1/700 HTMS Thonburi (Seed Hobby)

HTMS Thonburi together with her sister, HTMS Sri Ayutthaya, were the largest naval units Thai navy had until long after WWII. These 2500-tons coastal defense ships were ordered from Japan. They were commissioned in 1938. Thonburi was sunk at the battle of Ko Chang in 1941. Although she was salvaged, the damage was too extensive, making the repair cost uneconomical. She was used as a floating headquarter before being scrapped in the 50's. Fortunately enough, part of her superstructure and fore turret were preserved as a monument. Sri Ayutthaya, on the other hand, enjoyed a relatively quiet career during and after WWII. Unfortunately, she was tragically lost during a failed coup attempt in 1951.

My model depicts Thonburi at mooring after arriving at Ko Chang on 15 January 1941. At that time she served as the flagship of 3rd flotilla, comprising herself, two Trad-class torpedo boats, and two other support vessels. Less than 48 hour later, they were caught at mooring by a French squadron, led by light cruiser Lamotte-Piquet. The surprise was almost complete if not for a French seaplane that attempted to attack the anchorage some 30 minutes before the French ships arrived. This gave Thai a little time to man battle stations but not enough for the torpedo boats to raise enough steam for their turbine. They were first to be engaged by the French who quickly sank them. Thonburi, thanks to her diesel engine, managed to get underway and engaged the French in a running fight. However, Lamotte-Piquet scored critical hits early in the battle, hitting the bridge and killing the CO and his staff. Soon fire was started and could not be brought under control. With Thonburi retreating to a more shallow water, clearly doom, the French light cruiser could not follow and decided to retreat. Thai navy suffered a heavy loss in her only naval engagement in the modern era. However, the French were barred from their attempts to raid Thai coastal area and thus failed to influence the situation on the land. Possibly as a result of the battle, the Japanese decided to intervene and a peace agreement was reached.

For a long time, only model of Thonburi was a resin kit made by a small Japanese company. The kit was very basic and the level of accuracy reflected the limited information available. Suddenly, in 2020, two Chinese manufacturers decided to release their version of Thonburi in 1/700. My kit is from Seed Hobby, which managed to reach the market a few months before Snowman Model's version. Seed Hobby's Thonburi appears to be fairly accurate. The accompanying PE and turned brass barrels are of good quality. However, it suffers from the lack of detail on the deck. The instruction is clear but their interpretation of some parts are wrong, especially the boat crane. Seed hobby also does not provide search light, ship boats, and capstan. The instruction tells you to find the boats from the waterline series accessory set, but leaves no clue about the other items. It almost feels like they forgot to include them.

I improved the kit as much as I can. I'd say it's about 85% accurate, if you ask me.

I gave her a small water base of calm, blue Gulf of Thailand sea as a final touch.

Gallery updated 12/28/2020

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