sets have proved easy to handle which should be a relief to those who may
be slightly timid to make a start. Also of interest to those who are not fans of wood decks, i painted the kit decks
with a clear finish and stuck down an off cut from the Pontos deck on to a hidden part of the plastic deck and
it stuck like the proverbial !!. Could not remove it with a chisel blade. Have prepped most of the boat deck (UP DECK)
PE and dry fitted to see if OK. Should look marvelous when all comes together.

Jason, I'll second the motion and I encourage you to keep on trucking with the Hood. I agree with your point that one can go too far trying to build the "end all" model. Currently I'm finishing up my 1/200 Arizona. I didn't set out to build a lifelong project of the ship. I limited my effort to correcting the glaring errors and some details Trumpeter missed.
My next kit-bash/improve will be the Hood as well. I plan on cutting the hull for a waterline display. I prefer displaying 1/200 scale and smaller water-lined. The larger scales I reserve for hull plating studies. That's just my approach, others may be different..The extent of the detail/corrections will be what Pontos provides and the HMS Hood website shows. I did get Model Monkey's funnel set, but that's the extent of extra add-ons. I plan on tackling the ship in subassemblies, my biggest concern will be keeping my work to date away from damage. My unsolicited advice is to work with what you have and build to your heart's content. Don't try to tackle it all at once.I create an outline and plan my builds out, then execute the plan. I have to fight the urge to "chase squirrels" and keep focused. I try to get to a milestone before I set it aside for what ever life interruptions may happen..I hope this helped.. v/r Randy

_________________
Completed: Trumpeter 1/200 USS Arizona
Current Project: Trumpeter1/200 scale HMS Hood
Future Project: TBD

Just do it, Jason. Don't make me sic Shia LaBeouf on you...

_________________
Sean Nash, ACG (aircraft camo gestapo)

On the ways:
1/200 Trumpeter HMS Nelson
1/700 Tamiya USS Yorktown CV-5

In the stash:
1/35 Italiari PT-109
1/35 Tamiya "Pibber" Patrol Boat
1/350 Trumpeter USS Yorktown CV-10

whoaa, hang on there! You don't need to do that... we're civilized people, we can work this out, right?

Right?

Oh God PLEASE right?

But yeah, I've fallen into that same old trap where my ambitions for the project have overtaken my skill level and probably what's even realistically possible in this scale.

That, along with having no good idea on what Hood's hull plating should actually look like (below the waterline) and a busy life in general led to an early loss of mojo for my build.

I have this problem A LOT!

I know lots of people wanna see one these kits go together (me included) and the interwebs have been fairly quiet on the 1/200 build log front for the past couple of years but I guess there's a good reason
for that.

I think I need to rethink my plans/intentions with this one.

a confession: I also recently picked up the Mikasa + Pontos set and it's just as tempting for me, not to mention half the size!

_________________
-Jason Channell

Current Project: 1/200 Bismarck

lol, and with bumblebee as a back up, thats no idle threat! C'mon Jason, you can do it. Besides, you're not going alone on this one as there are a few of us already starting. I know we talked of September group build, and I think that should still happen, but this kit is SO tempting. There was an OOB build this last show season here in New England, ( I am in RI) and he did a very nice job of it. The ship is REALY impressive built up. Reading back on this thread, it seems like we have the same thoughts on the needed improvements for the kit so we should bounce idea's around on how to achive the desired look. I am going to keep the kit's "up" (boat) deck as is for now, and make one out of sheet to see how that concept works for the scale thickness with the underside details. The sheet inserts into the hull grooves worked well, and was not that difficult, actually went faster than i thought it would. Regards, Pete.

I can be reasonable, Jason. But the degree of it depends on how much effort you put in—the ball is in your court, as it were...

In all seriousness, it seems to me like a possible solution to your Hood dilemma is to just take things one step at a time. Trite as that may sound, if you just start by putting together the things you know go whichever way they go, and keep going down that road, you'll start to find that things seem a little bit less daunting. As long as you keep asking questions, you're going to get answers—especially seeing as how this thread has mutated into a sort of epicenter for community input regarding this damn kit.

In other words, you've got to put one foot in front of the other, put the other foot down, down, down...

_________________
Sean Nash, ACG (aircraft camo gestapo)

On the ways:
1/200 Trumpeter HMS Nelson
1/700 Tamiya USS Yorktown CV-5

In the stash:
1/35 Italiari PT-109
1/35 Tamiya "Pibber" Patrol Boat
1/350 Trumpeter USS Yorktown CV-10

Hi Jason:

I'll chime in with my .02 as well: You just came off an incredible build with HMS Nelson. You poured your heart and soul into that build and did an outstanding job. Now you are basically starting over, no wonder your MOJO is gone! I know the feeling, I started down the Rodney path and lost some steam. Put it away and worked on some classic plastic. I have one or two left and then back to Rodney. It doth beckon from the box!
Figure out what your goal is, How much detail do you want to put into it? Do you want it to be a life project? Do you want to see it finished? How much accuracy are you willing to compromise, and who really cares if you get the hull plating below the waterline totally accurate or a nice representation? Like you did with Nelson, do something every day, even if it is cutting pieces off the sprue and trimming. It will come back. Worse case scenario, put Hood back in the box, do Mikasa, and go back to it.
For what it's worth, I am doing Rodney with the least amount of a/m items I can. That's not to say there isn't going to be a/m stuff on it, but my goal is to do as much of it OOB as possible and have a neat looking model when finished. I think we sometimes get in the rut with the more metal and resin we put into the model the better it is. Not necessarily so. Hang in the Jason, you've been down this road before and come out in fine order.
Looking forward to seeing what you do.

_________________
Mark
Master Gunnery Sergeant USMC (Ret.)
http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery ... index.html

On the bench:

1/200 USS Enterprise, CV-6