Zvezda 1/350 Knyaz Suvorov - Ill fated Russian Battleship.

[Dave Ward]

Waiting for things to dry on my Junkers, I've been pondering on what to build next. I've done a couple of submarines recently, so I decided on something that's meant to stay on the surface ( see later! )
I came up with this. It was an ebay purchase - slightly started - the hull and the funnels have been stuck together - and that's it - a lot of parts off the sprue, but I reckon they're all there - I have a PE 1/350 etched railing set already.................

This was one of 5 Borodino Class Imperial Russian battleships, built 1899-1905. Based on a French design, altered to take Russian equipment, they were the most ill-fated ships ever launched.
Four were dispatched to fight in the Russo-Japanese war ( 1904-5) the final ship was still under construction. After an epic troubled passage around the world, they met the Japanese fleet ( mainly British built ships ) at the Battle of Tsushima on 27th May 1905 - 3 of the ships were sunk, and the 4th captured the next day. That served in the Japanese fleet until disposed of in 1922. The final ship, actually in Russian service was scuttled in the Baltic, after battle damage, against the Germans in 1917.
Like my previous two floaty builds, this is going to be a waterline model, with a sea base ( I've still got half a packet of DAS left ). I'll be putting up some sprue pictures & part detail pictures in the next few days..................
Dave

 

[Jim R]

Hi Dave
I'll look forward to this. Always liked the look of these early battleships. I reckon that rigging will need simplifying if you want to keep some sanity
Jim

 

[Dave Ward]

Hi Dave
I'll look forward to this. Always liked the look of these early battleships. I reckon that rigging will need simplifying if you want to keep some sanity
Jim

Jim,
big assumption - that I have some sanity left to lose.
On a darker note - I have just read that the entire crew of the Knyaz Suvorov ( 900 ) were lost, and there were only a handful of survivors from the other sunk battleships...........
Dave

 

[Tim Marlow]

Looks interesting, a “turrets everywhere“ type of pre dreadnought ...... huge tumble home as well.....

 

[BattleshipBob]

Count me in Dave, got one of her sisters in the stash

On another note Drach on youtube has 2 videos, first is about the voyage of the Russians to Japan, total shambles and the 2nd the battle, very interesting watch!

 

[Dave Ward]

A few pictures.........................

Hull was already glued together - detail on the hull - rather restrained................


Some really oddball deck shapes

Several duplicate sprues, furrets, funnels, boats...............


A few details.............
not that bad
The boats sprue has a fair amount of flash.................


Instructions, decals & generic 1/350 PE railings


This is not one of Zvezdas' latest models, it's more of an intermediate between now & the bad old days. The subject is odd enough for it to be interesting! The colouring calls for a black hull, but I think that's a bit too stark, so I think a very dark grey will give better scope. I'm torn between a pristine finish, as she left the Baltic, or a weathered rusting finish, as she was before Tsushima - One thing that seems odd is that the tubular masts and some platforms are called out as sea blue - I'll have to try and confirm that.
Zvezda do offer this in two other boxings - the Oriel & the Borodino - not really sure what the difference is, but I suspect funnels..........................
Dave

 

[Dave Ward]

I made a base out of 1mm plastic card, joined,because I only have A4 sized bits. I edged this with Imm square section strip to make a lip

I've used masking tape to define the cut line on the hull. The base in itself isn't rigid enough, but when the hull is added, that'll be OK
Dave

 

[Dave Ward]

Hull carefully waterlined - then sanded flat on a sheet of wet & dry on a formica sheet..................

The wooden edging - dolls' house corner/coving will be attached after the sea has been completed. There are 10 gun positions per side to fit into the hull, before any other assembly - it's going to be tricky, deciding when to paint the hull/deck areas................
Dave

 

[Steve Jones]

The Russian/Japanese war of 1905 was a well remembered essay I wrote during my A Level History studies back in the day. I will be looking on with great interest. The warships of the early 20thC have always been beautiful models to behold.

 

[Dave Ward]

The Russian/Japanese war of 1905 was a well remembered essay I wrote during my A Level History studies back in the day. I will be looking on with great interest. The warships of the early 20thC have always been beautiful models to behold.

Well beautiful would be one word, but not to be applied to French pre-dreadnoughts


It makes you wonder if any of the designers had any conception of the sea? and obviously never thought of such a thing as top-heavy!
Dave

 

[Tim Marlow]

Floating hotels with big guns! All to do with very limited dry dock capacity I understand! They are a little like seagoing versions of medieval jettied houses......

 

[Dave Ward]

Even the cruisers were hmmm idiosyncratic! - the Dupuy de Lome

I just cannot imagine heading into an Atlantic swell, with a bow like that, they must have been very uncomfortable and wet
Another point of note, on all these beauties, is the number of boats they carry

notice all the 'lurkers' on the stern walk!
Dave

 

[Tim Marlow]

Very weird looking creations Dave. More steampunk than anything else.....you can imagine Nemo surfacing with Nautilus alongside them...

 

[Allen Dewire]

Well being built in these designs, it's no wonder they carried so many lifeboats. One wave and it's bye bye.....Man the lifeboats men!!!

In the first pic you posted, the ship looks more like an ice breaker than a warship. Bet they had good TV reception with the 3 satellite dishes on top too............

I'll get me coat...............

Prost
Allen

 

[Dave Ward]

Pre-Dreadnoughts don't figure very much in 1/350 ship models, The HobbyBoss HMS Lord Nelson/Agamemnon and French Danton Class are the most recent - Zvezda, with their Borodino's - Hasegawa do a IJN Mikasa, but at a very high price. There is a 1/400 Potemkin - originally Heller many years ago, but that's a real dog!
There are 1/700 resin models from Combrig and 1/1250 from Navis Neptun, but those are collectors only, being very expensive ( £60 for a 1/700 1900 battleship ).
The other alternative is card models - there are a few models available of the pre-dreadnought era, not bad price, but they need a great deal of work & commitment! ( Of course there is always scratch building )
Dave
EDIT: OOps - missed the 1/350 Trumpeter Schleswig-Holstein.....................

 

[Dave Ward]

Back to the battleship after the Bugatti! I've added the main deck, and all the fiddly little casemate guns ( 10 a side )

Just a smear of filler needed on the aft stbd deck edge, but otherwise not bad.
Those casemate guns must have been pretty useless - too close to the waterline - if the ship was rolling at all, one minute the gun muzzles would be in the sea, the next pointing at the sky, not to mention they must have flooded easily, just from normal seas............
Dave

 

[langy71]

Looking at the pictures you've posted and I can't not think of 'HMS Thunderchild' from The War of The Worlds..

 

[Dave Ward]

Torpedo net booms added & casemate shutters - foredeck has sides & aft added.
It's going to be a problem to paint - I managed to prime the hull sides black, and the deck white, using the airbrush, but it's probably going to be the hairy stick from now on, especially the deck

The foredeck is only dry fitted - I think I'll paint the main deck and hull, then fasten them to the base, so I can begin to add the 'sea' - the foredeck doesn't need to be fitted for that.
I've decided to paint the hull & superstructure black-grey, using black alone looks too stark and makes washes difficult to apply................. I believe the Russians used indigent wood for the deck planking, resulting in a rather more red/yellowish shade than other navies. Careful trimming & dry fitting is needed on some of the parts, but nothing that sanding sticks & scalpel can't solve!
Dave

 

[Dave Ward]

Looking at the pictures you've posted and I can't not think of 'HMS Thunderchild' from The War of The Worlds..

HG Wells was around at the time these floating fortresses were the latest in technology, and the artist that did the cover art for Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds must have done a bit of research!
Dave

 

[Tim Marlow]

Coming on nicely Dave. Such a strange beast though. As you say, the casemates couldn’t be fought in any sort of a sea, and this probably went the secondary side turrets as well.....