Now to the hard part, painting Aurora in the right colors. Ark Models say the model is presented as Aurora was in 1941. Aurora was stripped of armament at that time so it's anyone's guess whether 1941 version is accurate. They've also included a very peculiar painting scheme. I'm not doubting its integrity since it is a RUSSIAN company after all and they should know their stuff. It calls for red antifouling, green bootcap and white secondary bootcap. See picture attached.
In all Aurora models I've seen it always has green antifouling. Did the Soviets start using red antifouling by World War 2? What would the purpose of having two bootcap stripes be? And why a green bootcap not a black one?
The book mentioned below (Cruisers of the 1st Rank. Avrora, Diana, Pallada) reveals a remarkable thing about the anti-fouling: Hull below waterline has originally been plated with copper plates (over the wood planking!!). Photos shows the bottom is more white, than any other color, I wonder why. And using antifouling paint over copper plating makes no sense.
The most visible difference between the 1917/2017 version (Aurora was rebuilt in 1984-1987 to resemble the 1917 version) and the pre-1984 version are the anchors. In 1917 her anchors could not be stored at the hawsepipes, therefore they were stored on the hull sides. Later this was modified and her anchors could be stored in the hawsepipes.
I received further clarification about the kit from Ark Models today:
To the anniversary of October Revolution it was decided to restore the view of Aurora as she was in 1917 and the full recovering was finished in 2017. And now you can see in Saint-Petersburg absolutely the same ship as she was in 1917.
- you have the 40014 Aurora kit and it means that you have 2 variants: to assemble the ship using additional PE and resin parts or not using these additional details.
That today the ship would look exactly as in 1917 I would doubt. E.g. the guns and their shields could be still different (at least all the photos I found show different gun shields). After the Second World War her 152 mm guns were re-added - but because of the lack of original guns, coast-defence guns were used. The shape of the gun's shields looks different. The big work to make her look as in 1917 was done in 1984-1987 - not during her last repair this decade.
Does anyone know of a 1/700 kit of Aurora in her 1917 appearance?
Thanks,
Rick
On the workbench:
1/700 HMS Swiftsure - Combrig
1/700 CGC Chelan - White Ensign
1/700 HMCS Forrest Hill - HP
1/700 Ulsan - Kobo Hiryu --and dozens more
maxim wrote:Modelkrak has one, there is also a Chinese kit with PE parts, which can be found on Ebay. It has no company label, not even instructions.
Link to an (old) build review of the Modelkrak kit here.
Martin
"Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday." John Wayne
I had forgotten that the Modelkrak kit was supposed to show the 1917 appearance.
I have the one that Maxim mentioned - another Cndragon kit. I thought we had come to agreement that Cndragon was always a pirate of somebody else's work. The hull is different from the Modelkrak kit, and as Maxim says, it has an extensive PE sheet. The PE includes the catwalk that goes between the upper decks, weaving around the stacks. The lack of instructions for the PE is a real problem - most parts can be identified, but some are very weird. The kit seems very close to the drawings in Skvorcov's Aurora, Diana, Pallada book.
I bought this kit before coming to the understanding that cndragon was a generally copycat factory, and I am glad to know that this one doesn't seem to be a pirate. I checked WSW and NNT, as well as Combrig, and it is not a match for any of them.
On the workbench:
1/700 HMS Swiftsure - Combrig
1/700 CGC Chelan - White Ensign
1/700 HMCS Forrest Hill - HP
1/700 Ulsan - Kobo Hiryu --and dozens more
Has anyone used the Vector Cut Varyag Wood Deck ? I purchased the ZVEZDA 1/350 kit many years ago along with the wood deck and Master Model mast & Yards and gun barrel set . Then I waited years to purchase a photo- etch set for it . I just received the Eduard photo-etch for it that was not available years ago . Does anyone have experienced with the Eduard set ?
I also have a set of plans that I purchased from a Russian web site titled " The 1st-rank cruiser " VARYAG " Macwmao 1:200 dated 2005 . I am ready to make this model and could use any help I could get .
