by Don McKeand
1/116 Tuima class missile boat (Modelist)
I bought this kit in St Petersburg and when I got it home tried to find out a bit about it. First thing was to establish the scale. The manufacturer’s website claimed 1/72, but comparing it with actual dimensions it comes out at 1/116 by my calculations. The tube of cement in the box with Chinese characters on it seems to confirm it is a re-boxing of the Zhengdefu kit. The details were rather heavy and basic as it comes with an electric motor and is intended to be used on the local pond. I originally planned to make it as a working model, but photocopies of Mallari 80 and 83 (IPMS Finland magazine) came my way with articles about the four boats which found their way to Finland to form the Missile Boat Squadron. Later the boats were converted to fast minelayers, and to my surprise they still existed having been bought up by GN113 Warbird Consulting in Finland. Better than that there were lots of pictures on their website and the owner Markku Lehti was able to provide additional information. In 2007 the boats were sold to Egypt but the pictures are still on the website.
With such a wealth of information and an interesting colour scheme the working model idea went out of the window as the kit could be detailed with confidence. It is basically accurate and fitted the drawings I had when scaled appropriately. The deck lacked the “reverse sheer” at the bows typical of these boats, and the deck extensions alongside the missile launchers, so they were the first fix.
The bridge had a different shape and was remodelled with Milliput. The deckhouse had the vertical corrugations added and a new upper deck made, as well as having new doors and ladders.
Other scratch built items were blast deflectors for the missile launchers, air intakes on the deckhouse, cable reels, deck ventilators, the tower for the Drum Tilt guidance radar, liferings, liferafts and launch gear, stiffening brackets on the chine strip, hawse pipe and anchor gear as well as all the railings. The gun turrets, missile launchers and a number of other items were detailed. The Finnish boats had quite a number of differences on the mast and with the radar fit, and the majority of that was scratch built. Decals for the name, flag and hull number were made with inkjet decal paper and for the finishing touches, Preiser railway figures were modified for the bridge party and the model set in a base of expanded polystyrene with sea made from Milliput and clear silicone.
