ModelWarships reveiw

Combrg 1/700 Gunboat Lenin 1942
HMAS lenin

Reviewed by Timothy Dike

The Gunboat Lenin was originally built as the Kars in 1908. She was part of the Caspian Flotilla assigned to protect this oil rich inland sea. Although small compared to the ocean going warships, on the Caspian Sea she was among the largest warships. When World War Two broke out this Gunboat defended against German forces in a convoy escort role. Her presence helped to ensure vital supplies made it to the front to keep the Russian forces going.

The Lenin survived the war and served in the region throughout the 50's, before finally being scrapped. Combrig offers this kit in her 1942 fit.

This is a small kit, but is packed with plenty of detail. The hull is well cast and includes some rather pronounced deck planking The chocks and other details are also well defined. Only a small amount of cleanup will be needed to build this kit.

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Superstructure parts are cast on a thin resin wafer and are also well cast. An older bridge was also included in my kit. This appears to be from the original Kars version from the 20's.

There are three 102 mm main guns with separately cast gun shields. These guns are really nice. Note the way the gun looks with the shield attached in the two photo's below. The four open 37 mm mounts are also well cast. There are four more machine guns of two different types. That's a lot of armament for a small gunboat!


The other fittings in the kit include some of the best cast boat davits available in any kit, as well as a fine RDF antenna that rivals what is available in brass. Even the cable reels are nice enough that you will probably not want to replace them with photo etch. Several resin mast poles are included but I will use these as a guide to cut new brass ones if you are adding rigging. If not these will be adequate.

There are no photo etched parts included with this kit. A few railings from the spare parts box are all that is really needed to finish it.

Instructions are two pages with plan and elevation on one side and an exploded view and Bill of Materials view on the other. These are all right for this small kit, but it wouldn't hurt to add a few more detail views.

Conclusions:

It is nice to see unusual subjects such as this one continue to be produced by Combrig. This kit would be a great first resin kit for a beginner. It is small enough to be finished in an evening or two. With a list price of about $16.00 US, it is a good value and will make a great addition to your Caspian Flotilla.