Russo Turkish Tinkering

The original model (of which there are two). Nothing wrong with it and yet.... 

....by adding to the sailing rig and applying some white trim to the hull it looks a whole lot more business like.

In advance of the resumption of ship building once my order from Warbases arrives I spent some time thinking about the models I want to build for the Russo Turkish half of the project. Whilst I have settled on the Turkish order of battle there was something nagging away at me in respect of the first two models I have built - the two river monitors of the Luft - u Celil class.

I built these two models with a reduced sailing rig but after further research decided that they need a little more in the way of spars. The option I have chosen reflects something of a compromise but given that the Turkish navy of the period seemed to be several steps behind the curve in respect of how ships were handled and maintained I certainly think it does not look out of place. I also took the opportunity to add a little detailing in respect of painting and so they now grace some rather fetching white trim - again this has been seen on a number of contemporary prints and pictures etc.

A closer look

Taking it all into consideration it has certainly perked the two models up rather nicely and I think they look far better in their current configuration. I will certainly incorporate the white trim on the next batch of models I build for this project.