PetrOs Modellbau – Brigantine Phoenix by Milania

PetrOs Modellbau – Resin and Photo etch from Komplekt ZIP, Flyhawk, Five Star, Artist Hobby, Wood Hunter and many other east European and Asian manufacturers

Scale: 1/72

Milania – Master Korabel, Ships

MSRP – 161,99 € / @205.50 US

Reviewed by PetrOs Modellbau

As I was reading some Russian language ship modeling forums, I stumbled upon a kit of a Brigantine Phoenix by a Russian company Milania. I was impressed by the pictures of the kit and of different building threads I saw, and decided to get it. I was not disappointed – it is absolutely gorgeous.

At first, some words about the ship:

A Greek built 12-gun brigantine Phoenix became a part of the Russian Black Sea fleet in 1787. With a war with Ottoman Empire pending, large number of Greek Corsair ships were purchased to strengthen the young Russian Black Sea fleet, in many cases the Greek crews were also hired into Russian service. Such ships were officially classified as “cruising ships” in Russian navy lists. The ship’s first war was the Russo-Turkish war of 1787-1791.

In 1788 it was assigned to the Admiral Count Voynovich’s squadron, and primarily employed for scouting, and participated in the Battle of Fidonisi. In 1789 it continued scouting for the fleet.

In 1790 it became a part of Adm. Ushakov’s squadron, and together with other cruisers it searched the sea for Turkish transports, participated in the blockade of Anapa and the battle of Kerch straights. In a battle of Tendra Island it captured a 10-gun Turkish brigantine.

In 1791 it was once more hunting the ottoman shipping near Crimea’s coast, and participated in the Cape Kaliakra battle. As the war ended, it was still active in Black and Azov seas.

As the war with France started in 1798, the ship was called upon once more, this time allied with the Turks against the French. In November 1798 it arrived to Corfu with the provisions for Vice Admiral Ushakov’s squadron. In December 1798 it carried a message from Ushakov to Ibrahim-Pasha, asking for Turkish troops for the assault on Corfu. As Corfu was captured in 1799, it escorted the transport ships which brought French prisoners of war to Toulon, visiting Messina on the way. As the war ended, it was used for navigation in the Black sea in 1801-1802, and it was broken up in 1803 in Nikolaev.

As the postman brought the box, I decided to make a review of the kit.

What you get

A large, robust box made of heavy cardboard to protect the contents:

After opening it, you get a question – where are the usual wooden strips? There are just 6 of them, plus the rods for the Masts, as everything else is laser cut. You get 4 large plans, mainly for rigging, a color photo guide, a textual description handbook which is complimentary to the picture one. According to the manufacturer, only Russian is available as for now, but the earlier kits have English and French versions on demand, so there’s hope. You also get a box with small parts, a bag with lots of ropes of different diameters and colors (I think a result of rope-walk, at least the thicker ones), a bag with sail cloth and wooden rods, plastic wrapped photo etched parts, separate kits for the spill, gratings, pumps and boat, and of course the main feat – a large number of laser cut and engraved wooden boards, made of different woods and plywood.

First planking – birch plywood
Second planking – anegri
Upper planning inside and outside – anegri and redwood
Laser engraved deck (beech) and the wales (vacuum blackened beech)
Frames and different guides and auxiliary structures – birch and basswood plywood

Lots of smaller detail frames (blackened beech, pear, nut, anegri and redwood) and the structural reinforcement deck made of MDF

Everything is perfectly cut, and should fit like a dream if the work is carefully done.

Now, to the details:

The boat is a separate kit of its own, also available separately. The boat is only included in the premium kit version which I have. It contains 7 different wooden frames, also laser cut, and a small bag with a brass strip and some nails

Small parts container has some of the best blocks I ever seen – correctly rounded all over, these are realistic. Also, such good blocks are in premium version of the kit only. The deadeyes are also correctly rounded and look perfect. Nails are only laser cut and should be sanded round. Steering wheel, guns and lamp are bronze cast, the anchors are of some blackened metal. In my case, 3 of the 5mm deadeyes were missing, and 3 guns had casting defects, but I wrote to the manufacturer, and he sent them less than 24 hours after that – good service.

You get some very nice gratings, brass wire, and cleanly printed flags.

The spill is a very complex kit of its own, with several laser cut frames (is available separately in several sizes)

The pump is also a kit, with 2 frames, some PE, and wire.

The instructions – you get a large text based manual, a photo based color manual, and several sheets with the rigging table– each rope on the ship is written down there, with the details like which thread, which block, deadeyes, knots, etc. are to be used.

The text manual has a few drawings in it, too

It also contains a large table of all parts of the kit, sail templates, some very useful explanations how to do different knots, and also depicts the laser cut boards included in the kit