HMS Tiger
Reviewed by Timothy Dike
| The HMS Tiger was a World War One Battlecruiser
design. The sole ship in her class, she was a rather elegant ship with
clean lines. The HMS Tiger is best known for her role in the battle of
Dogger Bank in January 1915, where she was reported to be sunk from the
heavy damage she received. She returned to service with the British Battlecruiser
Fleet after repairs and served with her more well known cousin the HMS
Hood. Unlike the latter she was placed in reserve after the war and finally
scrapped in 1932.
When I saw my first Combrig kit I was not that impressed. I was just pleased to see a company was bringing some previously unknown subjects to market. But I can honestly say that each new kit from this Russian company that I see is better and better, and this one is no exception. |
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| The Hull on this kit is really sharp. The first thing you will notice is open areas in the hull. This is smart molding, it not only saves on the resin needed to produce a kit, but it allows the resin to cure an even rate. |
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Once you get past that you will notice the fine detailing
on the deck, with nicely scribed deck planking and hatch details.
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| Superstructure parts are nicely molded with that same level
of detail as the on the hull. Each of the parts has some very thin splinter
shields. Care should be used in removing these parts from the thin resin
wafer that they are cast on.
Notice how the funnels have the thin apron around the base clearly defined
on each one. They are also hollowed out a bit.
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| The main guns are cast in such a way that there is no casting gate to remove. The slight over pour at the base will probably not need to be sanded away as test fitting shows that they fit nicely in the openings. The turrets have nice surface details Separate gun barrels are provided cast in resin as well as two deck guns. |  |
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| The little parts are another strong point of this kit.
Items such as the anchors are almost perfect. I like the way gussets are
cast onto some of the pole masts.
The boat davits are really nice, but the boats are even better. These are really fine, with their own deck planking and cast on rudder detail. Masts are also provided, but I would recommend replacing these with brass rod for strength. There is no photo etch included in this kit. |
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The Instructions are pretty basic and don't do this kit
any justice. Such a fine kit demands equally fine instructions and I would
like to see more subassembly views with close-ups to help those with limited
modeling references.
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Conclusions:
This is a great kit with loads of potential. The innovative molding employed here shows that Combrig is fast on the way to becoming a leader in the market. Not only with Russian Navy ships, but now with ships of all nations. I know that there are many who would have been happy just to have a decent kit of the HMS Tiger that they could start with. Well they now have an excellent starting point. Pacific Front Hobbies lists this kit for $45.00 (US), making it a tremendous value. Just add photo etch and enjoy. |
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