1/700 scale Trumpeter Admiral Kuznetsov

The Overall model kit: This Trumpeter kit was overall a satisfying kit given the generic qualities of the brand. The kit comes with detail sprues and includes the hull and main deck and armaments. The air group comes in transparent sprues highly detailed with complete decals.

The Build: Firstly I had to erase the fitting gaps after the hull assembly using Mr. Surfacer, which made the job easier compared to using the normal putty. For references on the carrier not many images were found especially on the color scheme and deck diorama. However after researching further a final scheme was decided upon. I decided to color the hull based on the 1995 appearance of the carrier which has a more subtle Balkan gray . Additional photo-etch is required as for any Trumpeter kit . The PE parts are from the generic railing of the modern Trumpeter sets which I customized into antenna and radar masts to enhance the detail. Eduard colored modern deck crew are used in the final deck appearance.
Final Conclusion: Overall it was an exciting build given the final result I was satisfied although many more detailing parts could have been implemented but as it was a commissioned built hence the deadline must be obeyed. The owner of this kit is Mr. Rofahmi Zainal Abidin who is pleased with the final product. It would be great to build another Russian carrier in the future as they are quite a rare naval genre.

8 additional images. Click to enlarge.