Nice U Boats,
I have gone down a totally different rabbit hole,
As it is period I have virtually no references on apart from a few photos of the Gokstad ship in the museum in Oslo.
Cheers, Si
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Cool, Si, this is a pretty good kit! I did one several years ago and was impressed with how well Revell did their research.
I look forward to seeing your rendition of it! 
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Thanks Tim, I was quite pleased when I opened the box, and compared to the photos of the real thing. I am looking forward to building it. Keel laying likely to be late 1st Quarter next year, when I have made some space on the bench.
Cheers, Si
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I broke my promise to the wife not to buy any more new ship models as I have already a quite substantial stash at home. But I really couldn´t resist to finally get this brandnew 1:350 scale TAKAO in 1944 outfit with a lot of extra parts within the deluxe edition 
Furthermore there was the opportunity to add this quite nice HMS Coventry missile destroyer for very acceptable money to my overwhelming british ship stash 
Both ships are of excellent quality with nothing anymore needed to add to get super ship display models. My appetite for shipmodelling is awakening again 
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I have always liked these and the emerald class from the same era, I think?
I have this one on order Thomas. Very much looking forward to getting it! TAKAO looks good also.
My shipyard also has a new addition to announce.
Although I know Trumpeter cheated with this large VIIC—it’s simply a highly scaled model of the Revell boats, and it’s full of errors—I couldn’t resist my gigantism and had to get the monster.
I’ve wanted a VIIC for so long because I find the hull shape so fantastic, reminding me of a primitive shark.
But I’ll have to use all my model-making skills to create an authentic Red Devils U-552. The first material for historical research.
And of course a Pontos sentence, without which I wouldn’t do it.
And last but not least, the very good deck covering from RC Subs from the Czech Republic, where the flood slot arrangement is also correct.
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whoa! that looks like some serious building ahead!
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I certainly hope so, Phil.
That will definitely be the next project after my Mikasa. With her, I could often only guess what it looked like, especially on the decks.
With the German World War II boats, there’s more than enough reference material.
Tim, sure I can: As I did buy the “deluxe” version there is already really a lot of extra stuff within the kit.
This is whats inside with the base kit:
This is the list of extra parts alone
There are two construction manuals; one for the “normal” version and a second one extra for the deluxe version where and what extra parts to install. I copied the second manual pages for you
The box is crammed with parts
the ship´s hull shows nice armor plating and rivetting details 
Maybe there is just a resin anchor chain necessary in my opinion. Bunker Models or blue fatty Models have some nice. I will replace the kit ones with one of them but the rest is absolutely ok. If you want to spend so much money on it, then get it. I think it is worth the price and we live just once 
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Wow, Thomas, these new parts make for a HUGE improvement over the original Takao kit! Thanks for posting the pics.
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I couldnt tell from the box,who is the manufacturer? I did the Aoshima one many years ago.Love the Japanese Heavies,just finished the Tamiya Mogami.
Anthony I´ve bought it from Hobbyeasy which sell it under the Very Fire label. On the kit´s box there is no sign of Very Fire but “Beaver Company” 
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Tim - there are a number of in the box reviews of this kit on You Tube. All in Chinese, but with subtitles available. So far, reviews seem favorable.
I had foresworn 1/700th Scale after the Flyhawk Konigsberg, It was not the kit, the level of detail in that scale was excellent, but I could only work on it in short shifts to avoid too much eye strain. However, my little sister bought me the Aoshima 1/700th HMS Hermes for christmas, no etch, but very little needed, I am enjoying it, so I decided to add some new kits in that scale.
Hunt class batch II HMS Middleton, and I class destroyer HMS Ilex from IBG, they look very nice and a moderated etched fret.
One of the Queen Elizabeth Class Battleships I have want to build for some time, And I found this HMS Hood in 1/700th with an upgrade set by Pontos in the box. This will be a long slow build. (Very long / Slow)
The set is comprehensive.
I intend to have a crack at the Ilex 1st out of this lot.
Cheers, Si
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ooo, 1/700, Si! 
Too small for my eyes 
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To be honest, I can only do about half an hour / 45 mins at a time on 1/700 before the eyes need a rest. It will be a while before I tackle the Hood, A few escort vessels first. and maybe a cruiser before I tackle even the Malaya.
The issue is too many ships in 1/700th I would really like to build, that are yet to appear in 1/350th.
The next adventures in 1/700th will start soon.
Cheers, 
, Si
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