by Doug Hallet
1/200 Smit Rotterdam (Heller)
This is the Heller 1/200 Smit Rotterdam, which is an attempt on my part to do a full-hull vessel that is heavily weathered both below and above the waterline. The inspiration was the many commercial ships I've seen in Seattle harbor. It is also one of the most complicated paint schemes I have attempted, with seven different major colors appearing on various areas of the boat. I understand that Smit Rotterdam had at least one military mission, as it was used to pull the barge from which the wreck of the Russian submarine Kursk was suspended after being raised from the ocean floor. The railing for the kit came from the set originally included in the Trumpeter 1/200 Sovremenny kit, with one rail removed. I suppose this makes it slightly under scale, but it still seems to fit in nicely and is of course much better than the Heller plastic ones.
