Hi forks,
Normally I build tanks. But one day I was able to be my hands on some Soviet navy ship models. Now I want to build a diorama with these ships. I have one Trumpeter 1:700 USSR Kirov Battle Cruiser, two Skywave Missile Frigate Krivak I and two Skywave Boevoy Missile Destory. I want them to be together sailing in the Altantic.

Would all of these ships be in service for 1984 time line? Could it be possiable for them to sail as a battlegroup?

I'm using Vallejo Air colours for the models. So far I used 71046 Pale Blue Grey, 71051 Barley Grey, 71039 Hull Red and 71105 Brown. What are your thoughts on these colours?

I want to make this diorama and give it to my dad. He is a Canadian Navy vet of the Cold War. He was on HMCS Fraser out of Halifax.

So overall, any comments/movation is welcome.

Cheers,
Tom

Sounds like you have a cool project planned for yourself! Looking forward to following along! I have not a clue whether or not they did or could sail as a fleet...but I suppose any thing is possible with the Russian Navy. Bring on the building!

1st Stage:
USSR Kirov Battle Cruiser 1:700 scale. Progress so far. Building it is very easy. Everything fits great. Must admit it, I'm impress. Can't wait to paint this. My favourite part of building any model.







2nd Stage:
I lost one piece.. So I just fill in the spot with putty. I don't think anyone will notice. I'm planning on painting soon. Its the best part of model building.







3rd Stage:
The funnel, bridge and bow are all put together. Next is the aft, weapon systems and life boats. Oh fun time while the weather is bad outside. Back to the model now.







4th Stage:
All parts are now had their first coat. Vallejo Grey Surface Primer #73.601

Next step is to paint the white stripe between the upper and low hull. After that, then I will paint the lower half Hull Red. All I can say there will be a lot of masking tape.








5th Stage:
While I let the other model dry. I just started working on this kit. It comes with two models. By the end, I should of made enough to make the Northern Soviet Navy Fleet.






6th stage:
Paint drying now. I painted the hull Vallego 71.039 Hull Red. The side port and starboard are painted with Vallego 71.051 Barley Grey. The lighter grey colour I use is Vallego 71.046 Pale Blue Grey. It is coming along nicely. All hand brush, minus the base coat. Airbrush by my son Brayden Matheson Dixon. Please note the awesome HMCS Fraser mug sitting there.






7th stage:
Today work all done. White line is done on the Kirov. Hull is painted and same for the port and starboard. Now I need to paint this deck. The other two ships I'm building side by side. Going along okay. Krivak 1 Missile Frigates.




Here is the diorama lay out plan. Any thoughts?





Cheers,
Tom

Out of the box like lightning Tom! Looking good already...and yes, the painting is the best part of the build! Enjoy the fleet construction!

Very cool project, The Boevoy Missile Destroyer was not commissioned until 1986 but the class of destroyer it was part of, the Sovremennyy-class, was in commission by 1980.

You may have to do research if you want a truly accurate Sovremennyy-class of the period because they had gone through several modernization programs and I don't know which version the Skywave kit represents.

Tom,

very nice project and you are proceeding really fast!! But very nice work nonetheless!!

I'm in and follow the build-up of your Red Fleet!

As for your proposed formation - of course, first of all it has to look good for you, that's most important.
As for the set up you show, that would rather be a show formation for taking pictures from a helo. Nothing unusual, so absolutely ok.
If you would be looking for a more tactical formation, the two Krivaks would likely be ahead of the force, and on of the destroyers would be on either quarter, and the other one on the opposite bow, of the Kirov - something like that.

Cheers,
Jan

Good day,
okay... so let's make it 1987. Just so I can add in those Boevoy Destroyers. Now what about adding the Kiev in it? I think it would be awesome. May be I can have a jet taking off? Oh the ideas are endless with that aircraft carrier. Only one catch, I need to buy that model.



And so we can get in the 80's spirit, we need some tunes.


Just for you Jan.

FYI I have this on my iPod.


Cheers,
Tom

Tom,

I like the approach you are taking with these builds. Very interesting.

Will be following along with interest.

Nice work so far.

Dave

Tom,
I look forward to this. I will be disowned by a good friend for saying this but I think that soviet ships of the era are some of the most beautiful designs afloat.

Working on the deck of the Kirov. I'm going to need to do a lot of touch up work. Can't paint a straight line free hand. Oh well, practice makes perfect.




Cheers,
Tom

There's something to be said about that. Soviet ships seem to have a sleekness in their designs that no other navy has. I think it starts with prominently pointed bows.

The Kirov is looking good, Tom.