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Sunday, 11 January 2026

Even more 1/1200th-scale ship models added to my collection

Over the Christmas period I was able to buy a large job lot of scratch-built 1/1200th-scale Russian pre-dreadnought era warships on eBay. They included:

These models are all made from wood and wire ... and are of very high quality.

Battleship Orel

(14,151 tons; 18 knots; 4 x 12-inch guns; 12 x 6-inch guns; 20 x 3-inch guns; 20 x 3-pounder QF guns; 4 x 15-inch torpedo tubes)

Battleship Suvorov

(14,151 tons; 18 knots; 4 x 12-inch guns; 12 x 6-inch guns; 20 x 3-inch guns; 20 x 3-pounder QF guns; 4 x 15-inch torpedo tubes)

Battleship Petropavlosk

(11,354 tons; 16 knots; 4 x 12-inch guns; 12 x 6-inch guns; 12 x 3-pounder QF guns; 28 x 2-pounder QF guns; 2 x 18-inch torpedo tubes; 4 x 15-inch torpedo tubes; 50 mines)

Battleship Osliaba

(14,408 tons; 18 knots; 4 x 10-inch guns; 11 x 6-inch guns; 20 x 3-inch guns; 20 x 3-pounder QF guns; 8 x 2-pounder QF guns; 5 x 15-inch torpedo tubes)

Battleship Sisoi Veliki

(10.400 tons; 16 knots; 4 x 12-inch guns; 6 x 6-inch guns; 12 x 3-pounder QF guns; 18 x 2-pounder QF guns; 6 x 15-inch torpedo tubes)

Battleship Navarin

(10.206 tons; 15 knots; 4 x 12-inch guns; 8 x 6-inch guns; 14 x 3-pounder QF guns; 12 x 2-pounder QF guns; 6 x 15-inch torpedo tubes)

Coastal Defence Battleship General-Admiral Apraxin

(4,165 tons; 15 knots; 3 x 10-inch guns; 4 x 4.7-inch guns; 10 x 3-pounder QF guns; 12 x 2-pounder QF guns; 4 x 18-inch torpedo tubes)

Protected Cruiser Aurora

(6,625 tons; 19 knots; 8 x 6-inch guns; 24 x 3-inch guns; 3 x 21-inch torpedo tubes; 4 aircraft; 2 catapults)

2nd-class Cruiser Almaz

(3,285 tons; 19 knots; 4 x 3-inch guns; 8 x 3-pounder guns)

Armoured Cruiser Minin

(6.136 tons; 14 knots; 4 x 8-inch guns; 12 x 6-inch guns; 6 x 3.4-inch guns)

20 comments:

  1. What a superb score! You know, I never thought to do 'air scoops' (?) just with wire. Davits, yes, but I haven't bothered with them.
    Cheers,
    Ion

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Archduke Piccolo (Ion),

      I think that the ventilators (air scoops) are made from short lengths of insulated wire, with the colour of the insulation meaning that they don't need to be painted. A very clever way to achieve the desired effect!

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  2. Nice collection! It gives me inspiration for my own scratch built fleet.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Chris,

      Cheers! I do hope that you do build your own fleet of ships.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  3. Hi Bob,

    They are lovely looking! The Aurora will be appearing in action shortly….

    Will these be supporting your Belle Epoque collection?

    All the best,

    DC

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. David Crook,

      I bought these models because they looked so good … and didn’t even think about my project when I put my bid in! Perhaps I ought to now.

      I had to have a model of the Aurora having seen the real thing in St Petersburg!

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  4. BOB,
    Very nicely built Russian Ships- I do like the Aurora model. Cheers. KEV.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kev Robertson (Kev),

      Cheers! You’re right about the model of the Aurora: I think that it is the best of all of them.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
    2. BOB,
      I know you have a Japanese Fleet and Russian- do you have other nations fleets? All the best. KEV.

      Delete
    3. Kev Robertson (Kev),

      I have quite a few ships from other nations including the following:
      UK: 2 x ironclad battleships, 2 x dreadnought battleships, 4 x light fleet aircraft carriers, 2 x light cruisers, and numerous destroyers (most of the above are Triang Minic models)
      Turkish Navy: 2 x pre-dreadnought battleships
      Greece: 1 x pre-dreadnought battleship
      Argentina: 1 x coastal defence battleship
      USA: 1 x heavy cruisers, 1 x seaplane tender, 1 x LCT
      France: 1 x cruiser

      There may be more that I've forgotten!

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  5. What absolutely beautiful models, I really like the one in far east fleet coastal colours. It is nice to see the Aurora model as I've also seen the real thing. At this rate you will have a bigger fleet than Archduke Piccolo!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Martin Rapier,

      I agree about their quality, which is close to museum standard.

      As to matching Archduke Piccolo’s fleets … well, if I put all my model ships on my tabletop, I suspect that I might almost have as many.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
    2. Bob -
      I thought you might have gone past the size of my Chubby Marine inventory a while back. Your Russian fleet now outnumbers my Izumrud-Zeleniya by a factor of 3 already! I must admit, it would be very tempting to augment the latter, copying some of the vessels you have shown here. I couldn't hope for better 'models' for my own construction!
      Cheers,
      Ion

      Delete
    3. Archduke Piccolo (Ion),

      My Russian fleet lacks one thing … destroyers! I am on the lookout for some … and then I suppose that I’ll have to think about buying/acquiring some opponents for them.

      I am probably going to build some separate models to use alongside my Belle Epoque collection. I already have some but I think that they need some reworking. I’ll be using your Chubby Marine ships as a source of inspiration.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
    4. Bob -
      My Izumrud-Zeleniya (vaguely Russian) fleet does have a flotilla of one destroyer and 3 torpedo boats (don't recall whether I have posted these on my blog, come to think of it). The Radetzky battleship, by the way, was modelled on the Austrian, not the Russian! That was kind of an accident.
      Cheers,
      Ion

      Delete
    5. Archduke Piccolo (Ion),

      That sounds like a very sensible number of small ships to include in a fleet.

      The design of the Radetsky is very typical of the generation of pre-dreadnoughts built just before HMS Dreadnought, with a heavy calibre, turretted secondary armament. They were definitely a quantum leap better than their predecessors. In fact, I’ve seen them described as semi-dreadnoughts. In my opinion, the Russians would have done well to copy the design and not to follow the French lead.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  6. I spotted those on Ebay and was tempted. Glad we didn't end up bidding against each other.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nigel Drury,

      Perhaps we ought to co-ordinate our bidding!

      My intention is to try to bid for ironclads and pre-dreadnoughts when they come up as well as IJN WW2 ships.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
    2. I think I have most of the pre-dreadnoughts I was after - mainly those still around and active, or potentially so, in WW1.

      Delete
    3. Nigel Drury,

      That’s useful to know.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete

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