ModelWarships reveiw

Pitroad / Skywave1/700
Missile Destroyer Udaloy

The Udaloy class Guided Missile Destroyers were based on the earlier Krivak class. They were probably built as the equivalent of the U.S Spruance class. The ships are built mostly for an offensive role and have limited defensive capabilities against both surface and airborne threats. Later upgrades of this class have better protection from those threats but retain the original appearance.

There are few good Russian Navy subjects available today, so Pitroad's Udaloy, is a welcome addition. I have no good plans to compare it to, but it does look like the photo's I've seen. As usual Pitroad's molding is above par, with the usual crisp lines and sharp detailing we have grown accustomed to. The Hull is molded in the typical one main piece with bow insert and waterline bottom, Much of the superstructure is molded on so this kit will be an easy build.

A Russian Navy weapons sprue supplies the weapons for this kit, with a variety of guns, missiles, and other accessories to finish out your Destroyer. Again you will have some spare parts left over as this sprue has all the parts you need and then some.

The decal sheet is pretty good and includes markings for Udaloy and Vitse-Admiral Kulakov. Both of these ships are now non operational so it would be nice to have decals for some of the later ships of this class that are still in operation.

The instructions are pretty simple, there is very little text, but the exploded views pretty much show where everything goes. It would be nice to have more space devoted to the various subassemblies though.

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The back of the box includes a painting guide for the ship in the usual Pitroad style.

There are few Russian navy subject available so this kit helps fill that void. It is well designed and easy to assemble with little extra work needed to make it look right. It will help fill the holes in your modern Soviet Fleet.