Tsesarevich (Russian: Цесаревич) was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the Imperial Russian Navy, built in France at the end of the 19th century. The ship's design formed the basis of the Russian-built Borodino-class battleships. After repairs were made following the Russian-Japanese war, most of the small-caliber guns (47mm and 37mm) were removed. Tsesarevich was not very active during the early part of World War I and her sailors joined the general mutiny of the Baltic Fleet in early 1917.

This Master Model set provides you with 20 barrels: Four machined aluminum 305mm/40 (12”) barrels; twelve machined brass 152mm/45 (6”) barrels; two 47mm (1.85”) Hotchkiss Gun barrels; and two 37mm (1.5”) Hotchkiss gun barrels and a single page instruction sheet. As you can see in the comparison photo below, the improvements are most noticeable in the muzzle ring of the twelve 152mm barrels due to the limitations of injection plastic molding.

Of note is the re-sealable packaging that Master Model uses that makes the parts easy to review and then stuff back into the package securely. That being said, you will want to be careful handling the brass barrels as their small size makes them an easy sacrifice to the carpet monster.

You will need to cut the styrene barrel off and drill a hole in the plastic breach. The directions call out a 1.0 mm bit (~#60) for the 305mm/40 barrels; a 0.6mm (#73) bit for the 152mm/45 barrels; and a 0.3mm bit (~#83) for the four Hotchkiss gun barrels. I’ve used carbide micro drill bits for years and they work great. You will want to be careful to center your drill bit on both your x-axis and y-axis.

Be sure to use your favorite CA (super glue) or epoxy, as the normal plastic glues or solvents will not react with the aluminum or brass. You will also want to be careful painting the barrels, especially the brass ones since paint can easily foul the hollowed out muzzles.

I don’t have the Zvezda 1/350 series of Borodino class battleships ( #9026, Knyaz Suvorov; #9027 Borodino; #9029 Oriol; ) but I’m sure these barrels would help spruce them up as well.

Highly recommended! These metal barrels provide a lot of bang for the buck!

Thanks to Master Model and IPMS/USA for the opportunity to review this set.