1:72 Kirov class battlecruiser - Peter the Great

[rritchie71]

Hi, well after building medium size ships (Type 22 Frigates, Anzac Frigates etc.) I've decided to go big, and stay at the same scale of 1:72. So along with another post of Scharnhorst, here we go.

The hull I have purchased from Tim Amos (Southern Cross models) who started producing hulls a little while ago, he has a growing of offerings and the work is first class.
A lot of the fittings I will purchase from APS, which again are great.
The running gear I've sent the specs and photos to George Sitek and I think a lot of people already know the excellence of his work.
The plans - I purchased a 1:192 scale set of PTG and had them enlarged to 1:72

I've had to cut the hull into two, purely because I cannot transport a 3.5m length ship in one piece. Shortly and the next set of pics will be with the water tight bulkhead.

I have not decided which ship it will finally be, but I am planning on either Pyotr Veliky(Peter the Great) or Kalinin (Admiral Nakhimov). Realistically I do not need to make this choice until I get down into the final weapons/sensor fit.

Robert

[HvyCgn9]

Nice start Rob! I recommend having a look at how Northsea has setup the hull join on his Kirov as it is one of the best setups I have seen (much tidier than my own on USS Long Beach....). George Sitek does excellent work he did my USS California running set from a photo and it is sweet!!

Looking forward to more up dates as you progress with the build.

Cheers Bruce

PS I will e-mail ya in a week or so about that hull Scott discussed with ya! Currently waiting for some $$$ to be paid to me! (the perils of gettin paid monthly)

[Dave Wooley]

Hi Robert This is a mammoth project and one i shall be following very closely .
best of luck
Dave Wooley

[Ticonderoga]

Hi Robert,

I also have a set of Kirov plans and will get started ......one day.

I too endorse George's running gear - it is excellent and very keenly priced too!

Good luck with the build, I will watch with interest

Andrew

[rritchie71]

Well, things have been moving along, the water tight bulkheads to the two hull halves are in and will be resined soon. I did have a look at 'Northsea's' build Bruce, but have already gone down a different path, I'll get the pictures up this weekend.

Of another note, I'm getting a few pieces made, for two reasons,
1st � time � to do everything by hand myself will take me so long, it will take me a decade to complete the model.
2nd - When you know someone can do certain work better than you can, then seek their help.

So here are the pics of the main "Top Pair" radar, built by Gunter from TF72. He built an SPS49 radar for my FFG7 a while back which was very impressive, and I have to say he raised the bar again, his work is excellent.
The radar along with the other radars will be motorised so it turns on the top of the mast at the correct RPM.


Robert

[HvyCgn9]

G'day Rob,

I saw your radar Wednesday night its an awesome bit of kit

Cheers Bruce

[rritchie71]

The water tight bulkheads will be resined tommorrow but here is the hull.

Bruce the WTB's.
1. Resined into the hull are 4 solid stainless steel shafts - these are to make sure the hulls align with each other.
2. On each side and bottom are 4 solid brass pins, these go through both the hull and the watertight bulkhead, once these are resined in, they should be very strong.
3. holding the hull together are two 12mm bolts.

[Ticonderoga]

Looking good Robert,

i don't know how you plucked up the courage to cut that beautiful hull in half - I don't think I could have done it

Andrew

[rritchie71]

Andrew I wish it was in one piece, as I have enough room to build it as a single hull, it's transporting it that is the issue, for that it has to go into two. A friend suggested I sell the car and get a van, but my partner would sell me if I do that...

Robert

[Admhawk]

A suggestion, either move the bolts down closer to the half height point or add a third bolt near the center bottom. Those brass pins are very thin and one good trough may cause some unwanted wear and cracking.

Looking good!

[Capit�o Norbert]

good project i will watching

[richtea]

WOW, this is going to be an interesting build.
Good luck Robert, at least you won't have to use an optivisor
Regards
Richard

[SMART-L]

Good job Robert, there should be more Kirov's on the water!
I'm already looking forward to see you install the running gear.

Gr.
Pim

[Dave Wooley]

There are two carrier builders in the UK both have built Nimitz class carriers [ The Harry S Truman is on completed builds] Both have had to divide the hull in the centre with the bolts that hold the centre bulkheads together being quite substancial but to reduce the strain Paul uses a converted alluminum ladder to lift and launch his model otherwise it would damage his hull .
just a thought that may be of some help to you in the near future.

Dave Wooley

[tweety777]

Very nice project in my favourite scale.
I'll be following this one.

Greetings Josse

[ozpirate]

Well Robert, it looks like you have a good following with your build. Guess all we need now is to see what you have been up to now.
Have you decided which you plan to build yet or do you intend to wait till you need to name her? At least your names are easier than my ship.
Kirov - ????? - Admiral Ushakov - A?????? ??????
Frunze - ?????? - Admiral Lazarev - ??????? ???????)
Kalinin - ??????? - Admiral Nakhimov - A?????? ???????
Yury Andropov - ???? ???????? - Pyotr Velikiy - ???? ???????
Or something else like the Admiral Erwin? Myself if I were to build one it would be the Frunze. Don't know why maybe a simple name I guess.
Well at least you have a choice unlike me with a ship with such a long name. Gonna take me forever to get the name written on the ship.
Admiral Kuznetsov class - Admiral Flota Sovetskogo Soyuza Kuznetsov (??????? ????? ?????????? ????? ???????? "Fleet Admiral of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov)

Well either way you go I wish you luck. Keep all of us interested, keep up your post because we are waiting, all of us to see whats next in your construction of this model.

[rritchie71]

Hi Mick, thanks for the superstructure plans of Kirov (I prefer the old names), they're excellent. I have not 100% decided yet, but at this stage if I can make an SA-N4 system that will come up out of its silo then it will be Kalinin, if I cannot, she will be PTG, that will be the deciding factor. I have not resined the bulkheads due to the weather, but if it is fine this coming weekend I will do it then.

Dave, I thought about what Darren said and have modified the WT bulkheads to include a bottom male/female connection, so it is now the same as my old 1:72 Udaloy which I had for years, she even sailed on a river once with a few waves and was very strong, the Kirov is another 1.2m longer than a Udaloy but I'm confident now that this will hold, as it will have 3 strong connections and 4 small connections to hold the hulls together.

By the way I will add her batteries and ballast when she is in the water, I would not add them and then lift her in, I probably do in my back doing that....

[rritchie71]

Ok, well I have an issue, the hull has a small warp, small but noticeable. When the bow is level, it stays that way for 2/3rds the length of the hull, from there to the stern it is then out by about 6mm, which maynot sound much, but as I said, it is noticable.

My plan in the next few days is to heat it up with a hair dryer (it is to cold here at the moment to rely on the sun), get it into position with weights and let it cool. If anyone has another suggestion? I'm all ears, as I have not had to do this before.

By the way Dave, I like the ladder idea for launching.

Cheers

Robert

[ozpirate]

Ok, well I have an issue, the hull has a small warp, small but noticeable. When the bow is level, it stays that way for 2/3rds the length of the hull, from there to the stern it is then out by about 6mm, which may not sound much, but as I said, it is noticeable.
Robert

I have seen what a bad model looks like on the water. This model so twisted on the water I had to walk away it was so bad. The worst part of it was the model was made in metal and was driven by a petrol engine, but boy was this ship twisted. If I had a picture of it I would show you BAD!
Anyway I found if when you stick your deck down to the hull most times if you make the hull secure to a dead flat surface it should come good.
Once I was at a plastic kit meet constructing a plastic kit of a 1/350 Spurance. A person came up to me saying how bad this kit was because his was all warped. So I took his challenge on with this build at the venue to show how to correct it. Well I simply stuck the deck to the hull showing him along the way what I did and while the glue was still wet I taped the kit to the surface of the table I was on. Came back 30 minutes later and a perfect straight deck. He muffled under his breath something and walked away.
I may have a similar problem with my 1/72 Aircraft Carrier, Admiral Kuznetsov, but if you know the ship it has a sky jump at the bow. So I will simply find an area somewhere in my back yard when it comes that far and weigh it down as the deck is attached. Last thing I need of a deck which is 4.3meters long and almost 1 meter wide is a kink or odd angle to show. I had it on the 1/350 kit and managed to fix it also. Here are a few more drawings of the Kirov class.

[ozpirate]

Here are 2 more I have online drawings of the Kirov Class.