By Scheuer & Strüver GmbH

What can be said about the quality of the HMV kits in general; they are printed on high quality paper, drawn to be more detailed and many have photo-etched super detailed parts available for them; finally they also assemble very well.  With this said, lets review the Tugs Saturn and Resolut, there are two models in this kit, each one with the ability to make one of two different tugs.  The Orange hull makes either the Saturn or Mercur, while Resolut and Rasant can be assembled using the Black hull.   Armed with the super detail kit for these models part number 6133423, I chose to build the Resolut with her black hull.

Cutting the groundplate and formers follows most ships models and there is nothing special to take note of here.  The one lacking aid that could help in this type of graphic illustration assembly would be some hint as if certain parts need to be assembled before or after.  For example: The hull sides which are numbered 19, 19a and 19b consist of two parts that form the upper part of the hull.  It is not clear if they should be glued to each other first, before attaching to the deck or if the hull should be glued first and the upper parts attached later.  I assembled my model by doing the hull side and then attaching the upper parts, this presented no problem.  I suspect it might be just as easily done the other way, but somehow I have a slight feeling of misgiving about committing myself. 

The bow presents another place where again a note on how it fits would be of great help.  I attached the hull and the upper parts that are now suppose to mate with the front bow piece part 20.  I made the mistake of assuming the bow sides should wrap around and be on top of the bow plate. WRONG!  In fact the bow plate fits on top of the hull sides.  The graphical assembly illustration does not make this clear and trying to test fit this part is not an easy chore.  Having said this; let me add that it was a pleasure to build the rest of the model. Each part fit like a little jewel in a watch.

I opted to use the super detailed set and met with a few minor problems that I am sure were a result of me not having enough experience working with photo etch parts.  I wish one change could be made in the photo etch set that I am sure may be done if future printings are needed.  This would be 41 and 41a.  It is sort of a grating that fits over the larger winch in the stern amidships.  It has four legs that are number 41a (x4).  Instead of this assembly being one piece like a table whose legs have been laid flat, it is four separate legs which must be glue to the top (41) and then placed on deck and glued.  I am assuming it was done this way because the original card part was drawn that way.

 We are always learning new techniques and ways to improve our models and our skills, and I found something that I wonder how I lived so long without.  I mentioned it in one of the CardModelers messages some while back so I’ll not go again into detail suffice to say that it applies a sticky adhesive to the back of any material feed into it.   

Using this method, several parts which requires both sides to folded over and a strip wrapped around the outside edge to represent a thick part can now be easily done by using the adhesive and mounting it on to a thicker piece of card stock and cutting out only one side.  The other side is usually hidden by something else.  The large winch is a good example of what I am saying.  Each end piece of the winch consist of a piece that is to be cut out folded and an out side edge wrapped around to form it into an object.  In this case the end of the winch housing.  By using a thicker piece of card stock having mounted the outside face now becomes easily cut out and a matching color applied to the edge and inside. No unsightly white edge to cover up or bad fits to hide. 

In all, this little tugs takes probably about nine hours to assemble and five hours to do a real good job of adding the super detail parts.  “For such a small model, it sure looks busy” my wife said to me when I showed her the model. It indeed looks busy and small mistakes are easily hidden in the overall subject.  If you have just finished a real beast to build, take a pleasant break and have a little fun building one of these tugs.  I hope HMV will do more models along this line.  We don’t always need warships or ocean liners.  Small simple models can be attractive and enhance the beauty and the work done on larger models.

I feel sure Scheuer & Strüver will not object to my inclusion of the graphic showing where the detail parts go.  This illustration accompanies the detail set and gives a good idea of the amount of detail parts that can be added.

Resolut

Resolut Diagram from the kit

Resolut and Ambrose

Resolut and Ambrose

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This page was created by:
Saul H. Jacobs M.Ed.
Avionics Specialist, United States Air Force (Retired)
Microcomputer Technology, Pima Community College (Retired)
Tucson Arizona