(From Combrig Website) The Gnevny class were a group of destroyers built for the Soviet Navy in the late 1930s - early 1940s. They are sometimes known as the Gremyashchiy class destroyer and the Official Soviet Designation was Project 7. These ships fought in World War II.

In the early 1930s the Soviets felt able to re-start construction of fleet destroyers and forty eight ships were ordered under the second Five year Plan.

The design was produced with Italian assistance despite ideological differences between the Soviets and Fascist Italy. They resemble contemporary destroyers built in Italy for the Greek and Turkish Navies.

They suffered from some of the weaknesses of contemporary Italian ships with structural weakness and limited seaworthiness. There were also significant machinery problems in the earliest ships. The design flaws were apparent after trials of the first units in 1936/7 and production stopped after 30 ships. A modified design was then placed into production as the Type 7U.

Four surviving ships from the Pacific Fleet were transferred to the People's Liberation Army Navy and served as the Anshan class destroyers.
From Wikipedia

This kit of the Type 7 destroyer is a joint effort between Combrig and Box 261. This kit comes in a thin cardboard box, with both hull halves, two bags of resin parts packaged in an interior box, a large fret of photoetch and the instructions.

The hull comes in two parts, upper and lower. They halves seem to line up nicely, are numbered, and appear to be correctly scaled.

The upper hull is crisply cast, with few casting defects to be seen. Some of the details have been molded on the hull consist of mine rails, bollards, deadlights to the engineering spaces. Unfortunately, this review sample exhibits evidence of damage during shipping; one of the anchor hawse pipes, and numerous bollards are broken and missing.

The lower hull also shows some shipping damage; part of the bow is broken off and missing. However, the rest of the lower hull is nicely shaped; the keel line is sharp, and curvatures are graceful. No provisions have been made for the bilge keels; some scrap styrene or brass should suffice for those who wish a full hull appearance. Some Type 7 destroyers had an insignia and ship's name across the stern, but it is unsure if Gremyashchiy has this in 1936.

This first bag of parts contains the various superstructure deckhouses and platforms, with two small sprues: one with the mainmast, prop shafts and crossjack; the other with yards and four 37mm AA guns.

The smaller sprue parts are pretty clean, with the 37mm's elevation gear well represented. The resin barrels are very delicate, and easy to knock untrue. The mainmast is stepped, and surprising straight.

The wafer with the superstructure parts has a slight "wave" to it. Due to this, some of the decks and platforms exhibit warpage, and may require some heat to get them to lay flat again. The locations for equipment are indicated on each platform, which will aid in placement.

Parts bag B contains an assortment of parts on multiple sprues; all the remaining parts, in fact. There are some great details, often neglected, on this sprues; binnacles, directors, pedastals- all great details. The cowl vents are pretty good, the searchlights nominal. The anchors and paravanes are delicate and well executed.

The two triple torpedo tube banks are also well formed, with good detail; the addition of the photoetch to these will really cause them to stand out.

The guns of Gremyashchiy, the 130mm and 76mm's are all cast each as a single, full assembly with barrel- the 76mm barrels, similar to the 37mm ones earlier, are fragile and require care.

Also included in this bag are the shells of the two ship's boats, and a large one-piece casting for the funnel, 12 depth charges, and parts for the single rudder, right and left handed props and the V-strut shaft supports. Unfortunately, like some parts of the hull, both the v-struts were damaged in this review sample.

Completing the parts are the primary and secondary gun directors. The primary is an enclosed structure, mounted atop the bridge, is a square block of resin with good exterior details. The secondary mounts on the aft deckhouse, is an open mount- and it looks very nice.

There is a large fret of photoetched details included with this kit, etched on a thick sheet of red brass. This fret has over 50 parts; each part has a part number, and is sequentional with the resin parts (photoetch, then resin).

The included railings do not have a "bottom rail", as some prefer, to aid in attaching to the hull; these rails "two bar" pipe railings and are attached to the hull via the stantions only.

Some of the parts are relief-etched; the AA tubs, and hose/cable reels for example. The platforms for the torpedo tube mounts have some very finely etched anti-skid; some of the finest I've ever seen. There are also planks etched in the flooring inserts for the ship's boats.

One of the neater items on this fret are the gunhouses. These etched gunhouses allow for a near-scale thickness, and should really add to the appearance of the gun battery on Gremyashchiy.

The photoetch also includes the details for the 37mm AA guns, as well the rest of the light AA mounted around the ship. The depth charge racks for the stern will also need to be folded from parts on this fret.

There are no decals included in this kit.

There are eight single-sided pages of instructions, starting with a profile and plan view with history and specifications, graphic bill of materials with part numbers, and six pages of assembly. These graphic assembly steps are pretty easy to follow- however, the few textual references are in Russian. Both the resin and photoetched parts are sequentially numbered, greatly helping the assembly order.

There are no painting instructions or recommendations included in this kit.

Combrigs' first offering of a World War Two ship in 1/350, in partnership with Box 261. This kit opens a door a wealth of Soviet wartime vessels, all with Combrig's usual attention to detail, in a well-cast package. It was unfortunate this kit was damaged in shipping, and it would be nice to have some painting recommendation. There are some references linked from the Combrig site that can aid in selecting a scheme for Gremyashchiy here.

This kit is available for $120. Check the Combrig site for details on where to get yours and for other Combrig kits. Next up from the Combrig/Box 261 partnership; Soviet Project 38 Destroyer Leader Baku, Mid-War Fit.

Thanks to Combrig for providing this review sample.