Introduction

A quick search of the internet finds the Baku was a Kiev-class aircraft carrier of the Russian Navy. Her keel was laid down in 1978 in Ukraine, she was launched in 1982, and commissioned in December 1987. The ship was actually renamed Admiral Gorshkov after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the paint scheme and markings for this kit are more in line with those of the Adm. Gorshkov era. Plagued by difficulties since a boiler room explosion in 1994, she was offered for sale and 1996 and eventually sold to the Indian Navy in 2004. The Baku is an assault carrier, somewhat comparable to the newer USS Wasp class amphibious assault carriers of the U.S. Navy. The Baku generally sailed with 6 × twin SS-N-12 Sandbox surface-to- surface missile launchers (12 missiles), 24 × 8-cell SA-N-9 vertical surface-to-air missile launchers (192 missiles), 2 × 100 mm guns, 8 × AK-630 30 mm Close-In Weapon System guns, 10 × 533 mm torpedo tubes and 2 × RBU-6000 anti-submarine rocket launchers. This 1/700th scale kit from Hobby Boss is a fine representation of that ship and many of those weapon systems.

My thanks go out to MMD Squadron for providing this HobbyBoss kit for review and to IPMS USA for giving me the opportunity to review it.

In the Box

The kit is packaged in high quality, thick corrugated cardboard, which protects the parts inside very nicely during shipping and the colorful artwork is well done also. The box contains 6 sprues, the upper hull, flight deck, bridge and one fret of brass photo- etched parts. The box also includes an instruction booklet, decal sheet, full color painting and decal placement guide and a color advertising flyer listing some of Hobby Boss’s other products. Unless you read Chinese, the text in the instruction sheet is all but useless as a great deal is lost in the translation to English. This kit did not include a lower hull so you will be building a waterline model even though screws, drive shafts and rudders are included in the kit.

Construction/Finishing

Even though there are 380+ parts, this kit goes together in a reasonable amount of time. Only two parts make up the primary hull - the upper hull and the flight deck. The flight deck part fits in the upper hull part nicely. There are 5 parts to each of the 4, Yak–38 vertical takeoff aircraft and 10 parts for each Ka–27 helicopter. The main deck details and missile tubes are straightforward and go together easy. Before you put everything together however, you want to spend some time thinking about how you plan to mask and paint the ship in order to work around the assembly of the smaller details. Because of their size, many of these parts are impossible to assemble by hand so you should also spend some time thinking about tools you want to use that will hold the parts properly without shooting them across the room, into oblivion.

The photo-etched parts, as are most of the plastic antennae and island details, very well done and accurate but man are they small. I assembled many of the small radar antenna assemblies with the radar masts still attached to the sprues. I had tried to build up a couple of the radar assemblies on sticky sticks but they were so small that I had trouble separating the assembly from the tacky glue. I used the same approach with the two-part photo etched navigational antennas - fitting one part inside the other while still on the brass fret. With the small photo etched parts, you should plan to use a setting accelerant for cyanoacrylate glue.

This kit was finished in the colors recommended on the full-color painting guide. After the antenna supports, catwalks and other photo etched parts were added, the horizontal surfaces of the island in the forward part of the deck were painted in the linoleum deck brown the vertical surfaces were painted gray. There are a number of ways this can be done during the assembly and it seems I usually pick the most difficult way to do it so you should think about it a bit and do it the way that works best for you.

The color painting and decal placement guide provided is very detailed however I found that several of the reference numbers identifying decals and their placement location were missing from the sheet. With a little study, the picture is detailed enough to figure out where the decals go. The decals are of excellent quality and color; however, the deck strikes seem to be a little wider than scale. Also, when preparing to put the stripes on the deck, care must be taken to make sure the decals are separate from one another. I thought I could save time by wetting several of the intermediate stripes at the same time only to find out they were one piece of continuous decal film. Once you have the decals in place and have dabbed off the extra water and allowed them to dry, a small touch of decal setting solution makes them permanent.

After painting and decals, a little work with weathering powders brings out all the fine detail, right down to the 1/700th scale ladders and water-tight doors. It really is something to see. A coat of semi-gloss or dull-cote over everything then completes and seals it.

Conclusions

HobbyBoss continues to impress with the accuracy of their kit designs and precision of their molding technology. The 1/700th scale, Soviet Aircraft Carrier Baku is an excellent example. I must say though that particularly for the photo-etched parts, this is an extremely challenging kit to build so I recommend this kit for modelers of moderate or better experience. I had to use fine tipped tweezers more to assemble this kit than any other kit I have built. The extremely small, photo etched antenna supports were difficult to work with but the results were very impressive. This Less experienced modelers could build the without the photo-etch and still be pleased with the results.

Thanks again to MMD Squadron for providing this great HobbyBoss kit and thanks also to IPMS USA forgiving me the chance to review it.