by Paul Neuhaus
1/600 HMS Hood (Airfix)
The Airfix kit is a rather old one, first published in 1960. The design of the box has been changed three times since then, but the basic kit is still the same as far as I know. The detailing is not the best and the accuracy of the parts also leaves a lot of open wishes. I had to do a lot of altering, scratch building and “plastering” to the basic model, after studying details, plans and pictures which I found in the internet or found in the “Marine Arsenal, special edition 19 HMS Hood”, which was also very helpful.
Following parts were completely replaced: Masts through steel and PE parts, the gun barrels of the light artillery through injection needles, heavy artillery through brass canons. Various other parts were replaced with PE or other bits and pieces. I used the magnificent PE-Set from WEM and was very pleased with the quality and amount of parts provided with it. It is even possible to build the plane launcher, which was fitted on one the ships turrets for a short time. The blast bags war made with white glue which was modelled around the gun barrels with a tooth pick and painted white after it had dried.
My decision, how to show the ship fell on the period between 1936 and 1939 where she was acting in the Mediterranean Sea. At this time she had a very light grey painting and light wooden decks. I mostly used Gunze acrylic paints and painted most of the parts with an airbrush. The rigging is made from stretched sprue. According to various informations and photos I found in the internet the Hood was a very clean ship, therefore I did not do too much weathering and completely avoided to apply any rust.
I wanted to show her as a waterline model and therefore cut off the underwater hull. The water has been modelled with silicone. I had to cut the board into this funny shape because otherwise it would not have fitted into the display cabinet, but it looks OK for me.
