Minsk
by Paul Helfrich

1/400 Minsk (Maly Modelarz)

This is the Maly Modelarz paper kit (vintage 1986) of the Soviet/Russian aircraft carrier-cruiser Minsk. Most Maly Modelarz ships are 1/300, but this one is 1/400.

Like a lot of the older Maly kits, it is a difficult build. The paper stock is hard to work with. It is like no paper I've ever seen - very rough and fibrous. I've heard some modelers don't even attempt to build these kits as printed - they scan them and print them out on better paper.

The model is also not entirely accurate - the shape of the guns isn't right, and the radars were so far off I had to scratchbuild them. There are also only two propellers and shafts, and I believe the actual ship has four.

Nevertheless, I got started on this last August, and here now is the result. As noted, most of the radars are scratchbuilt. The helicopters are 1/350 plastic kits from Trumpeter. I added brass railings to the model (from Tom's Modelworks)

The finished product is a little rough around the edges, but does look impressive from a short distance!