Trumpeter 1/700 HMS Dreadnought 1907 Kit First Look

by Michael Benolkin

First Look

The HMS Dreadnought was the first of a revolutionary design transformation of battleships that featured the same caliber guns on all main batteries and also introduced steam turbine propulsion. The concept was highly successful and led to an arms race as other navies sought to employ these advanced design elements, most notably the Imperial German Navy. HMS Dreadnought was followed by three dreadnought-class battleships designated as Bellerophon-class which added improved bulkheads and a second mast ahead of the aft funnel. By the time World War I broke out, Dreadnought was being refit during the Battle of Jutland though she did sink U-29 by ramming a year before Jutland. She served in the coastal defense role for the remainder of the war and was placed into reserve status in 1919.

Trumpeter has released this new kit of the ship that revolutionized the battleship around the globe. Unlike previous releases, this is the first kit I can recall where Trumpeter has released the 1/700 scale kit before the 1/350 scale offering (which is due for release in February 2015). As with most releases in this scale, the kit is designed for waterline or full-hull display. The kit is molded in light gray styrene and presented on six parts trees plus the upper hull, main deck and foredeck, plus the lower hull molded in red styrene and two frets of photo-etched parts.

Among the features and options in this box:

• Choice of waterline or full-hull build
• Optional display stand with name plate
• Movable main turrets
• Photo-etched ladders
• Photo-etched funnel covers
• Nice array of utility and lifeboats
• Nice detailing without over-engineering

This is another nice kit from Trumpeter and even with the photo-etched parts, the kit is not overly complex which will be appreciated by the average ship modeler.

My sincere thanks to Stevens International for this review sample!