MiniHobbyModels 1/700 USS Enterprise (CV-6)

the Baron

 But if it's a total piece of crap, I'll pass and keep my eyes (and wallet) open for the Tamiya kit--or wait for Dragon or Trumpeter to come out with the subject, whichever might come first.

 

It is as you fear.    Its is a pantograph clone of the Tamiya.  What are fine engraved lines on the Tamiya are canyons on the MHM.  

Tamiya is supposed to be working on a new tooling for their old Enterprise/Hornet that will correct some of their shortcomings - like the too narrow island and the indefinate weapons fit.

What they need to do is do a all new kit of the enterprise. The one they have is a frankenstein of earlywar weapons on a latewar refit island with an airwing that doesn't quite fit the timeline of what fitting the rest of the ship actually represents. The Island is latewar while the hull and flightdeck are Prewar/Coral Sea fitting of 1.1cm anti-aircraft cannons and the guns on the Island are 1.1cm where they are supposed to be 40mm quad. And the 20mm guns are just a stub of plastic that you glue a piece of wire to where you can just replace them with PE guns or even L'Arsenal 20mm guns.

Thanks for the replies, guys! 

Ed, that was a suspicion of mine, especially having worked with other kits that were copies of kits by other manufacturers (eg, HobbyBoss' Arizona in 1/700).  I'll think a little harder about buying the MHM kit.  In the meantime, there's another Tamiya kit up on eBay, who knows, maybe I'll win that one.

I'm not too worried about correcting details on the Tamiya kit.  I like to tackle things like that and flex the scratchbuiling muscles.  But when you get to details that are soft because the kit's a copy (or a copy of a copy), it becomes less of an enjoyable exercise and more of a chore.

Mikey, you're right, too, I'd like to see a new kit of the Enterprise, accurate to a specific point in time, or maybe, with appropriate optional parts to build her in some of the various refits.  Maybe a kit that could be built as the Yorktown, too, there's no 1/700 kit of her, either.

Well, in a couple of hours, I'll know if I have the Tamiya kit, or if I have to keep watching

Thanks again, and best regards,

Brad

A followup--I won this auction for the Tamiya kit, for $19.50 plus $8 shipping, not a bad deal, in my view.  So, I won't have to settle for a soft copy.  I'm another step closer to having each of the first 8 US carriers now.