1/350 Chih Yuen Chinese Protected cruiser ( Bronco )

I must say that this subject of the Chih Yuen in 1/350 scale is indeed a very long awaited one. It has been more than 20 years since I read about the story of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894 and saw the 1962 movie of the same name filmed in China. This battle was a great turning point in the history of China prior to the turn of the century as it further confirmed the decline of the Qing Chinese Empire. The defeat of this battle resulted in the loss of Taiwan to Japan by China and further unfair treaties being signed.

Amidst the corruption of the Qing Government, there were still dignified and loyal subjects who loved the country and who cared. One of them was Captain Deng Shichang, who was the Commander of the Chih Yuen Cruiser.  During the final hours of the sea battle on the 17th September 1894, the Chih Yuen despite having run out of ammunition, charged straight at the IJN Yoshino in an attempt to ram it, was sunken by a torpedo from another Japanese ship. Capt Deng sacrificed himself in the event and was hence remembered as a hero of Chinese Patriotism.

After building the Ting Yuen of the same scale back in 2010, I was very surprised to see a model of the Chih Yuen being released in 1/350 scale also but was glad that Bronco had indeed released this model also. Some background information of the Chih Yuen can be found on this site.

Although the Chih Yuen was a smaller ship, I must say that the construction of its 1/350 scale model was more complex than that of the Ting Yuen which I had done in 2010. It took me at least 3 times longer to build this 1/350 scale model of the Chin Yuen which was partly due to the more complex molded parts design. Japan succeeded with its modernization plans in the late 19th century during the reign of the Meiji Emperor while China in the late 19th century was considered a backward country that failed to modernize. Having said this, China did indeed try to modernize when Guangxu Emperor attempted to reform the country but sadly the reformation only lasted for not more than 100days. Thanks to corruption and imperial politics in the Qing Court. Nevertheless, the Imperial Chinese Navy did have a modern fleet of its own which included the Ting Yuen and last but not least, the Chih Yuen and the place of these 2 ships in the history of China make them so special!
 

Gallery updated 2012

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