Trumpeter 1/700 HMS Warspite (1915)
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KIT #: |
05780 |
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PRICE: |
$37.99 |
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DECALS: |
Three options |
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REVIEWER: |
Scott Van Aken |
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NOTES: |
Includes photo etch fret |
HMS
Warspite was a
Queen Elizabeth-class
battleship of the Royal Navy. During World War II
Warspite gained
the nickname "The Grand Old Lady" after a comment made by Admiral Sir
Andrew Cunningham in 1943.
Warspite and the other vessels in her
class were advocated by Admiral Sir John 'Jackie' Fisher, and Winston
Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty. She served in both World
War I and World War II, earning the most battle honours ever awarded to
an individual ship in the Royal Navy, including the most awarded for
actions in the Second World War.
Decommissioned and approved for scrapping in 1946, she proved to
unwilling to go to the scrappers yard and after several groundings on
the way, finally sank in 1955. You can read more from the reference
link.
Trumpeter
has done an excellent job in molding this new Queen Elizabeth class ship and
I am equally pleased to see that it is in its WWI fit. I will start by
telling you that the kit can be built either as a waterline model or a full
hull display. For the later, a nice display stand is included and you get
the props, prop shafts and rudder for the full hull version as well.
I found it interesting that Trumpeter had decided to provide the uppermost
smaller areas of the ship with photo etch bulkhead details rather than have
those molded on the plastic. It must have something to do with producing
other variants of this class, though the etched fret states it is for the
Queen Elizabeth. Anyway, as you can see from the etched fret image, there
are three of these rectangular frets for that pupose. Included on this fret
are the stack grates, three reinforcements for the forward bridge structure,
and some various braces and a couple of ladders. The grates will need to be
formed into a cup shap
e
to fit so you will need to find something around the house to use as a form.
As this is the initial fit, the kit comes complete with the casemate guns as
well as the main guns and turrets. Various masts are includes as are ship's
boats and a bevy of searchlights. Since this is not a WWII ship, no slew of
anti-aircraft guns. In fact, I do not think there are any at all. I should
also mention that you have two main gun options; one that is paired so you
can elevate them and some fixed forward guns that have the blast bags in
place. The instructions do not show the blast bag option, but the parts are
there.
Aside from that little omission, the instructions are well drawn as always.
A full color painting guide is also provided. Though not shown, the decal
sheet consists of two flag options; one 'flowing' and another rectangular.
As usual, the packaging is first rate with foam wrap used to protect some of
the more delicate parts and most sprues in their own bag.
WWI ship fans will surely be pleased with this one. Since it is 1/700 scale, it will not take up a ton of shelf space and it will still look great.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Warspite_%2803%29
My thanks to Squadron Products for the preview kit. Get yours today at your local
retailer or ask them to order it in for you.
December 2012
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Trumpeter
has done an excellent job in molding this new Queen Elizabeth class ship and
I am equally pleased to see that it is in its WWI fit. I will start by
telling you that the kit can be built either as a waterline model or a full
hull display. For the later, a nice display stand is included and you get
the props, prop shafts and rudder for the full hull version as well.