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http://www.marinemodelmagazine.com APRIL 201547

German navies. After political wrangling she was finally delivered

in 1885. She ended her days 10 years later when in February 1895

she was sunk, ominously, by a Japanese torpedo.

The model offering of Ting Yuen is from the Chinese firm of

Bronco. The kit has a full hull as well as a waterline option, which

requires actually cutting the hull along the waterline, something I

find rather daunting. I also prefer to have a boat as a full hull rather

than a water line model anyway. It is well detailed and comes with

brass etchings for railings and smaller items such as propellers and

shoulder supports for the quick firing guns! They were impossible

to fit as they were just too small for me. Possibly a better modeller

would have more success. Also I felt that some of the locating

dimples could have been more clearly defined. It does build into a

most handsome craft and is the first in our battleship series.

She is painted typically in her peacetime colours with white upper-

works, buff twin funnels and a whole load of small boats. During

wartime she was painted a much duller black colour scheme. Also

visible is the then commonplace method of storing the anchors on

beam platforms rather than hanging from the anchor chains. The

ram bow is clearly visible which houses a forward firing torpedo

tube; a common feature on these early ships.

We can now fast forward about 20 years until just after the

beginning of the 20th century. Again the choice is not exactly

overwhelming; but what is available is very good.

Mikasa and Oriel

The next generation of battleships typically would displace

between 15-17,000 tons, double that of the earlier battleships

but still possessing the four twelve inch guns in twin turrets, now

located fore and aft so they could both fire on the broadside. They

would make about 16 knots, which was not much more than their

predecessors.

Hasegawa are responsible for this fine rendition of Mikasa as she

was at the battle of Tsushima. The main turrets are now on the

midline and have a far more modern appearance. The secondary

armament is arrayed in casements on the broadside, very much

in the way of the old sailing man of war

A close-up of the retained ram bow, another throw back to earlier

times. It also illustrates the way of stowing the anchors on the

deck. Mikasa is an excellent kit with well-fitting parts but lacks

etched parts that are available from third party manufacturers

Oriel. Aptly the model is produced by the Russian firm of Zvezda.

The turrets are again on the centre line and interestingly the main

secondary armaments are also in turrets. There is also an array

of smaller guns in lower casements. The anti-torpedo booms are

clearly visible in this shot. The kit does not come with etched

parts and generic railings from Tom’s Modelworks were used to

add further detail

This is a close-up of the main turrets which have a somewhat

antiquated appearance when compared with those on Mikasa

A photograph that never could have occurred in real life! It

illustrates the early development of the pre-Dreadnought

battleships from the 1880s until 1906. It shows the increase

in size and complexity of the warships but the main armament

remains basically unchanged at 12 inches, although they are now

on the midline rather than beam mounted. Ting Yuen is in the

foreground, then Oriel and Mikasa in the background

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