eagle models

Hi Dave Yes I already have the WEM turrets as well as their UP launchers and 8 barrel pom poms. For good measure I also got the Trumpeter added detail set which contains the brass barrels for the main and 2nd armament and the props. As I said a looooong way to go on this one. Steve

I needed a change from all those aircraft so here's my 1/350 Trumpeter Hood. It's been on the go for a month or so and I've tried to add extra detail using the Gold Medal basic and extra sets and reference from the HMS Hood association website and "The Battlecruiser HMS Hood - an illustrated biography" by Bruce Taylor and "Anatomy of the Ship - HMS Hood". I've seen quite a few of this kit built up and it's interesting how many show lots of joins around areas such as the conning tower and the rear screens where the kit parts meet. This is a result of the way the kit superstructure is built up in layers but in many instances the structures didn't have any visible joins and should be filled and finished properly. This requires quite a bit of planning and partial painting/assembly but it's well worth it I think. Anyway here is where I am at the moment and a few initial comments on the assembly so far which I hope helps anyone else tackling this lovely kit. 1. Hull assembly. Ignore Trumpeter's instructions if you are building full hull and get this together first. I cut the internal cross members out of the upper hull as I found these were pulling the part out of shape and prevented a decent fit to the lower hull. I found it a difficult job to get a good strong joint between the two so reinforced the interior faces with strips of plastic card. This prevents the joint flexing and cracking when sanding the joint. I added the quarterdeck and forecastle deck once the hull had set and these parts add alot of strength to the hull assembly. I spent ALOT of time sanding the joint between the upper and lower hulls with intermittent priming to make sure I was getting there. Mask the detail moulding of the armour belt just above the joint to prevent loosing the delicate ridges during sanding. 2. I removed the moulded deguassing coil and replaced with a new etched coil from the Gold Medal set. I altered the shape of the extension plates above the hawsepipes as per the Hood Assn site and drilled out the hawsepipes themselves. 3. Here is the forward superstructure and conning tower. Lots of work here to blend the conning tower parts together but it was worth it as this is very noticeable. I also added a slice of plastic card to the upper two levels so that the window slits ended up the same height all the way up the tower. The kit as provided ends up with different heights and looks a bit odd. I filled the holes for the life rafts on the side of the bridge as these had been moved aft by 1941. Last thing here is was to cut out the openings in the decks for the inclined ladders and add what I guess are some sort of supports for the rangefinders out of some fine wire. 4. Here is the rear screen. I have added the etched details including the armoured window shutters, doors and the HOOD nameplates. For anyone using these etched letters I would advise not using the templates - they are not tight enough to guarantee a level set of the individual letter and I found it impossible to glue the letters without fixing the template in place as well. I attached them by eye under a magnifyer. Fortunately the etched set gives a spare set of letters so you can see which method suits you. I spent quite a bit of time making sure the join between the screen and the upper (boat) deck was removed. The four ladders will be replaced with etched so I just added the platforms and supports for the moment. You can see part of the new etched degaussing coil here as well. 5. Rear boat deck. Construction is now quite advanced in this area. All the ready use lockers are in place with the 4" guns and the quad 50 cal mountings. These latter had the solid wall removed from the platform and replaced with etched railing and the guns themselves improved with etched trunnions/ammo boxes and sights. The engine room vents have had the screens replaced with etched. The ladderway in the centre of the deck has been opened up and the canvas screen support added again from etched. All the deck hatches are replaced with new etched hatches. The windows around the bottom of the main bit of superstructure here were covered on the inside with some tissue paper to represent the canvas covers present here on the ship. That's it for the moment. This will be slow progress I think as there's loads to do in the detailing. Steve

Sure Mike - I'll get some up i n the morning. Steve

We just got the new Aires cockpit and radar for the Tamiya kit in stock yesterday. They look very nice. Steve

Try this link http://www.britmodeler.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=2048 Steve Eagle Models Doncaster

That's looking lovely Geoff - let's see some more when you get further on. Are you going to use the Tamiya bracing wire set for this kit? Steve H Eagle Models

Forward fuselage main assembly put together and sanded smooth. The upper and lower fuelage panels fitted well after a bit of careful trimming and the radome followed the shape of the fuselage ok. I had to look to my references to select the correct part for the lower forward fuselage as alternatives are given in the Academy kit with different style mesh grilles. There's going to be a tiny bit of scribing required to level the panel lines after the sanding but I didn't need to sand so much so as to remove any lines completely. The forward part on the instrument combing is fitted here with a bit of epoxy - I don't trust cyano so close to clear parts even after it appears dry - but the screen is just dropped on to see how it fits. It's looking better than the dry fit as all the panels seem to have drawn the fuselage to a better shape so I'm happy with that. Looking ok so far.

Hi all Got the cockpit and nose gear bay fitted and the forward fuselage closed now. The Aires cockpit ended up being a tight fit and needed quite a bit of thinning of the plastic fuselage inside to get enough width. The Eduard etched panels which sit to the L and R of the pilots knees also were too wide and pushed the sidewalls out a bit which didn't help. I took these out and trimmed them to fit a bit better. Dry fitting of the upper fuselage and windscreen also shows that the 'screen is set a bit narrower than the fuselage so that's going to need a bit of work to get a nice fit. That will come later though.. For the moment heres what the assembly looks like. Next up the rear fuselage, intakes and finishing off the main gear bays. Steve

Hi Mike - yes I'm pleased with it. The MFDs are just the kit clear screens painted clear green on the reverse and the resin instrument panel screens flat black - pop them in without glue as they're tight enough to hold themselves. The green looks nice and dark tinted against the black background. Then fix the surrounds from the Eduard colour etch set with a dab of white glue - I have never been able to get such a good result with hand painting the raised detail - it's just too tiny for my eyes. A bit of a cheat I suppose but for me it's the result that counts. I'm leaving everything to dry and hopefully I'll try to get the pit into the forward fuselage later. Steve

Hi all I've been away for a few days so a bit of a gap with this project but I'm back on it and have just finished the Aires cockpit. I trimmed it up with the Eduard colour etch set. The pictures aren't great - it's a dull old day up here today - but I hope they give the impression of how this has turned out. I'm really pleased with it and it should look great with the seat in place. I'll fit that at the end of the build. Steve Eagle Models

Hi Lots of resin available from Aires - cockpit, gunbay, and a full detail set including cockpit, gunbays and engines/cowlings. We have replacement wheels also. http://www.eaglemodels.co.uk/acatalog/Aires.html Plus Eduard do a good looking colour etch detail set http://www.eaglemodels.co.uk/acatalog/48colouretch.html Hope this helps Steve Eagle Models

Hi Pat The Aires cockpit seems to fit ok as far as my test fitting goes. I needed to take a step out of the front floor to get it to sit above the resin nose gear bay but nothing more than that. The only surgery to the kit is to remove the moulded side wall detail so no problems there. I think I may have a bit of adjustment to do for the IP combing which comes in two parts but I don't think it will be anything serious. I'm hoping to fit it tomorrow and close the front fuselage so we'll see.... Watch this space. Steve

Just a bit of added motivation for this project. In researching I found several wonderful shots of s/n 164048 - the CAG a/c I'm modelling here. The pictures are from a later deployment from USS Nimitz I think, as opposed to the earlier OEF deployment from USS Carl Vinson as depicted on the Two Bobs decal sheet. Some slight differences in the fin markings and mission markers removed by the time the photos were taken. I'm grateful to Chad Thomas for his permission to show his photograph courtesy of http://www.airliners.net/

The wheel bays were ok to fit Larry but not a drop fit. The resin follows the shape of the fuselage underside pretty well but of course the cutting out of the plastic bays needs to be done carefully and the remaining plastic trimmed bit by bit. As with just about any resin part that requires some cutting and filing, the thing is to cut a little and test fit all the time until it fits. Some people hate this but I seem to like it so I didn't think they were too bad : about an hours work all told. Steve

DOH!!!!! That's hardly nit-picking Larry - thank you so much for pointing it out. In my defence the Aires instructions are not clear at all but the photo makes sense of the parts. I'm off to fix them straight away. Cheers for that - it just shows the value of posting in this forum. Steve Fixed now! and the main gear bays base painted...