Doggy Industries 1/700 Pohang-class Corvette ROKS Cheonan
Reviewed October 2022
by Christopher Martens
HISTORY
Cheonan was launched and commissioned in 1989. Her primary mission was effectively coast watch with an emphasis on anti-submarine warfare. Her career up to 1999 was mostly uneventful until she was involved in the First Battle of Yeongpyeong resulting from their northern neighbors trying to redraw the Northern Limit Line. The action resulted in slight damage to ROK vessels, but sank one and severely damaged several Democratic People's Republic of Korean (DPRK) ships. 

In March 2010, the corvette was rocked by an explosion near she ship's aft with enough force to blow the ship in two, sinking in under eight minutes. Of her 104 compliment, 54 were rescued. The two halves were raised and recovered in April with 40 of the 48 men lost with the ship. Subsequent analysis and investigation of the wreckage led both Western military and civilian teams to conclude she was likely torpedoed by a DPRK midget submarine. A Russian navy investigation claimed this was unlike, because [reasons], though they offered no other theory. Chinese and DPRK "investigations" were little more than randomly hitting keys on a whiskey binge and seeing what stuck other than "intentional attacky by DPRK submarine."

Cheonan is now a museum ship at the Pyeongtaek Naval Base. She's displayed with her bow and stern at their former full length, revealing the massive section of her hull that was atomized when the ship was sunk. 

THE HULL 
Cheonan's hull is sharply molded in grey resin. Details present are mostly regulated to recesses for vents, windows, portholes, and hatches. Any bulkhead detail is provided by the kit's extensive photoetch set. Interesting, the bollards aren't molded on the ship. Instead, Doggy left small impressions for them to be fitted during construction. 

BRIDGE
The bridge is fine and well-cast. Details follows a similar pattern for Doggy kits. Resin hatches and molded-on equipment are dispensed and replaced with fine photoetch detail. I do like this philosophy, given that I tend to remove molded-on detail for etch in my own builds. 
 

MISCELLANEOUS PARTS 
These wafters contain everything from the ship's weaponry to various deck bits. 

These resin parts' quality is in the upper-average of what we can find on the market today. Given the Doggy's size, that's impressive. Like the hull, the parts are well cast and would easily take to more detail if the builder desired. My only complaint would be that the ship's boats are a little primitive and shallow.



 

 
Brass Barrels
This kit has two brass barrels for main and secondary turrets. What's present in the kit are quite finely detailed, but I'm missing two 40mm barrels. Thankfully, I have an abolute ton of 40MM bofors that would fit the bill. 

PHOTOETCH
Doggy's photo etch design continues to be extremely impressive and easily in competition with major aftermarket companies like Artist Hobby and Five Star Models. The company also seems to use brass like those detail up sets do: remove (or don't have) detail. Use brass. Personally, I'm a fan of this approach. Doggy's relief work here is fantastic. 

INSTRUCTIONS
Cheonan's instructions are shown as a complete kit with various photo etch parts identified with numbers cooresponding to the sheet. Resin parts aren't numerically identified, but this really isn't necessary. Dog's instructions remind me again of aftermarket companies like Five Star that also resort to this method. I don't have trouble understanding placement, but mileage may vary. 

CONCLUSIONS

This is a neat little kit that can be had for around $56 shipped off of eBay. If you're into Cold War and/or Modern Era vessels, this is a good one to bring into your collection. If you're looking for an easy resin/etch build to cut your teeth on, I also highly reccomend this kit. My BIGGEST issue is that I'm missing two brass barrels thought they can be similarly sourced from any 40mm bofors set easy enough. 

I want to thank both Doggy Industries and ModelWarships for this kit. I will enjoy building it!