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Trumpeter Zhong Shan

Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2026 8:41 am
by MalcolmR
Zhong Shan Gunboat.
Bought this kit not for the subject but for the size & price ie:- not too big not too expensive and close to 1/144 (actual 1/150) Found a small amount of useful information and a few photos on the internet so something to work from. I also purchased after seeing the kit a wooden deck overlay.
First thing after opening the box was to remove the eclectic running gear from the hull.
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Opened the anchor hawser holes on deck & hull. Drilled out all the portholes. Cleaned up the prop shafts as they appeared a bit toy like & covered the holes for the propeller guards on the hull.
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Glued the deck house parts to the deck ready for adding to the hull. Added 19 home cast doors on the engine room & superstructure. (Not original but better than what was not there before.) The forecastle wheelhouse needed windows added to the front and sides, and the roof needed the solid sides removed so handrails and a canvas screen could be fitted all round. I also cut a planking overlay to be fitted to the forecastle wheelhouse roof deck. Engine room skylights fabricated as the detail is rather poor.
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All the ventilators needed to be drill out and sink marks on one side of everyone filled & then those that were to go on the engine room house glued in place. The funnel sides were glued together and metal mesh funnel caps fabricated and added, holes drilled for bracing stays & then temporarily stuck in place for painting.
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At this point the boat was painted. It was then mounted on the building board so it would not be handled too much and then I added the porthole glazing. The deck overlay was then added. (Thanks to me adding the new doors it was not as easy as the trial fit). The deck was then glued into place.
The funnels were now fixed permanently in position.
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Boat launched and then moved to the fitting out basin

Re: Trumpeter Zhong Shan

Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2026 8:49 am
by MalcolmR
Now I started the fitting out stage of the build. Deck overlay to the fore-deck bridge, sunshade, spotlight, handrails & screens fitted. Looked a bit odd without anything under the sunshade so made some voice communication pipes which might not be correct but added a bit of interest.
Engine room deck handrails fitted plus funnel bracing stays. communication steps added where needed.
Scratch built an accommodation ladder. All the guns needed additional fittings added to look a bit more interesting and then fitted. As I was building this ship it did start growing on me, so I started to add extra details. The ships boats and davits were up detailed; I converted 2 of the boats (1 to a sampan and one to a steamboat). The “Houdini” Ratline tool came in handy for part of the rigging.
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Bought this kit not because I liked it, but as the old advert for “Roses” chocolates sweets” said: “OH, it grows on you,” but it would have been nice if it was a British destroyer (ie-: H, I-J Class e.g.)

So all in all, not a bad result, so the fun continues.