Russian Battleship Tsesarevich

All modelling in the War Room is in character.
Things have been a bit quiet on the modelling front of late.  I got married, which meant I had to have a honeymoon with almost no modelling.  While in Access Models the following week (Newark-on-Trent), I was overcome with another mad impulse to buy an expensive and complicated kit with a view to creating a diorama.

I've had a strange relationship with model kits.  It's how I got into wargaming originally, and I had an extensive collection of 1:35 tanks at one stage.  However, I lack the patience to do the really fine detail kits.  A few years back I bought a U-boat kit, and turned it into a pretty simple diorama of which I'm very proud, but that's about it.

This kit comes off the back of a long-standing interest with the Imperial Russian Navy, fed by my regular games on World of Warships and our recent Russo-Japanese War Supercampaign with Paul.  I'm only really interested in the pre-Dreadnought era, so the 1899 battleship Tsesarevich (Crown Prince) was a great find in 1:350 - usually quite an obscure ship.



This kit was hard.

I've some experience of these sorts of things, but this was something else entirely.  It was somewhat simplified by my decision, as with the U-boat, to cut round the hull at the waterline so it looks as if it's floating in water.  I feel very strongly that to see them hanging in the air on a stand, keel and all, is distinctly unnatural and somewhat rude.  Like accidentally catching a glimpse of a lady's legs if her skirt was caught in a gust of wind (an odd choice of metaphor, on reflection - I won't delve too deeply into that).

Most of the detail is in photo-etched parts, which have to be painstakingly removed and bent into shape manually.  The photos look okay at a glance, but if you were merciless enough to scrutinise them, you'll notice plenty of 'near enoughs' and bodge jobs.  I would estimate that I lost about a third of the photo-etched parts, mostly bent irretrievably in cutting them from the very tight sprue.

I would estimate that about ten or twelve hours went into this.  I plan to do a simple paint job, then create a small sea for it to float on and use some wire wool smoke (and possibly object source lighting) to create the effect of a broadside.

Anyway, enjoy the pictures!

Ed

Very pleased with the overall effect; it's a nice kit, with lots of detail.
Those bloody railings!
This is a decent picture - nothing too noticeable went wrong here.  The ladders look great - because they were smaller, that actually made them a bit more resilient, unlike the railings winch were thin and spaced out, so they bent easily.
You can see how difficult it was to get the brass railings into position - and also how hard it was to persuade the boats to sit still!  Eagle-eyed naval architects will spot a loadbearing cocktail stick in there somewhere...

Comments

  1. Replies
    1. Cheers Jonathan - I suppose it always seems worse when you've been up close at every stage.

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  2. Great work. Nice to see you keeping busy.

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    1. Thanks mate - it's been a bit hectic of late, despite the frustrations this was actually a very cathartic and relaxing project!

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  3. Lovely model - wish I had the patience to do that!

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    1. It is, isn't it? It's from a Chinese company called Trumpeter; I hadn't heard of them before.

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  4. Good for you Ian. I'm simply terrible at models but every now and then I give another a whirl. Good luck!

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    1. That's what it's about, just giving it a try every now and then. It would be a pain if I tried to do more than one every three years.

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  5. Congrats on the wedding- lovely work on the model too.

    Cheers,

    Pete.

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    1. Thank you very much Pete, it's been nice to have some time off work of late.

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  6. Nicely done indeed! I too love the ships of that period. Her tumbledown hull and waist casemate turrets are excellent. Are you going to go for an appearance ready for the Fleet review, or a rusty and storm beaten operational look?

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    1. Aha, I thought you'd like this! Yes, anything sort of post-1910 where they went for straighter hulls and they start to lose the appeal. A tough call on the paintjob - I like the sound of having her all decked out with flags and the crew on parade, but that's very similar to my previous U-boat project. I'll probably go for a weatherbeaten look, but not battle-damaged, so just before Tshushima.

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    2. Thats what I would do too - you can still have come colourful bunting flying signals from her halyards though!

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  7. O mate, that looks fantastic already! And damned fiddly for sure... I haven't put together a model ship in decades - brings back good memories of working on kits with my grandfather.

    Bit of rust and barnacles - that's the look to go for.

    Mr and Mrs Scipio - bet there hasn't been a couple with that surname in a while :) Once again, many hearty congrats my friend.

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    1. Thanks Dai - I certainly will be sure to make it look pre-loved. Thanks for your congratulations, and I'm sure it will raise a few eyebrows when the council tax bill is sent out.

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  8. Wow!

    Remind me NEVER to try anything so complicated as that.

    Ever.

    Nice work!

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    1. Thanks Drax! Ah, it wasn't all that bad I suppose... now that I'm forgetting it all...

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  9. Really brilliant work, Ed - I can't imagine tackling anything with this many parts any more. The brass etched items look like a real fiddle - but it's all gone together beautifully. Top marks! And many congratulations on getting married - I sincerely wish you both many happy years of smuggling wargames and modelling purchases past your lovely wife!

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    1. Thanks Sidney - yes, the brass stuff was a nightmare and quite a bit was left off - but just enough to give a flavour.

      Thank you! Already had to slip this one past the Goods In desk at home, and stash it safely away in the War Room. "That? Oh, I've had that for years, I'm only just getting round to building it!"

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