Reviewed by Timothy Dike
| The Admiral Ushakov (ex Kirov) was the class leader for a new type of multiple cruisers, sometimes referred to as Battle cruisers. They were designed to operate with carrier task groups as escorts. They were powerful enough to operate by themselves in an offensive capability venturing out of home waters to attack enemy forces. These ships were huge at 824 feet bow to stern, and they were packed with virtually every navalised weapon in the Russian inventory. | |||||||||||||
| The hull is a one piece waterline style. It scales out
at a little under 14" in length, a little shy of the 14-1/8th" needed to
match published dimensions. But the shape appears to match the drawings
I have seen.
The deck is divided into three sections for each deck level. The helicopter hanger can be modeled in the open position. A separate hanger door can be attached in any position from fully closed to fully open. The helicopter bay below is included. I think this is a really nice touch that allows for some extra detailing opportunities. In addition two of the forward VLS tubes are opened. Surface details are pretty good with hatch detailing standing out. |
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| Small parts are pretty good but are a bit heavy for 700
scale. Fortunately there are replacements available in Photo etch.
The kit included two Soviet Navy weapons sprues originally produced by Pit-Road. This will leave you with quite a few extra weapons for your spare parts bin. |
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| The decal sheet includes numbers for both the Kirov and Ushakov as well as flags for Soviet and Russian eras. |  |
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 Conclusions: Well detailed and impressive in size, this kit will
make great addition to your Russian Navy Fleet. This kit is available for
$27.99 from Trident
Hobbies.
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