Laid down in the autumn of 1899, the Novik entered service with the Russian Navy in 1901. She was assigned to the 1st Squadron of the Baltic Fleet and sunk off of Sakhalin Island by the Japanese Cruiser Tsushima. She was then raised by the Japanese and entered their navy in 1908 as the light cruiser
Suzuya. She served with the Japanese Navy until scrapped in 1913.

The Kit from Kombrig

This is a truly excellent kit of this wayward cruiser made by Kombrig of Russia. The detail has to be seen to be believed. Cleanly cast in a rather hard, dense gray resin material, the kit is comprised of 76 parts. I can't figure out how Alexander, the owner and master behind Kombrig, molded the 37mm guns. They seem to defy the laws of stress and strain. If I had molded something that small and skinny, it would have snapped within moments of being pulled from the mold. The finesse of the detail extends to the smokestacks included on the tiny motor launches. The fresh air intakes are all molded long with the builder needing to cut them to the required lengths.

The Instructions

The instructions are rather sparse. The parts are not called off on the parts diagram or in the exploded view of the ship. An excellent line drawing of the ship and her lower hull are included to help locate the parts. Alexander also included a drawing of the lower hull (this being a waterline model) for anyone desiring to build a full hull model. The other problem I had with the instructions is the total lack of color callouts. I have no idea what to paint the model. If it weren't for the internet, I probably would have painted this in a three tone camo just for kicks. It's actually a light color (white I think) on the hull with natural wood decks and buff colored stacks.



Highly recommended for those interested in the pre-Dreadnought
days of naval warfare.