The Ting Yuen was built by the German Vulcan Shipyards in 1884 to a modified German design for the Beiyang (Northern) Fleet. This ship was intended to help bring the Chinese fleet to par with more modern European fleets stationed in the Pacific.

Her main armament was four 12" guns paired in two turret, mounted offset from each other, forward of amidships. There were also two 6" guns mounted singly in turrets at the extreme bow and stern, as well as various 37mm deck guns, torpedo tubes, and two torpedo boats were also carried aboard.

Ting Yuen was in service for around 10 years. She saw action in 3 notable battles, and was scuttled at the Battle of Weihaiwei in the First Sino-Japanese War, after being struck by Japanese gunfire and a torpedo.

There is a full-scale replica of this ship in Wei Hai, China. This ship serves as a tourist destination and museum, and reportedly has an excellent cafe!

This ship is modeled in a waterline format, split into two halves. The sprue has the hull halves, a one-part deck, the masts and the flying bridge. The hull halves hare good detail, and should be fun to weather. The single part deck also looks good, but the planking is simplistic; some may opt for an aftermarket real wood deck instead of painting the simulated planking.

Sprue B has the bulkheads and decks to make the central superstructure for the ship, as well as the two-piece smoke stacks, primary and secondary turrets and the single piece torpedo boats. The bulkheads have molded on hatches and doors with gutters, and the 01 level deck has the same planking as seen on the main deck and flying bridge on Sprue A.

The turrets are pretty basic, but may be improved with the brass barrels. The one piece torpedo boats are neat. Both the turrets and the torpedo boats have seams will need some cleanup.

This sprue has the largest assortment of fittings and details for the ship, from the multiple anchors, and various ships boats to cowl vents and the multiple open mount guns for the decks and fighting tops.

This kit has 2 frets of PE; the first and largest fret has railings and ladders for Ting Yuen, as well as etched ratlines for the two masts, and options to replace the plastic charthouse and compass binnacle platform. There are also two dragons to placed on the stern.

Fret B has boat davits, cradles for the torpedo boats, and a nameplate for the model.

This kit also included six machined brass barrels. All have drilled muzzles, and a nice built up appearance. There are no mouting instructions included, however, and these nicely shaped barrels would be hidden inside the turrets.

A tiny decal of the Beiyang Navy Ensign, Qing Dynasty.

The instructions are aa fan-folded sheetof 8 pages; there are 12 exploded-view assembly steps, and a page of painting directions.

It is a great sign of the times when plastic manufactures are releasing such esoteric subject matter as pre-dreadnought Imperial Chinese navy ships! This is a great little kit, inexpensive, and has an interesting appearance. Recommmended!

This kit is available from various sources for around $21.95.