The Guided Missile Cruisers Kirov and Slava

built by Don Otis, article by Jeff Herne

(Click on the image for a larger photo)

Don Otis is a retired high school teacher from Teaneck, New Jersey. Don's been a member of the Ship Model Society of Northern New Jersey for more than a decade now, and I had the priviledge of meeting him in the mid-90s. Don arrived at our monthly club meeting a few years ago with a large slab of lumber and a roll of plans... He told us it was Kirov... and we laughed...not at Don, but at the simple fact that everyone in the room could visualize the lines of the ship in that plank of wood. We all watched Don's Kirov grow from a slab of lumber into one of the finest ship models the club has seen. Don's Kirov is 1:200 scale, and with the exception of the anchor chain, some photoetched rails and stairs, and the screws, the entire model is scratchbuilt.

Don also scratchbuilt a 1:200 waterline Slava, a smaller Soviet Guided Missile cruiser.

Don Otis can be reached by emailing Jeff Herne