This is going to be my next ship project, the Protected Cruiser 'Varyag'. One thing that pushed me towards building this kit was the Gold Medal Models PE set I had purchased for my 'Borodino' build, it included the 'Varyag' PE as a double detail package. After all the fun I had with the 'Borodino' it seemed like a no-brainer to pick up the 'Varyag'.
Since I was going to be going to the edge with detail I had to pick up some turned brass barrels and a wooden deck for the kit then I ran across a brass set of masts that seemed like a really good idea as the ones on the 'Borodino' were pretty flimsy and wanted to bend with just the smallest amount of rigging tension. Snooping around the ship sections of various model shops I found searchlight kits from North Star that promised to improve the kit pieces so what's another $8 at this point. Now I figured I should do my due diligence and look at the Eduard PE sets just to make certain I was doing the best I could with the detail and what do you know? I liked some of that set better than the GMM set. Had to warm up the credit card and pick that set up. Oh, I'm going to need some crew figures as well, I'm thinking at least two sets of the North Star Imperial Russian Navy sets at $25 each. When I started this seemed like a pretty reasonably priced kit.
