Trumpeter 05741 HMS Hood 1931 Review

The kit was delivered by Trumpeter in Jan 2008. It was comparably much better than some old Trumpeter kits in terms of accuracy. It comes together nicely and the hull fits without an issue if you choose to go the full ship build. Compared to Hood in 1940 (as sunk), this kit gives a good opportunity for hobbyists to build the Mighty Hood in its prime. The details were nice enough as is although some modification is always welcomed. To people like their kit painted, some soaping or priming was needed before the first layer. Some minor inaccuracies were captured perfectly in this review by F.W. Allen if you would like a comprehensive guidance towards a perfectly historically accurate build (http://www.hmshood.org.uk/hoodtoday/models/trumpeter/trumpeter1931-700.htm). 

The following history related to HMS Hood (1931) is from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Hood

HMS Hood (pennant number 51) was a battlecruiser of the Royal Navy (RN). Hood was the first of the planned four Admiral-class battlecruisers to be built during the First World War. Already under construction when the Battle of Jutland occurred in mid-1916, that battle revealed serious flaws in her design despite drastic revisions before she was completed four years later. For this reason, she was the only ship of her class to be completed, as the Admiralty decided it would be better to start with a clean design on succeeding battlecruisers, leading to the never-built G-3 class. Despite the appearance of newer and more modern ships, Hood remained the largest warship in the world for 20 years after her commissioning, and her prestige was reflected in her nickname, "The Mighty Hood".

Hood was involved in many showing-the-flag exercises between her commissioning in 1920 and the outbreak of war in 1939, including training exercises in the Mediterranean Sea and a circumnavigation of the globe with the Special Service Squadron in 1923 and 1924. She was attached to the Mediterranean Fleet following the outbreak of the Second Italo-Ethiopian War in 1935. When the Spanish Civil War broke out the following year, Hood was officially assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet until she had to return to Britain in 1939 for an overhaul. By this time, advances in naval gunnery had reduced Hood's usefulness. She was scheduled to undergo a major rebuild in 1941 to correct these issues, but the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939 kept the ship in service without the upgrades.

An aerial view of Hood in 1924: The two forward gun turrets are visible with their prominent rangefinders projecting from the rear of the turret. Behind the turret is the conning tower surmounted by the main fire-control director with its own rangefinder. The secondary director is mounted on the roof of the spotting top on the tripod foremast.

A close-up of Hood's aft 15-inch guns in 1926, rotated to the extreme arc of their travel, covering the port bow quarter; firing in this position could cause blast damage to the deck and superstructure

Profile drawing of Hood as she was in 1921, in Atlantic Fleet dark grey

Hood after she was fitted with an aircraft catapult; a Fairey III is visible on her stern, 1932