¹⁄700

Tsarist Battleship Andrei Pervozvanny

"Jim Baumann shares with us this most excellent build journey, centering around Kombrig Models early kit, the "Andrei Pervozvanny, in 1/700 scale."

Vessel History

This class of two units was conceived as enlarged and improved versions of the Borodino class; they were laid down well prior the 1905 Battle of Tsushima of the Russo-Japanese War and therefore their building schedule was somewhat protracted as a result of the design being much altered because of lessons learnt during the final for the Russian navy catastrophic battle of the abovementioned conflict.

Launched in late October 1906 Andrei Pervozanny went down the ways as one of the largest Pre-dreadnought Battleship, flush-decked and distinctive with a full length armored hull that had no scuttles at all and a pleasingly pronounced sheer line. She was completed, eventually, in July 1910----by which time technology and the coming of the Dreadnought era had overtaken her.

The 12" guns were housed in French style turrets with the then un-usual maximum elevation of 35 degrees. The distinctive cage masts were of a unique design and the two sisters were the only non-USN ships to carry them. The cage masts were later cut down to below funnel height and pole masts stepped within. The two ships were in appearance virtually identical, the main distinguishing features being the goose-necked boat cranes carried by Imperator Pavel I as opposed to the derricks found on Andrei Pervozvanny.

Neither ship had a noteworthy fighting career during World War 1 in the Baltic, Andrei Pervozvanny being sunk in the British attack on Kronstadt by Torpedo-motor boats on 18 August 1919. She was raised, repaired and put back into service in 1920, at the end of the Russian Civil war she was laid up and scrapped in 1925

LOA 460 feet Beam 80 feet Draught 27 feet
Displacement 17,400 tons normal 18,580 full load
4 x 12in 14 x 8in 12 x 4.7 in 4 x 3pdr 3 x 18 in TT
18,000 ihp = 17.5 knots
Crew 933 officers and men

Building the model...

This is an early Kombrig kit and the very first to contain any PE parts--these being essential for the cage masts. The hull was cleanly cast and appeared to be spot on dimensionally. The distinctive sheer line was well captured and the proportions matched drawings and photos I had.

Many hours of close examination of the numerous photographs in excellent Russian Monographs on both imperator Pavel I and Andrei Pervozvanny eventually yielded a few more minor differerences between the sister ships; namely the arrangement of the aft companionways and the cable reel disposition as well as deck vents and hatches. The first hurdle to overcome was the removal of all the numerous cast on ' Aztec' stairways as well as creating the undercut and new decking extension area at the aft superstructure.




Having established a methodology to proceed it was achieved by grinding away at the casting with a motor tool.