Dave Ward's 1/350 Revell Gangut - a bit of Therapy!

[Dave Ward]

Due to a health problem, I've been away from the bench for a while, but new pills seem to have me heading in the right direction, just a matter of getting the doseage right.
I've decided to go for this - it's been sitting in my stash since July 2016, and it's about time to put it together.
That's what the box SHOULD look like - however I don't have the box!
I bought this through Amazon Warehouse Deals. In their vast warehouses, items get damaged, and these are sold at a discount on the Amazon website. Often it is only minor damage to the box, but in this case it was without a box at all - but complete, in sealed bags etc. I love getting my models at a good price
The model itself is a reboxing of the 2012 Zvezda 'Sevastopol', identical, apart from the decals and the instructions. It can be made full hull, or waterline version ( which I'm going for ), the hull sides being internally scored at the cut line. The hull sides will take a bit of preparation, before any glue is applied - as each side requires 53 x 1mm holes drilled, they're marked on the inside ( phew! ). These are for the torpedo net booms ans shelves carried on the early dreadnoughts..............
Hopefully, I'll get started on this shortly.
Dave

 

[Jim R]

Hi Dave
Glad that your health issues are being sorted.
I love these larger scale old battleships. I have promised myself I will build one one day. I shall watch this with interest.
Jim

 

[Dave Ward]

A bit of work, the hull sides split, and those holes drilled!
A few detail pictures of sprues.......


A few bits of flash, here and there, but nothing really bad. No slide moulding here, but the details are quite nice!
These early dreadnoughts had a pretty simple deck layout, no multiple AA guns, radar etc, but there are plenty of deck fittings to add.
Dave

 

[Tim Marlow]

I saw this in the Abergavenny model shop yesterday and was tempted....but I held out...I will therefore watch your build with interest....looks good regarding mouldings, and you’v made a good start on the hull sides...hope your health continues to improve as well.....

 

[Dave Ward]

The hull assembled - not a bad fit, 4 frames to stiffen the sides. two parts of the main deck butt jointed
Secondary armament added in the side casements. The main turrets assembled. and the main armament muzzles drilled out. All now dry fitted.....................
These battleships were designed for operation in the Baltic, and operation on the high seas would have been troublesome - shallow freeboard & a single deck level would have made them very wet!
It's all dry fitted, at the moment, so any minor gaps are temporary.
Czarist battleships had different deck planking to other dreadnoughts. Most of the others had long planks of teak ( or other exotic hardwood ). The Czarist ships had short 'blocks' of planking - what wood, I'm not sure, but seemed almost to be a softwood, and had a redder/browner tinge compared to the bleached wood decks of other nations.
The fit of the deck is so good, that I'm going to try and finish the hull separately from the deck, so I can spray the bits more easily..............
Dave

 

[Dave Ward]

I've added the torpedo net booms, and shelves to either side, primed and basecoated............

I've done the turrets, as well....................

I'll have to give the deck a second coat - my first was a touch too thin, and when it dried the primer showed through - I won't put up a picture of this - I blame this on trying to spray in the fading daylight!
Dave

 

[Dave Ward]

Managed to give a second thin coat of the deck......................
I had thought of masking the deck fittings ( for about 2 nanoseconds! ), but realised that masking would take twice as long as hand painting the details!
The grey hull colour was selected, after painting a few swatches, from my batch of light/medium grey paints - I settled on Mig Ammo 205, which is FS26231 ( BS 638 ) Medium Grey.
The deck is Vallejo Panzer Aces 311 New Wood well thinned.
That may be it for the day, got the trembles - maybe an advantage doing overall coats with an airbrush! . Lots of small parts & detail painting need steady hands......................
Dave

 

[Jim R]

Hi Dave
Looks to be going together rather well. Decent fit.
Jim

 

[minitnkr]

They looked more like monitors than battleships. Lots & lots of guns. Formidible. The rest must be magazine & coal bunker. PaulE

 

[Dave Ward]

The record was HMS Agincourt - 14 x 12 inch guns in 7 turrets. She was originally ordered by Brazil, then sold to Turkey whilst building ( when the coffee market collapsed in Brazil ), and seized for the Royal Navy at the start of WWI.
Dave

 

[Dave Ward]

Finally seem to be on the up! I managed to get the deck detail painted -there one or two places that need touching up, but not too bad.
The deck still isn't fixed, so there are one or two gaps!. Next are the myriad of deck vents, bollards, hatch covers, skylights etc etc.
The bridge,funnels & boats will be built separately - they're quite complex little assemblies in their own right
Dave

 

[Dave Ward]

No pictures today - it's been a miserable day for modelling, almost no daylight!
I've joined the hull & deck finally, sprayed overall gloss, and done a few washes. Weathering is always a problem with small scale models, it has to be subtle, not look like it's been sitting in a derelict scrapyard, in a puddle of sump oil! Despite having a daylight bulb in my desklight, I still prefer the natural stuff to do washes/weathering, so I hope tomorrow the sun does rise!
Working on the Gangut has stirred some interest in marine thingies - I have a Zvezda Variag ( cruiser ) that I started several years ago, converted to a waterline configuration, then stalled! I may just pick that up again.
That has a white hull, with buff superstructure - should look different
Dave

 

[Lee Drennen]

Glad to see you back on the bench Dave

 

[Tim Marlow]

Good progress here Dave, starting to look shipshape....

 

[papa 695]

Looking good Dave

 

[Dave Ward]

With some daylight, pictures of the deck added to the (washed) hull
The bridge & boat stowage are being assembled..............
This is the Varyag - I remember I had painted the deck, been dissatisfied, and stripped the paint off, but then postponed further construction!


Dave

 

[Lee Drennen]

Nice update

 

[Jim R]

Hi Dave
Looking very good. I totally agree with your thoughts on weathering.
Jim

 

[Сергей Белый]

Looks great!

 

[Dave Ward]

OK, a bit more................... It seems to be never ending, the addition of all those deck fittings, I've still quite a few to add!

There it rests for the day, the carpet monster awoke, and still won't give back a couple of parts ( Alright, my hands started to shake ). It's taking a lot of building, but the fit is good, so no real problems.
Dave