Samek 1/700 IJN Kongo, 1913

[PetrolGator]

I've been waiting for a WWI era Kongo for some time and was overjoyed when Samek released theirs. I'll try to keep this review as neutral as I can, in spite of my excitement.

The kit's forward funnel is as commissioned (level with the other funnels.) If one wishes to show her at wartime, this will need to be raised and/or replaced.

Pros: - It's a Kongo. I compared its length to a Fujimi WWII era kit. As expected, she's slightly shorter due to the class's massive reconstruction.
- Hull shape and structure is largely correct.
- Wafers are thin and the kit itself is well cast, requiring little sanding.
- HUGE bonus: main turrets are cast with the blast bags on the boat. Barrels are separate resin and can easily be replace via brass.
- Secondary guns are in scale and pretty detailed.
- Has some PE

Neutral:
- PE: Some of the brass is VERY primitive. The ship also lacks all the necessary railing, though this is easily remedied. I'd also suggest getting some WWI era Royal Navy PE doors for additional accuracy. Resin "bumps" identify where doors should be.
- The torpedo net and/or its ledge (not sure which it's supposed to be) is VERY thin. It's kinked where the booms would lay, which is nice. Still, the resin is super thin (paper-like) and prone to breakage. Be exceedingly careful. It's a nice detail easily ruined.

Negative:
- Number four turret barbette is really, really tall. It needs to be sanded down.

Overall, I like the kit. Care must be taken with some of the more fragile parts, but the extra resin detail is welcome. My biggest complaint (barbette) is a sanding stick away from being fixed.

I'm building my Kongo with the following:
- Flyhawk 14" barrels
- Five Star Models IJN 8cm/40 3rd year guns
- Master Models 6" barrels
- Aber Royal Navy Doors (after all, she was designed at Vickers!)

All products can be found on this site and will help to REALLY dress up a unique looking battlecruiser.

Pictures will be posted soon.

[Dan K]

Thx for the review, Chris.

[Vlad]

Thanks Chris, your post actually reminded me this was out and I bought one straight away. I just got it today and I will echo your overall impressions.

I will add however that I think the bridge structure is way off for the advertised 1913 fit. The platforms provided look more like the post-war configuration but it isn't quite right for that either. I need to take a closer look at some pictures (I don't really plan to build her too soon) but I will need to dig the spares box and make the enclosed bridge/wheelhouse where it should be.

[David J Ross]

It would be interesting to compare the kit to the builder's model. I don't know how close the model was to the real thing as I think there may have been some changes during the build.



More photos here... http://david-j-ross.smugmug.com/ModelSh ... 130_tKgNcF

[Vlad]

Thank you David, that is an excellent reference.

To illustrate my point here is the Samek kit:



As you can see they provide a triangular compass platform with a roof. I can't work out if this is accurate for a different time period or sister ship but it shouldn't be there in 1913. The extension of this is that the structure holding it up, which is the original bridge as shown in the builders model, is fairly featureless, too narrow and the wrong shape.

From my point of view everything above the conning tower deck needs to go, but it's a minor complaint given that it amounts to 2 deck levels and a total of less than 1 cubic centimetre of scratch building.