Houston

1/900 Ships Russo-Japanese War

by Greg Rice

In hand are models of the Sevastopol and Fuji class battleships. These are to a scale of just a bit smaller than 900:1, cast in overa dozen pieceseach. Assembly is straightforward, with only a bit of drilling out of some holes necessary. The design of the boats and davits on the Sevastopol is par- ticularly nice, and the pivots on the main turrets are long, so that the main battery can be left unglued, with the turrets trainable. The castings are generally clean, although some guns in secondary batteries are not com- pletely cast. Assembly and painting instructions, although terse, are included.

The ships make up into very appealing models. Like other Houston's Ships, however, they are not precision models. The Fujis superstructure is too long, putting the funnels noticeably too far apart, and the circular tops are too large. TheSevastopol hasthe no. 2 turrettoo faraft, while the main turrets and their barbettes are too tall. The deck planking is heavily raised, particularly on the Fuji, with planks that scale out to over a yard wide.

At $9.00 apiece, these ships are priced moderately in today's market. While not precision replicas, they give a distinct flavorof the period, and offer an excellent opportunity to explore this fascinating stage in the evolution of naval warfare without havingto scratchbuild. Nowavailable are the Mikasa, Asahi, Shikishima, Osliabia, Variag, and apparently generic destroyers and torpedo boats for each side, with more promised. From Richard Houston, P.O. Box 14522, Oklahoma City, OK 73113.

Reviewing Stand

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