International Scale Modeller

Right, for this GB I am doing a floaty thingy, in this case Zvezda's rendition of the Battleship "Knyaz Suvorov" in 1/350 Scale.

Laid down in 1901 in Saint Petersbury, the "Knyaz Suvorov" was commissioned as part of the 2nd Pacific fleet and took part in the battle of Tsushima in May 1905. It was the flagship of the fleet and commanded by vice admiral Rozhestvensky. Early in to the battle the ship was badly damaged but kept on fighting with it's few remaining guns. After further numerous attacks from japanese torpedo boats the ship eventually sunk. A short and tragic history for a battleship.

On to the Kit:

Zvezda's good box art:


Packaged inside a sturdy box is quite a bit of plastic:



Display stand and Hull. Fairy well moulded, minor cleanup is needed:


Many bits and pieces make up the model








Instruction sheet with some information in a few languages. The sheet is easy to follow and logical








A few small decals, one for the display base and the other for the flags


Right, next up I get stuck into the build

I started off by assembling the dispay stand. Zvezda does this a bit differently to other companies. Normally the ship rests on something resembling a cradle. However, I like Zvezda's approach too and it does work well. Assembly is easy with minor cleanup.



Putting the hull together is a breez too. The fit is very good and there is only a little bit of flash to clean up



I then assembeled the deck parts and drilled out the portholes. They look better drilled out as opposed to moulded closed



I then primed the decks and hull in preparation for painting



Work on the deck started. The Knyaz had a wood deck so I had to get creative. First I put down a base coat of Tamiya Deck tan.



Then, using a fairly dark brown, I dry brushed all the wooden bits in multiple passes until I was happy with the look. Here you can see a comparison between the deck with the base coat and the dry brushed one



The citadel dry brush helped in getting a bit of texture going on the deck



Both decks were then compared to one another to make sure they blended well together





I then hand painted the deck details in black as required





After that, I sealed the decks using Alclad Aqua Gloss in preparation for an enamel wash



After that has cured, I will wash the deck with a darker enamel wash to bring out the recessed wood panel lines. As it stands I am pretty happy with the progress

I shall follow your build with great interest. All that rigging is going to be an interesting challenge and test of patience.

Smiffy wrote:I shall follow your build with great interest. All that rigging is going to be an interesting challenge and test of patience.

Yeah, tell me about it, that is pretty much the only bit that has me a bit nervous

Will be watching with great interest. I have the same model, nearly built but stopped because the instructions called for black guns, black upper decks and it just looks wrong to me. I saw one in naval gray and this looked much better. I tend to build for realism, so I am stuck now.

Backfire22 wrote:Will be watching with great interest. I have the same model, nearly built but stopped because the instructions called for black guns, black upper decks and it just looks wrong to me. I saw one in naval gray and this looked much better. I tend to build for realism, so I am stuck now.

Yeah, black is definately not the way to go, way too dark.

Here is a picture of the ship from wikipedia



and here is a digitally colorized picture of a Borodino class ship



Now on the wiki image the color looks really dark, basically almost black but on the digitized picture it looks dark grey, albeit a shade too light from my point of view.

I think the best bet is to go with a really dark grey, something along the lines of a dark gunship grey maybe or possibly even a black grey like RLM 66.

I just pulled 3 dark greys from my akan range (Dark Gunship Grey, RLM 66 Black Grey and Old Rubber Dark Grey) and compared them directly next to each other. I think I am going to go with the old rubber, it is a shade lighter than the black on the wiki picture but I think scale wise it should fit nicely.
Note that on the picture it looks a bit more black than it really is, to the Mk 1 Eyeball it is a really nice dark grey



Originally I had planned on using Vallejo's Nato Black which is my go to for black colours but looking at it on the deck housing it is well too black. I will test spray the old rubber and then see which works better.

Addendum: Further research (primarily first person Reports I found while googling) would suggest that the ships really were black - the grey look being put down to weathering which would be pretty bad on black I guess. So I have decided to stick with the tire black and then possibly weather it up, depending on how it goes. Looks like a very dark grey base is the best point to start from.

Excellent. I am too following with great interest.

Wow these turn of the century Russian battleships are epic - I have looked into these kits in the past but was not sure of the quality, so I am glad to see one finally - thus I will be watching this with much interest.

TheTroyster wrote:Wow these turn of the century Russian battleships are epic - I have looked into these kits in the past but was not sure of the quality, so I am glad to see one finally - thus I will be watching this with much interest.

It's not Tamiya, but the quality is not bad. The fit is good, there is flash to clean here and there but all in all it is pretty good. They go for quite cheap considering the scale, if I remember correctly this one set me back somewhere between 20 and 25 Euros which is not bad for a 1/350 ship.

Just don't expect a Tamiya kit, it isn't but then again it is waaaayyy cheaper

Update time

Work continued on the deck. To get back to a better shade, I repeated the dry brushing process, this time with Tamiya Deck tan



Here you can clearly see the difference, left is the base as we last left it, right is the drybrushed deck the way I want it to be





Both decks together after the drybrushing, really pleased with the result



After all that painting, I decided to take a break and build the smaller guns. Cleanup was minimal and they went together really well



After that I decided it was time to spray the hull in anti fouling red. After a bit of a bad experience a short while ago with AK Colours, I opted for the Lifecolor option this time



The finish was really smooth and I am pleased with the result



I then built the big guns. They are pretty awesome. Again, no major fit or cleanup issues here either



Then it was on to some more drilling.....so many portholes..... But I think it is worth the effort, drilled out they just look miles better. Compare for yourself:



Then it was back to the spraybooth to lay down some primer on various parts. For this I used Badger Stynylrez and my Taiwanese/Chinese 12 Euro Airbrush that I use exclusively for spraying Primer (because it has a 0,5mm Needle)



After that I was faced with a dilemma. The Instructions call out for Humbrol Red Brown. There is not much on the market that gets even close. So I experimented around a little with various mixes, finally settling on what looked right to me. When I found my preferred mi, I mixed up a batch for spraying



The appropriate deck parts were painted red brown. The details that need to be black will be done by hand later. I am happy with the color



After the Lifecolor Red had sufficiently dried through, I masked it up in preparation for some more spraying



Akan Old Rubber was used for the Black colour. Unfortunately it comes over really dark in the Picture. To my eye it is a very satisfying dark grey and looks pretty much spot on



Testing the hull and the wood contrast - looking good I'd say





Other Deck buildups were masked off too as parts are black and others are grey. Worked a treat





Last but not least I hit the guns and the bits I need to continue on with Akan old Rubber and then with Alclad Aqua Gloss in preparation of some weathering



So there you have it, my progress over the last week. I am really pleased at how it is coming along. The Kit is actually very good, no major issues and actually quite cheap when you compare it to other manufacturers.

I am also glad I tried Akan Old Rubber for the black, it is just the right shade - at least in my eyes.

To be continued

Interesting build, like the the subject, something different. Looking good so far. Good luck with the rigging.

I'm definitely watching this build; keep up the good work!

Very interesting subject for the group build. The kit looks nicely detailed right out of the box. The build/painting is progressing nicely. Enjoy the project.
Bill.

Okay, I think I'm more interested in what you're building, than what I am building. I picked up this book today and on Friday ordered me one of these 1900 Russian battleships for my floating thing build later this year. Incredible subject!

coming along nicely mate!

TheTroyster wrote:Okay, I think I'm more interested in what you're building, than what I am building. I picked up this book today and on Friday ordered me one of these 1900 Russian battleships for my floating thing build later this year. Incredible subject!

Looks like a very cool book!

I think the Russian ships have an interesting design and there are alot of options for weathering - from pristine to really badly weathered - makes it all even more fun. I am thoroughly enjoying the build!

Very cool choice! These pre WW I ships are really beefy and the mix of stacks and sails adds to the look! Good luck!

Love that someone is doing a ship!!
This GB is really cooking!

Looks great so far, following with interest!!

Love the work so far mate

How goes it on this baby?

Any progress update? this is an awesome build. I really wanna do one of these pre-drednaught battleships, and Russian one from Tsushima is the most interesting one as that was the last time Russians kinda had a Navy of sorts. subscribed.

Just under 2 weeks left...

I hope it's enough time for you to finish