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PostPosted: Thu Dec 26, 2013 12:43 am 
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Joined: Thu Dec 12, 2013 11:31 pm
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Hi everyone. Here are some photos of my 1:72 scale Soviet Navy Kirov class nuclear powered cruiser FRUNZE which I currently have under construction.

I've had this project in the pipeline since mid 2009. After building and operating 1:72 scale Krivak, Sovremenny and Udaloy class ships I decided to attempt the jewel in the crown of Soviet Cold War era naval architecture. The KIROV and her 3 magnificent sisters are my favourite ships of all time, and in my opinion, among the most striking and impressive warships ever conceived. Their innovation and capability is a tribute to the engineers who designed them, the tradesman who built them and the men of the Soviet/Russian Navy who sail them.

In late 2009 I obtained plans for the ship from Russia and commissioned Tim Amos of Southern Cross Models to build a custom made hull for me. After making a plug and mould he completed the magnificent fibreglass hull in mid 2010. In the meantime Allan Pew of APS Models was manufacturing a customised weapons and sensor set to suit FRUNZE and also a superb running gear set.

I collected everything in November 2010. And she sat basically untouched (and was almost sold in the meantime) until 13 Nov 2013 when I walked past the hull in my garage and spontaneously decided to start building it. And I have been loving every second of it.

This is by far the most enjoyable model project I've ever done - made more enjoyable because I love Soviet warships and the goal of building a Kirov is what made me get into this hobby in the first place. Now she's a reality it is quite exciting.

The photos below show progress over the past 7 weeks or so - from a hull with nothing more than bracing and a plywood deck fitted to having the superstructure and hull work basically complete. Once I fit the motors and radio control gear she'll be ready to hit the water for the first time.

You can also follow my build at http://www.taskforce72.org/forum/viewto ... =48&t=1013

Cheers :smallsmile:


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PostPosted: Thu Dec 26, 2013 1:57 am 
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Joined: Thu Dec 12, 2013 11:31 pm
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Continued from above - more photos going back to day 1 of superstructure construction


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PostPosted: Thu Dec 26, 2013 3:29 am 
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Location: Adelaide,SouthOZ
It will be interesting to see which of the Kirov's gets finished first the East coast (Carl's in lead on SS build with Mick trailing on SS construction but ahead on operational testing!) and Rob's on west coast semi operational with superstructure well underway.... It would be nice to see them at Naracoorte next year escorted by Krivaks ,Stergies up against the NATO ships!!

Cheers Bruce

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1/72 RC USS LONG BEACH CGN9
1/72 RC USS CALIFORNIA CGN36
1/72 RC USS SAIPAN LHA2
1/72 RC USS JOHN PAUL JONES DDG53
1/72 RC USS SHARK SSN591
1/72 RC USS SEAWOLF SSN21
1/72 RC USS ALBANY CG10


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PostPosted: Thu Dec 26, 2013 4:46 am 
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Location: Near Veenendaal, The Netherlands
Great looking build, I also like this ship very much.
I'll be following this build closely.

Greetings Josse

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PostPosted: Thu Dec 26, 2013 5:36 am 
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Great build so far!

I would brace that long centre section of the superstructure a little more though. It has a rather large surface and might bend/move a little when there is some wind. Just an idea though, it also depends on the thickness of styrene you're using.
I also see you put the Hull Mounted Sonar on one of the pics, although I can't see it in the other pics. Did you fit it or not? There is still no real proof of it's existence on the real ship, yet it's possible as I've recently also seen some dry dock pics of Kresta class ships which have both bow and hull mounted sonars (HMS was a small one though).

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PostPosted: Fri Dec 27, 2013 5:28 pm 
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Joined: Sat May 23, 2009 9:19 pm
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Location: Canberra, Australia
CarlLinkenbagh wrote:
Continued from above - more photos going back to day 1 of superstructure construction


Great to see Frunze coming on so well! Looking forward to seeing him on Australia Day.


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PostPosted: Sat Dec 28, 2013 5:25 am 
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Joined: Fri Jun 16, 2006 3:18 pm
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Location: Tumut, N.S.W. Australia
Carl Well done on your build. Keep up the good work. I look forward to seeing more.

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1/72 Frunze Russian Battle cruiser
1/72 Steregushchy-class corvette

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PostPosted: Sun Dec 29, 2013 6:43 am 
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Joined: Thu Dec 12, 2013 11:31 pm
Posts: 40
I took FRUNZE out today to test her for the first time in her natural element which for any model builder on a new project is a moment of anticipation and excitement.

Task Force 72's Fleet Base Sydney had a run at the Sydney International Regatta Centre at Penrith (which is a terrific place to sail model ships, I highly recommend it) and it was very nice to join the gents up there on what turned out to be a perfect afternoon of sailing.

I had the ship in the water for just under four hours and underway for a large proportion of that time to test her endurance and see if anything was not up to scratch. After making some minor adjustments to the ESCs and steering she performed superbly and she passed this first sea trial with flying colours. It was a big pay off following 7-8 weeks or so of intensive building.

At flank speed she does about 30-35 knots in scale speed, sails along very comfortably on a single main engine and handles choppy water with ease thanks to that elegant and beautiful hull.

There is still a bit of improvement needed in the steering gear. I'm going to make a larger (and slightly oversized) pair of rudders and modify the servo to provide a greater angle of attack. This should improve the steering a bit more and reduce the turning circles. This is aided even more by having independent main engine control. Not only is this a lot of fun, it also comes in very handy when in close quarters or confined waters.

With a successful water test run complete and a major milestone achieved I'm having a break for a week or two. Then the next jobs will be to do the modifications to the steering gear, make mountings inside the hull for the ballast, permanently mount the radio gear and ESCs, flow coat the inside of the hull and then permanently seal the decks in place.


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PostPosted: Sun Dec 29, 2013 6:54 pm 
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Congrats . It looks like a sweet model. Kevin


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PostPosted: Mon Dec 30, 2013 3:05 am 
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Joined: Mon May 10, 2010 9:09 am
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Location: Adelaide,SouthOZ
Looks good mate :thumbs_up_1: :thumbs_up_1:

Nice to see Penrith without weeds!! Looks like you had some good North Sea testing as well in one pic!

Cheers Bruce

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building:
1/72 RC USS LONG BEACH CGN9
1/72 RC USS CALIFORNIA CGN36
1/72 RC USS SAIPAN LHA2
1/72 RC USS JOHN PAUL JONES DDG53
1/72 RC USS SHARK SSN591
1/72 RC USS SEAWOLF SSN21
1/72 RC USS ALBANY CG10


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PostPosted: Mon Dec 30, 2013 4:31 am 
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HvyCgn9 wrote:
Looks good mate :thumbs_up_1: :thumbs_up_1:

Nice to see Penrith without weeds!! Looks like you had some good North Sea testing as well in one pic!

Cheers Bruce


Thanks Bruce, yes it was a nice day there and made better by our colleagues and their ships from Sydney.

There were a few weedy areas to steer clear of but on the whole it is a really terrific place to sail. The water is quite clean too which is always a bonus - especially when you drop your sunglasses into the water and have to swim down and get them (yes, I had to do this).

I'll look forward to running FRUNZE with your LONG BEACH one day. I think they'll make a nice pair.


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PostPosted: Tue Dec 31, 2013 6:47 am 
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I look forward to the day mate! I am training up some of the other TF72 crew here in Adelaide to drive bigger models so I can have LB and Cali operational at same time....There are alot of Kirov's under construction at present!!! Need more US cruisers!!

PS: need to see a Krivak or similar alongside to show how big that monster is!

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building:
1/72 RC USS LONG BEACH CGN9
1/72 RC USS CALIFORNIA CGN36
1/72 RC USS SAIPAN LHA2
1/72 RC USS JOHN PAUL JONES DDG53
1/72 RC USS SHARK SSN591
1/72 RC USS SEAWOLF SSN21
1/72 RC USS ALBANY CG10


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PostPosted: Tue Dec 31, 2013 10:09 am 
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Joined: Thu Dec 12, 2013 11:31 pm
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Yes the size is deceptive. She's 3.5m x 0.4m but doesn't look it in the photos. Actually she and the workbenches in my garage take up at least 70% of the available space. It's a good thing i've got a cheap car because it is condemned to living outside in the extremes of Canberra weather.

I haven't had the opportunity to sail FRUNZE in company with other 1:72 scale models as yet but I am looking forward to that day very much.

Here is a short video from the other day.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKlIiH4 ... re=mh_lolz


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PostPosted: Tue Dec 31, 2013 12:45 pm 
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Joined: Tue Apr 17, 2007 9:18 am
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Location: Brasil
Carl wonderfull job man :cool_2:


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PostPosted: Tue Dec 31, 2013 5:15 pm 
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Capitão Norbert wrote:
Carl wonderfull job man :cool_2:


Thanks for the posts and comments everyone, they're much appreciated :smallsmile:


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PostPosted: Tue Dec 31, 2013 6:43 pm 
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Joined: Sat Jan 22, 2005 10:18 am
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Location: Liverpool
Hi Carl happy new year and what a wonderful project .Your Frunze looks just superb in and out of the water .
Dave Wooley :thumbs_up_1: :thumbs_up_1: :thumbs_up_1: :thumbs_up_1:


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PostPosted: Wed Jan 01, 2014 6:44 am 
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Dave Wooley wrote:
Hi Carl happy new year and what a wonderful project .Your Frunze looks just superb in and out of the water .
Dave Wooley :thumbs_up_1: :thumbs_up_1: :thumbs_up_1: :thumbs_up_1:


Thanks Dave, much appreciated :smallsmile:


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PostPosted: Wed Jan 01, 2014 5:04 pm 
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Location: Mudgeeraba, Qld Australia
G'day Carl,

Exactly what Dave said mate. :thumbs_up_1: :thumbs_up_1:

Andrew
:wave_1: :wave_1:

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PostPosted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 7:18 am 
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Update on FRUNZE. After having a successful and highly enjoyable first test on 29 Dec 2013 which proved the initial set up I have spent the last week or so making everything permanent inside the hull so the main deck can be sealed in place forever. The main jobs of note have been:

- Making cofferdams along the centreline to accommodate the 9 chunks of scrap mild steel that (with the batteries) ballast her down to full operating draft and trim, and fibreglassing everything in place. The ballast is the red objects in the photos below;
- Installing a platform for the ESCs and receiver to sit on below the aft superstructure where they are accessible;
- Designing the final cabling layout for ease of access and maintenance;
- Cutting out access holes in the main deck and fitting timber/plywood supports to lock the superstructure firmly in place (NB on the test run I used gaffer tape. Where would modern engineering be without it? That and WD40).
- Figured out where to put the ON/OFF switch. This is always a hassle. It needs to be accessible so you don't need to pull the model apart too much in the water just to turn it off (made that mistake once before), close to the batteries and ESCs to try and avoid voltage drop and excessive wiring and it must be sufficiently concealed from view. I've solved all of the above by putting it under the 130mm gun mount;
- Coating the entire hull interior in white flow coat. I was debating whether this is necessary but now its done I am glad I did it;
- Permanently fitting in the cable runs once the flow coat had sealed.

As per usual I managed to get more flow coat on me and my clothes than inside the hull and went through 3 paint brushes. So that went well. Lucky I had plenty of acetone available to clean it up afterwards.....

With the above completed I'm ready to fibreglass the decks permanently in place which will be the next major job, and the final major task on the hull. Then I'll return back to superstructure work again to commence all of the fine detailing.


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PostPosted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 7:30 am 
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Location: Adelaide,SouthOZ
All looking good mate! Well thought out wiring layout too!!

One question? why are you using the scrap steel as ballast?? (Did you have it easily available?) Lead would take up less room and weigh the same and makes for quicker setup/packup (In theory I have found it takes around 20mins(ish) to setup CGN9 and 15 to packup).

Cheers Bruce

PS Graham(Grumpy) Donnell uses dive belt wts as ballast you can get em in different wts too...

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building:
1/72 RC USS LONG BEACH CGN9
1/72 RC USS CALIFORNIA CGN36
1/72 RC USS SAIPAN LHA2
1/72 RC USS JOHN PAUL JONES DDG53
1/72 RC USS SHARK SSN591
1/72 RC USS SEAWOLF SSN21
1/72 RC USS ALBANY CG10


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