by Dennis Vella
1/192 HMS Hood (Scratchbuilt)
Nice to be back after a long lay off due to both work and health problems. I am submitting photos of my all time favourite model-HMS Hood whom I consider to be a cut, no pun intended, above all other warships launched during the last 100 years. I believe few can compare to her beauty of lines with maybe the battlecruiser HMS Tiger, Scharnhorst and Alaska coming the closest. I had originally built this model nearly 2 decades ago but recently I added a few items that came to my knowledge since then. The sequence of the Spanish civil war neutrality strips I reconfirmed from 2 sec colour clips, from correspondence with a number of naval experts and from the HMS Hood Association web site. The red circle and line to the back of "A" turret roof I concluded from photos and correspondence but I still have a slight doubt about the actual colour as an old timer here in Malta told me this could also have been dark blue. I would appreciate more definite info on this item. Also the forecastle deck I left in its natural wood colour although later during 1938/9 this was painted over.
The model is build in wood with small items like railings, gun barrels boats and small guns mainly in brass. the model presents the ship as she was in 1937 when she was based at Malta where she quickly become the darling of the Maltese.
Norman Ough plans were used and in few areas corrected or collaborated with other plans.
