Hi all, today I bought my first ever ship kit. It's the 1:700 Admiral Kuznetsov from Trumpeter. Before embarking on this new voyage it seems sensible to pick the brains of the many talented hobbyists that inhabit these forums and so this post is a request for tips of all sorts for building the finest ship that I can.

I'm looking for advice on painting, on the sprue or off, paint in pieces and assemble or not?, weathering, how much is too much?, construction etc. etc. All advice is welcome, I want to take the benefit of your experience in order to avoid the pitfalls and ensure that this is the first of a long line of ship models. I think I've picked a good kit, just looking through the box had me drooling in anticipation

For the record I've been modelling on and off for 20 years and have covered aircraft and armour until now.

Thanks in advance for the pearls of hard won wisdom.

Phil

Good Luck with the 1/700th Kuznetov. I have the 1/350th. I can't help you with the methods. That is more a personal choice. I assemble paint and mask. Smaller parts may get painted on the sprue. I can help with some web sites that I have found for doing mine.
If you hold off on starting we have a Campaign starting soon we are all building Flattops. Check out the Campaign area.

http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/kuznetsov/

I hope that helps. There are plenty of great people here with good advice. I hope this helps in some way.

Hello Phillip!

Now that you started to buy ships, you will never be able to quit :-) Welcome Aboard!!!
Now, for real:
1 - Consider making it in sub assemblies (hull + deck) + (superstuctures) + (Air wing) and work them as "individuals", specially the air wing - I have seen excellent A/C models that are "ruined" because of a not so good airwing;
2 - Weathering: subtle enough to reveal some wear and details but should be invisible from, let's say 1,5 meter away! In 1/700 sometimes a little bit is already too much weathering - so use subtle tone changes and see pictures of the real subject and as you can see, it's there, but not that much
3 - Add ons, like PE sets make a dramatic improvement on these little beauties - so if you want to go that extra mile, buy some apropriate PE set and slowly work on it - remember that this will be very small and very very delicate parts! I can say that it is a time consuming task, but will look excellent

These are only some hints, if you need more help when you are working on it, please ask!
As Scott suggested, you could hold it until January 1st for the start of Garry Beebe's Flattops Campaign - you wouldn't be "alone"
Glad to see you around here, Phillip - I know that this Kuznetsov will turn out great!

Skipper

http://www.hlj.com/product/pitm-31

has some nice pictures of the built model - also the inclusion of a water base is Great!

Skipper

Welcome to the salty side of Armorama, Phillip!...glad to have you aboard, and like the Skipper has said, once you try one ship model, soon another will follow, then another and another...I agree with my mates, mate, and I think that you should just hold off on beginning this kit until January 1st, for the next warship campaign to begin, so you can join in on the fun, Bro...you can take the downtime and use it to research and plan your build, gather some photo's and other reference for your paint scheme, and maybe get some PE accessories to accentuate your first ship...c'mon, Phil, it's only a few short weeks away!!! Join up with us on this campaign! It will be very memorable, I'm sure...for more info, go here:
https://armorama.kitmaker.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=Campaigns&file=index&req=showcontent&id=84
Keep us posted on the build, mate, if you choose to begin now, though!
Gunny

Hi all, thanks for the advice! As for waiting until January, no problem, I'm in the middle of Hasegawa's 1/72 F-14A and it's a real fiddly bugger so it's going to take a while anyway.

In terms of painting I find the instructions quite sparse is there a better, more detailed, source of instructions?

As for photoetched brass, I usually tend to buy the sets with the intention of using only a little bit of it and end up doing much more but this kit seems quite complete without pe parts and perhaps the small parts may slow the build too much for my tastes. Besides which I have been unable to find a pe set thus far for this kit.

Keep the advice coming and I'll keep you all posted.

Phil

p.s. I've enlisted in the campaign, I hope I don't let anyone down, I don't have as much time for modelling as I would like....

First off, there is no letting anybody down here. Campaigns are threefold in their intent. Comradery, learning experience, and FUN. We aren't Modelwarships.com here. Those guys are hard core experts that get into major flame wars over minor points of trivia. They are however an excellent source of information and I frequently ask questions on that net. For PE sets, check out Tom's MOdelworks, White Ensign Models, and Gold Medal Models. They do ships so if there is one out there for your kit one or more of these guys will make it. Glad you signed up. It'll be fun...I promise...this is the 5th ship campaign I've been in though the first two kind of fell apart.

Fantastic news, Phil!
Welcome to the campaign, mate! Trust me, Bro, you are not going to let anyone down...Like Mr. Joyce was saying, we're all friends here, with lot's of answers and plenty of help to go around...glad to have you aboard, mate, and looking forward to seeing what you can do with your build!
Gunny

Thanks Steve, I've placed an advanced order for the PE set from White Ensign. No release date though.

One kit I'm really looking forward to is Trumpeter's 1/700 USS Nimitz, does anyone know of a release date?

Also, as I mentioned above does anyone know where I can find more extensive painting instructions and good reference photos for the Kuznetsov?

Phil

I have a confession to make y'all. I wanted to get some practise in before the campaign and I'm now half way through Trumpeter's 1:700 USS Franklin, really hope to be done before January. Since last we spoke things have changed for the good, I have my very own workbench where I can spend hours undisturbed!!! I should also mention that my Ship kit collection is building as we speak and my interest in Ships broadening along with a rapidly growing collection of books....I'm hooked!

Phil

You have to be very very careful of waterline 700 scale ships. They are more addicting than cigarettes. :-)

700 scale is wonderful now because there are so many different kits from so many eras available now. They also don't take up a whole lot of room, you can get a dozen or more on a shelf if you stage them right. YOu can have your own fleet as well. I got hooked on them in the mid 70's then gave them all away when I finished college. After 3 years on acive duty just building 48 scale tanks and planes, I decided to just build 4 or 5 battleships, then aircraft cariers.....oh oh here I go again. So once again I gave everything away when I moved to Texas. Now....curse me....its 350 scale ships. Luckily they are so big that I have to pick and choose, ...well there aren't that many out there unless I want to pay $500 a pop for the limited edition resin kits. I'm sure you will enjoy your new interest.

Hi Phil I hope this helps, http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/kuznetsov/
Like you I have got this kit and it looks awesome but I think I'm hooked I've gone and brought four more Russian/Soviet ships
1/700 is addictive



Ciao
Luciano

Hi guys, thanks for the link Luciano. My interest began with Aircraft carriers and has branched out into Battleships and Battlecruisers. It's the really big guns :-)

I've bought the 1:700 Tamiya Hood and WEM PE set that goes with it, Trumpeter's 1:700 USS Pittsburgh (and pre ordered WEM PE set), Tamiya's 1:700 IJS Yamato special package and I'm really tempted by WEM's 1:700 HMS Warspite.

I've got a couple of weeks off over Xmas during which I hope to finish off the USS Franklin in time to begin the Kuznetsov for the campaign (if only enamels would dry faster!!!). It's a shame that WEM won't have a PE set for the Kuznetsov until mid March.

Phil

I warned you :-) :-) :-)
Welcome aboard (once again) Phillip

Skipper

1/700 scale is awesome. Wait till you get the "Whould you pick up your models, please!" from the better half. then you know you got it bad.

My powers of self control are weak....I just ordered it :-)

Phil

Hi Phillip.

BTW any pics of the USS Franklin for us to see?
Members are friendly around - although we are old salty dogs, we don't bite

Skipper

I'm planning to post some pics soon, but progress is frustratingly slow because I'm using enamels. Cleaning the airbrush takes ages (don't even get me started on drying times!) so I find my self reluctant to sit down and start unless I have loads of time. I've got some holiday coming up during which I hope to finish her off. I'll post some work in progress pics soon.

Phil