Zvezda 1/350 'Golden Hind'

[Dave Ward]

A simple model, but one that has potential................
After finishing the Knyaz Suvorov, I felt I needed something small, and simple :

These are intended for wargaming use, but are surprisingly detailed, the Golden Hind has 65 parts & will be 104mm long. It can be made as a waterline model, or full hull. Luckily a lot of the fancy bulwark painting is supplied as decals. Accuracy? - Since there are no definitive drawings of this ship, I would say - looks right! Similarly, I suspect most of the paint colours are guesses so I'm going to use what I think would be used ( ie cannons would be bronze not iron ). I believe I picked this up on ebay for <£10 delivered, worth a look!
I'll put up some sprue shots tomorrow, there is some quite petite detail!
Dave

[Jim R]

An interesting build Dave. It will be good to follow along.
Jim

[Dave Ward]

What's in the box..............

Sprue shots

The sails are pretty thin, but I might replace with some parchment paper......................

Full hull, or wargaming base


Shrouds, ratlines & cannon


Main Sprue

Parts are crisp, well moulded & no flash.............
Some detail shots

A bit overscale ( ! ), but as good as it will get at 1/350!


And the decals.....................

Just as well, I wouldn't even attempt the fancy work!

The photos of the model on the back of the box look a little garish - the art work on the front looks far more like it to my mind!
One of those models that has a lot of potential - being a snap-together, I don't think fit will be a problem.......
Dave

[Tim Marlow]

Interesting little build Dave. The shrouds etc look a bit chunky as you say, but replacing them with AM parts would probably cost twice that of the model!

[Dave Ward]

Interesting little build Dave. The shrouds etc look a bit chunky as you say, but replacing them with AM parts would probably cost twice that of the model!

Tim,
I actually found the product

Even the maker didn't have them in stock! - just as well!
Dave

[Jim R]

Hi Dave
When it says "Snap Fit" on the box does that mean that as you will probably use glue you'll have to trim off the snap fit attachment bits? I ask because the sprue shots look just like a normal kit. For it's size the moulding does look quite detailed.
Jim

[Dave Ward]

Hi Dave
When it says "Snap Fit" on the box does that mean that as you will probably use glue you'll have to trim off the snap fit attachment bits? I ask because the sprue shots look just like a normal kit. For it's size the moulding does look quite detailed.
Jim

Jim,
I probably will ease the holes, so that it's not a 'snap' fit, but a tight fit! As long as the snap fit bits aren't in sight, I'll leave well alone - I think just a touch of TET will see this firmly assembled. The puzzling question will be 'when to paint?' - it almost seems that I can do the vast majority on the sprue, I'll have to sit down & consider this......
Dave

[Dave Ward]

After a relaxing time painting the basecoats - assembly of the gundeck(s). All the holes needed easing, as I'm sure I would have broken some bits, trying to force them.

I painted each cannon mount, before adding to the deck, then painted the bronze cannon itself afterwards.......
It's intriguing to see how it all fits together. As would be expected with a click together model the fit is very good.

The deck hasn't turned out the colour I expected, I'll have to give it a bit of a wash before going any further. Some bits have been left off for now, as they need a bit of fancy painting & maybe the decals adding before final assembly - the hull sides definitely fall into that category..............
Dave

[Dave Ward]

Snap fit doesn't mean easy assembly! I decided that I'd better assemble the hull, before adding decals, as I suspect that I would have removed them whilst wrestling with it - all 85mm of it!

It does fit together - but it's so small that you don't have much to grab onto! I dislodged one of the cannon, but it's not visible anyway! I'm glad I opened up the location holes a bit, I'm pretty sure I'd have broken something, getting the hull halves & deck to unite! Now I can start to add the decals & some fancy painting..............
Dave

[Dave Ward]

Whilst the 'sea' is drying on my HMS Spiraea, I decided to return to adding the decals on this tiny thing

To say that they're a pain is putting it mildly - I've got them all on, a bit skewiff in places, but the thing is only 85mm long. These 'wargaming' models are certainly not for a beginner - I'm going to lie down in a darkened room with an icepack on my head!
Dave