The parts count on this model is a beast – 432 parts. So it’s going slow – and it got even slower when I found a sheet of WEM photoetch that I’d bought for a prior attempt at Hood in 1/700. I had bought and started a Tamiya Hood model in high school, but started over with a new one after I finished law school in 1992, and apparently got the PE set, put it in the box, and over the next 30 years forgot about it. I’m too late in the build to use much of it, but other pieces I still can.
But today’s main activity was finally nailing down how to do the ship’s boats.
Hood had a large and colorful set of ship’s boats, but both the complement and the color scheme changed after the war began. I studied hmshood.org.uk for info on how the boats were painted and rigged out when the ship was underway, but the problem is that it doesn’t tie the boats it discusses to the boats on the ship. So I went to ontheslipway.com to identify which boats where where, and compiled a spreadsheet with what boats the ship carried and where. I then went back to hmshood.org for paint info – and then crossreferenced everything to what it identified as the best model of Hood – and with only one exception everything matched up.
As you can tell, I keep my principal references open on the adjustable slant-top reference table.
A terrific cheat when modeling Hood is to show her underway as above a few days before her loss – because then you don’t have to detail paint the tops of the boats because they were covered with canvas. So I just smeared the boats I was using with putty and rough sanded the tops. But I still had to do the research to identify which boats were overall hull-gray, which kept their white undersides but traded their navy blue hulls for the ship’s overall color, and which kept the blue hulls – we know a number did.
All but three of the boats are in place now, but I’m testing out different finishes on the “canvas”. It needs to reflect a little differently than the painted surfaces.
The photoetch is going on now as well – It’s provided a really nice touch to the mainmast, foremast yardarm, and anchor chains, and I bit the bullet and installed the degaussing on the starboard side. I was really worried that it would go on so sloppy and would mar the hull, but it didn’t – even with my poor application it looks pretty good and adds some detail to the hull. And it doesn’t take that long to apply -it’s a little more difficult than railings, but it’s long sections so it goes on quicker than I thought. The PE provides custom sections where it zig-zags on the quarterdeck, which saves a lot of time.
Still a lot more pieces to add to the boat deck, as well as figuring out how I’ll do the staff for the admiral’s flag. The WEM PE set has a terrific little platform, but it was designed to work with the Tamiya kit, and bu the time I realized I’d be using it I couldn’t cut the mast back to accommodate to. But all it needs is a couple of pieces of railing – shouldn’t be too hard.
I might finish it tomorrow. “Might”. But we’ll see.
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