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First hands up, all those that thought we would see this iconic ship produced at 1/350 scale in plastic during their lifetime, not many
I’d bet. Contents The kit comes in a sturdy box with hinged lid; inside you will find six frets, a rather strange looking base, paper flag, decals and an eight-page instruction booklet.
Quality
of parts
In total there are 315 parts in this kit
and you would expect at least one item to have some flash, well Zvesda
has made sure there is none at least on the copy I have. To date I have
only found four sinkhole marks, these are located in both the fore and
main mast lookout positions. Both port and stb’d hulls have three very
small blemishes on them adjacent to the internal bracing points above
the water line but these will take no more than about thirty minutes in
total to correct. All other parts are well rendered with no warping or
miss alignment.
Waterline options
One very pleasant surprise
for me, seeing as the kit is full hull is the inclusion of a deep
internal ‘V’ shaped groove running the entire length of the hull.
Curiosity got the better of me and I couldn’t resist removing the lower
part of the hull, a new blade and eight gentle passes separated the
lower hull section with no issues at all. I then checked the upper
section and found no twisting of any kind, the two halves fit together
very well at the bow and stern due to excellent location pins.
Deck
Zvezda dropped the ball on this issue in
their Varyag kit but have come back to produce a superb wooden deck
effect for Dreadnought. Not just a series of straight lines, but
individual planks well rendered and to scale. Care will have to be
taken when applying paint so as not to hide this detail as it is very
fine, but it does do away with the need to purchase a wooden
replacement.
Masts
Both fore and main mast
lower parts are sturdy and will not need replacing, however upper parts
and spars will need replacing with rod in order to facilitate rigging,
but they will make excellent patterns for their replacements.
Superstructure/ Bridge
I cannot discern any
issues from looking at the superstructure parts, although I think it
prudent to add bracing pieces to the under side of the main deck before
locating.
One issue that I do have
is with the bridge deck and roof, no deck planking is visible on the
parts representing them. The bridge is made up of clear plastic parts so
you’ll need to mask the windows.
Guns
12” - Shapes look
correct, but have the 6” foot plates moulded as one piece, barrels will
need sanding and hollowing out but most I think will opt for brass
barrel replacements.
6” – Pedestals and stocks
are fine but need added detail, barrels are ok but again many will
choose brass replacements.
Funnels
Each come in two parts
with separate caps, they come with very well reproduced steam pipes.
Boats
Good overall, but need
thinning in a few places.
Detail
Scuttles are very light
and need more definition so do the 6” mount doors. No eyebrows, blank
hatches and lockers, Engine room sky lights, ladders etc.
Instructions
Eight page booklet, with history on page
one, followed by six pages of mainly pictorial build, guide lines. All
sub assembly instructions are clearly defined. The paint guide gives two
number codes, one is for model master the other unknown, but does not
have 54(main hull/superstructure) in the list yet shows it on the
plan/profile. Final page gives layout of all the sprues.
Conclusion
You never judge a book by it’s cover
and
If you did then you would
put this kit back on the shelf, as the pictures on the reverse showing
the kit as built are very poor and sub standard.
Overall what you get
inside the box is a different story altogether.
Zvezda have, simply put, a
winner on their hands
The kit retails for £45
and for a 1/350 battleship is good value.
I will do a review of the
WEM p/etch set that is currently being designed by Peter Hall as soon as
I get my hands on one.
Roy Allen
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