I’ve been waiting for this set to arrive from Russia for a long time. This is a repackaging old set from the Soviet era, and while it may not be the highest quality set, the ARKTIKA is such a legendary ship that I have to build it.
The nuclear icebreaker was the first ship to reach the surface of the north pole on its 1977 expedition (the US nuclear submarine, Nautilus, reached the pole under the ice in 1958). The icebreaker broke records for power and performance in its heyday, and started a whole fleet of Arktika class icebreakers. And how much fuel did this beast use in day of icebreaking? Just 200 grams. Amazing.
The directions are totally in Russian, so I’ll have to get help with the color scheme information. There are two color schemes: the 1975 paintjob, and the more distinctive red paintjob circa 2000. Other than that the directions seem straightforward.
There are a few things I may do to spruce up the model, but we’ll cross those bridges when we get to them in this thread. But this site seems to have some ideas:
I did think about making a diorama, but I really want to somehow incorporate my collectibles of Arktika, and display some information and the ship. Here’s a photo of my Russian coin featuring Arktika from 1996, and an old Soviet stamp commemorating the 1977 expedition.
Now that’s a nice project! How big is taht baby going to be when done? The ship is really fascinating.
If you scan the instructions and post them, I think I could help you with the translation.
Your coin and stamp don’t really fit together - I mean the coin commemorates 200 years of the Russian navy, and the stamp commemorates the arctic expedition on the 60th anniversary of the “great October”, meaning the revolution, that meant to obliterate Russia and build something completely new - the Soviet Union.
That means if you do the old scheme, you could show the ship with the stamp, and the new scheme would go well with the coin.
So, anyway - good luck with your build and have a nice day
What a cool subject! I had no idea a nuclear icebreaker had ever existed. One of the many reasons I like this forum, I always learn something new. I hope you do a WIP.
There are also some other Arktika collectibles I’d like to get: there’s a Soviet bronze medal, another older stamp, postcards, and some commemorative pins that were made.
The main idea is to create infographics as placards to show the story of the ship along with the collectibles around the model. I’d like to include diagrams of how an icebreaker breaks ice, and possible draw an illustration of the reactors in the ship. It’s an abstract idea, so we’ll see how it goes.
Luckily for us the list of paints isn’t very complicated. The numbers in the squares correspond with Gunze paints, so that could be a help for you, too. Going from top left to bottom right the colours are: green, red, yellow, orange, and in the right column: white, black, gold, silver and gun metal.
I’ve heard the “Arktika” ice breakers also take tourists onboard, so I’d suspect there could be a folder or two advertising this - that folder could also be something for your display.
The Arktica type has been featured in some National Geographic episodes on T.V. Not on board though . She’s usually in the distance or close by breaking the ice .She is fascinating .Now get this .If the U.S.had one like her she would probably be an Enlarged and strenghtened Eastwind type .
Last thing I heard , is she usually does carry about ten or twelve pasengers too .
Thank you again, Paweł. Looks like I have all the colors listed.
One thing about this set is that it has no decals - the things you’d expect to be decals (ship name, atom logo, and hammer and sicklel) are raised details. Can any of you recommend how you would handle such detail? In the past I’ve just been very careful with a brush, or even a toothpick, but I need to be precise here so the words don’t look sloppy in the model.
I’m eager to get started. I am in the middle of building a P-40 Warhawk, but I’m putting it on hold. I built a Revell Northsea Fishing Trawler a couple months ago, and I had so much fun building it, and the result was so satisfying. There’s just something about model ships.
Now you’re tempting me with these custom decals. Arktika could potentially be transformed into the same-class vessel Yamal, which you’ll agree, is quite distinctive:
If I was in your place, I’d probably build the “Yamal” - you seem to have a soft spot for her! Don is always recommending printing the decals yourself, I usually say you’re better off goint to the pros. Unfortunately I don’t know any custom-decals company in the States, but if you find a good printing company they would give you very nice yellow and white prints, they even could print silver and gold should you ever need it. The biggest problem in any case is always drawing the pattern you neen on the computer. Once that’s done, all other things are easy.
Now the sharkmouth could be printed with an ink-jet on white decal sheet, but the yellow ship name ant the “atom” logo could be tricky.
And I can’t find it now, but I think I have read that you want to experiment with the coours a little - I only wanted to say that you should definitely do that.
Looks fun. I never paid much attention to these ships nor realized the deck structure were so huge on them. I guess they have a crew way, way larger than I would have ever guess.
Glenn, I guess many of the things you would just do on the deck of a normal ship have to be done “indoors” when it’s really cold. Plus, an icebreaker also serves as supply ship for polar bases and such.
They had a crew of up to 150 people. Apparently they had all sorts of luxuries like a cinema, and even a swimming pool. These ships would break records for being out to sea so long that I guess that kind of entertainment would be a necessity.
Paweł, I do plan on experimenting a bit with the colors. As for the decals, I haven’t decided. The big challenge I see with Yamal, aside from the shark mouth, is its different radar arrays. I’m not sure how I could change it to look accurate. I do intend on including some PE handrails.
As it stands now I did sand off these raised details, mainly because one printing of the word Arktika was kind of sloppy.
Darkhorse, do some decal research on your computer. There are decals of shark’s mouth for model aircraft. Get a decal that matches as close enough for your Russian icebreaker. Hope this helps.
I’ve been thinking about this. Might the hairspray technique used for chipping on model aircraft be apropos here?
Here’s a shot of Arktika from 1980, which has a couple of scars. Interestingly, the atom logo is missing from this time period. The superstructure is more of an orange color. I might take on this color scheme. Just a dilute white wash for the saltiness or frostiness (or both) perhaps?
