1/100 Arkmodel Udaloy

[Neptune]

Thanks Dave, not yet finished though. I've also noticed now, that the inside of the funnels is in fact grey like the rest of the ship. But ok, that will be hardly visible when all gratings are in place.

Kalkurap, the motors are indeed the delivered with the kit, also the couplings from the engine to the shaft. the rest you have to buy as frequencies are different everywhere and you might want more channels etc.
I've aligned them in a very simplistic and amateuristic way, as I didn't know how to do it "for real". I've just measured all the distances from the centreline and bottom of the ship and put them (more less I suppose) symmetric like that. Afterwards Dave gave me a hand and shew me how it should be done. Using a plate with the two centres of the propellors on it. I guess it does work out if you buy modelmagazines! Some usefull info, it was written and illustrated by Dave and it was quite clear how it should be done. Mine however, were already in place, so I guess I'll see once the ship is launched, how bad the result of my measuring work was.

After a search, I've finally decided to give the hangar a go. One will be closed, the other will be open.

[Neptune]

You can see in previous pictures (and this one) that in the twin forward funnel, there were a couple of glitches in the middle part. Yet I have fixed the parts on top, so it's pretty much a production problem. Anyhow, I fixed it with a small 1.5mm thickness styrene insert.






Here is a picture of the UFO's (like my better half is calling them), again a nice example of the splendid PE delivered with this kit. (it's just a dry fit, I didn't stick anything together on that aft portion. I also noticed that the RBU's delivered with the kit are not the correct ones, as they only have six barrels and the real one has twelve.


This is what I'm currently working on. The doors for my hangar. I finally decided, and started working on it, that I'll open up one hangar, with the option to close it too, although I'm still thinking about how (and not loose the parts when she's on the water)

[Dave Wooley]

Hi Roel You are making good progress considering how tricky that funnel casing is . The space between the after pair of funnels , as I remember allows the jib head to drop in between. Talking of which does the crane come as part of the PE?
Dave Wooley

[Neptune]

The bottom and cabin of the crane are resin parts. The jib is in PE, but looks too thin (of course), so I think I'll add a little styrene to make it thicker.
The funnels need a little more sanding, and then some more sanding with a fine finishing sanding paper. Then it's on to the gratings. Anyway that hangar is now taking a LOT of my time and it's nearing a stand-still.

[ozpirate]

Nice model kit your building there mate. I have a few members in my club interested in Russian Warships. They asked me to put a message here asking about the kit itself.
Question are; What do you think of the over all quality of the kit? Is it worth the money spent? Did or will you need to buy extras?

One thing I must say I look forward to seeing this build go ahead myself.
Mick

[Neptune]

Well, the overall quality is ok. It's not a kit for a beginner, that's for sure. But with some support and willingness you can make something nice out of it. The accuracy is pretty ok, although some parts are a little crude and not accurate due to the difficulty to find any pictures of those parts. Furthermore the resin parts are a little disappointing, lots of bubbles and some are truly malformed (I'll have to build my own torpedo tubes). The PE on the other hand is a real piece of candy. Excellent stuff.
If I look what I spent on this ship and what I'm spending on the small scratchbuilding stuff I'm adding, I'm sure it was worth the money. It would cost me a lot more to build something this size and quality myself.
So generally, definately worth a try for any experienced Russian warship builder, provided you have a good database of detail pictures of these ships.

[Dave Wooley]

Well, the overall quality is ok. It's not a kit for a beginner, that's for sure. But with some support and willingness you can make something nice out of it. The accuracy is pretty ok, although some parts are a little crude and not accurate due to the difficulty to find any pictures of those parts. Furthermore the resin parts are a little disappointing, lots of bubbles and some are truly malformed (I'll have to build my own torpedo tubes). The PE on the other hand is a real piece of candy. Excellent stuff.
If I look what I spent on this ship and what I'm spending on the small scratchbuilding stuff I'm adding, I'm sure it was worth the money. It would cost me a lot more to build something this size and quality myself.
So generally, definately worth a try for any experienced Russian warship builder, provided you have a good database of detail pictures of these ships.

Hi Roel If you require any on board picture detail of an Udaloy send me a PM but I would guess that you may well have a prity good data base yourself on that subject? :thumbs_up_1
Dave Wooley

[Neptune]

Thanks Dave, you've already sent me your disk with pictures. They are extremely helpful, many of my modifications are based on your pics.

If you're asking for advice, it's often good to follow it if you receive it. So, as Ron said, I've just put some matting over the gap and some resin on top. I've used two layers of matting as I had plenty spare from (trying) to polyester a part of our pond. Also the resin came from that. Here is the result. I only have to cut the matting and fill it up with some filler on the outside.


And I've started the second door. Today's a modelbuilding day and so I'll make some more progress. Stay tuned!

[Neptune]

These things took a looooooooooong time to complete. But finally the doors are there. Also the two mock-up doors are ready for the other hangar.
Here is an overall shot of the hangar. Fully closed.



This is one door. A real one. The starboard hangar will be opened. As you can see I'm also making working hinges on these doors.

And the two doors together.


Now comes the difficult work of the hangar. The inside. Fixing the stuff and putting it together as the first shot is just a dry fit.

[Capit�o Norbert]

Hi Neptune
good job on superstructure.. i like so much this arrangments of building.
and i know sometimes this is a long job.
scratch for me is all..
regards and force ahead

[Dave Wooley]

Hi Roel Good work on the hanger . Question The FLYCO position between each hanger was this a moulding?
Dave Wooley

[Neptune]

Hello Dave,

Not a moulding, but it was a pre-cut part from one of the ABS sheets (0.5 or 1mm thickness). Practically it's cut like a paper model. You "just" have to fold it. Practically here it involved cutting all parts, gluing them together and use filler for the corners. Yesterday that FLYCO was sanded on all corners and received windows as well.
Today I noticed all of these FLYCOs on the Udaloys are different from each other, so I had to decide which one I was to build. So now I decided and I can concentrate on the specifics for that ship, as all of the ships are pretty different it's better to know from the start which one to build and in which timeframe.

[Neptune]

Oh, thanks Norberto, I like your Bismarck too! I can't keep myself busy with kits anymore either. And I'm not missing my 1/700 builds yet. (although that might still come when things aren't going well with the Udaloy).

Things didn't go too well today. I made those "fake" doors for the portside hangar, but after finishing them and even fitting them in place, I discovered they were too thick. And the difference with the real doors was too big to leave it like that.
So I made new, narrower doors from 1.5mm styrene. Here they are:


And here they are fitting into place. The hatches on top of the portside hangar are glued, but the total top plate is not yet glued to the base. You can also see the FLYCO which has brownish windows (which I discovered afterwards, is pretty realistic) and I also cut the hole in the FLYCO where the refueling hose is coming out. It's not yet glued in place though, neither of the hangar doors are either. I'm waiting a little to maybe find better pics of the inside of that starboard hangar to start gluing. Only the portside doors and the FLYCO will be glued in place for now. As mentioned before, the FLYCO is different on all ships and you can actually identify them by that if you'd want.
After placing all this I'll start adding that tube which runs on both sides of the hangar.
In reality the hatches on top of the hangar are a little more broad, that is giving a small problem with the doors etc. I didn't bother remaking them as that would take a lot more time and I've bought a kit... If I want a nearly perfect ship, I'll build it myself I guess.

[Dave Wooley]

Hi Roel That's a neat job of the hanger doors and the FLYCO position .
Dave Wooley

[Neptune]

So here we go. I've seen another error in the part I already made. Yet it was very difficult to find what was wrong. On Dave's pictures I noticed some huge hole in the side below the helicopter hangar, yet I didn't know what was inside.
Viewed from the side, the hole was just behind the gangway so again not really visible. Recently I've gathered enough pictures to finally figure out what was inside. So I've started reconstructing that part.

This part had to be cut. Apparently they had noticed something was in there, but not quite what... Also on the deck they scribed a hatch, in the wrong position, but the hatch is indeed in there.



I was toying with the idea of just putting a plate between the gap, but then it would be nicer if I just changed all of that mess to avoid too many seams.


The hole, with the slide, which I suppose is coming from the helicopter hangar. The helicopter is standing on a platform which is sliding down forward on rails. I don't have too many pictures of it, but enough to see how it works. How exactly they are lifting it, I'm not sure. I'm still on the look-out for pictures of the inside of the hangar.


On the upper part in the meanwhile, I've closed some scribed gaps etc. which I won't be needing as my Udaloy won't have anything in there.


And this is what it all looks like when put together.


I've noticed a few more errors on what I've built compared to the ship I have decided to build. They are all different and the below helicopter deck area is pretty different on all of them, so I guess I'll be changing that too.

[Capit�o Norbert]

some Udaloy pics for you if you don't know.......

[Neptune]

Unfortunately those aren't Udaloys. First picture is a Krivak, last picture also. Second picture is an Udaloy II, different from mine and the third picture is the bulb of Neustrashimiy, a frigate.
Would have loved to get some pictures like that of an Udaloy, but unfortunately they are very hard to find. A couple of them are taken of the Vinogradov, one of Levchenko in a floating dry dock, yet I haven't really found any other dry dock shots of Udaloys. THanks for trying though.

Today I broke about everything I touched, that includes the rudder (which was glued stuck on its support and which I later cut off) also the rudder support inside the ship broke off. I tried to do some work on some of the radars, but also that resulted in more damage than progress. Having a real bad modelling day today

[Bill Waldorf]

Unfortunately those aren't Udaloys. First picture is a Krivak, last picture also. Second picture is an Udaloy II, different from mine and the third picture is the bulb of Neustrashimiy, a frigate.
Would have loved to get some pictures like that of an Udaloy, but unfortunately they are very hard to find. A couple of them are taken of the Vinogradov, one of Levchenko in a floating dry dock, yet I haven't really found any other dry dock shots of Udaloys. THanks for trying though.

Today I broke about everything I touched, that includes the rudder (which was glued stuck on its support and which I later cut off) also the rudder support inside the ship broke off. I tried to do some work on some of the radars, but also that resulted in more damage than progress. Having a real bad modelling day today

I know what you mean about a "bad modeling day". I've had those myself. Santee is nearing the completion point. I now have to move it out of the shop. A friend of mine is going to assist me. We have to pick up the whole works, turn it almost 90 degress vertical, go down a short hallway, into a bathroom, in order to make a turn around a corner. If I can get past the corner, the rest is downhill. If I hit the bridge assy., I'm dead. I am not looking forward to this. Best thing to do if your having a bad day, is to put it down for a while and come back to it. Otherwise it seems as though it just gets frustrating. Hope you have a better day. Your project looks great. I am following along. Bill W.

[Capit�o Norbert]

Sorry about some pics i think don't know very well the russian units.
Now about the bad day, the best thing for me is stop and start again another time...

[Capit�o Norbert]

hey neptune i found it:

http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ship ... 1155_1.htm