Reviewed October
2022
by Christopher Martens
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| HISTORY |
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| Cheonan was launched and commissioned
in 1989. Her primary mission was effectively coast watch with an emphasis
on anti-submarine warfare. Her career up to 1999 was mostly uneventful
until she was involved in the First Battle of Yeongpyeong resulting from
their northern neighbors trying to redraw the Northern Limit Line. The
action resulted in slight damage to ROK vessels, but sank one and severely
damaged several Democratic People's Republic of Korean (DPRK) ships.
In March 2010, the corvette was rocked by an explosion
near she ship's aft with enough force to blow the ship in two, sinking
in under eight minutes. Of her 104 compliment, 54 were rescued. The two
halves were raised and recovered in April with 40 of the 48 men lost with
the ship. Subsequent analysis and investigation of the wreckage led both
Western military and civilian teams to conclude she was likely torpedoed
by a DPRK midget submarine. A Russian navy investigation claimed this was
unlike, because [reasons], though they offered no other theory. Chinese
and DPRK "investigations" were little more than randomly hitting keys on
a whiskey binge and seeing what stuck other than "intentional attacky by
DPRK submarine."
Cheonan is now a museum ship at the Pyeongtaek
Naval Base. She's displayed with her bow and stern at their former full
length, revealing the massive section of her hull that was atomized when
the ship was sunk. |
| THE HULL |
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| Cheonan's hull is sharply molded in
grey resin. Details present are mostly regulated to recesses for vents,
windows, portholes, and hatches. Any bulkhead detail is provided by the
kit's extensive photoetch set. Interesting, the bollards aren't molded
on the ship. Instead, Doggy left small impressions for them to be fitted
during construction. |
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| BRIDGE |
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The bridge
is fine and well-cast. Details follows a similar pattern for Doggy kits.
Resin hatches and molded-on equipment are dispensed and replaced with fine
photoetch detail. I do like this philosophy, given that I tend to remove
molded-on detail for etch in my own builds.
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| MISCELLANEOUS
PARTS |
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| These
wafters contain everything from the ship's weaponry to various deck bits.
These resin parts' quality is in the upper-average
of what we can find on the market today. Given the Doggy's size, that's
impressive. Like the hull, the parts are well cast and would easily take
to more detail if the builder desired. My only complaint would be that
the ship's boats are a little primitive and shallow. |
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| Brass Barrels |
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| This kit has two brass barrels for
main and secondary turrets. What's present in the kit are quite finely
detailed, but I'm missing two 40mm barrels. Thankfully, I have an abolute
ton of 40MM bofors that would fit the bill. |
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| PHOTOETCH |
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| Doggy's photo etch design continues
to be extremely impressive and easily in competition with major aftermarket
companies like Artist Hobby and Five Star Models. The company also seems
to use brass like those detail up sets do: remove (or don't have) detail.
Use brass. Personally, I'm a fan of this approach. Doggy's relief work
here is fantastic. |
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| INSTRUCTIONS |
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| Cheonan's instructions are shown as
a complete kit with various photo etch parts identified with numbers cooresponding
to the sheet. Resin parts aren't numerically identified, but this really
isn't necessary. Dog's instructions remind me again of aftermarket companies
like Five Star that also resort to this method. I don't have trouble understanding
placement, but mileage may vary. |
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| CONCLUSIONS |
|
This is a neat little kit that can be had for around $56 shipped off
of eBay. If you're into Cold War and/or Modern Era vessels, this is a good
one to bring into your collection. If you're looking for an easy resin/etch
build to cut your teeth on, I also highly reccomend this kit. My BIGGEST
issue is that I'm missing two brass barrels thought they can be similarly
sourced from any 40mm bofors set easy enough.
I want to thank both Doggy Industries and ModelWarships for this kit.
I will enjoy building it! |
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