On October 1, 1865 France laid down a warship that would impact warship designs for the next half century. This ship was the armored corvette Alma. The ship was not designed to be a line of battle ironclad, rather it would be a cruiser, suitable for
work in distant waters. However, this cruiser had an armored belt. Alma displaced 3,600-tons and was armed with six 7.6-inch guns. Her speed was 11-knots and she had a wrought iron belt of 5.9-inches (150mm) in thickness. The Admiralty saw
the Alma and her six sisters as a threat to Great Britain’s numerous foreign stations. The first priority in the Royal Navy’s 1867-68 program was to construct British armored ships for operation on foreign stations. Edward Reed, whose brother in law
was Nathaniel Barnaby, was Chief Constructor. His design was the 2nd Class Ironclad Invincible Class of 6,000-tons, ten 12 1/2-ton guns (9.2-inch), and an 8-inch armored belt of wrought iron. Four were built but were almost always classed as
ironclads and not cruisers, until very late in their careers when they were retyped as armoured cruisers. However, they were designed for work in overseas stations as a direct result of the Alma Class. In 1873 Nathaniel Barnaby was Director of Naval
Construction (DNC) in charge of the Royal Navy’s warship designs. On March 11, 1873 he asked his assistant to prepare a design for a new cruiser with an armor belt. Barnaby handed over to his assistant a sketch that Barnaby had drafted with
details on guns and armor protection. These showed the ship with eight 12 1/2-ton (9.2-inch) guns, a belt of 9-inches of wrought iron and a maximum speed of 13-knots. However, on March 24 Barnaby deleted two of the 12 1/2-ton (9.2-inch) guns
and added two 18-ton (10-inch) guns in their place. This design would become the HMS Shannon in the 1873-74 program. Although called ironclad corvette or 2nd Class ironclad, Shannon was the first British armored cruiser.
For the 1874-75 program Barnaby came up with two more armored cruisers, similar to Shannon but with the gun battery reworked. These two were Nelson and Northampton. The armored belt only covered the battery midship but armored boxes
were provided fore and aft. There were two 18-ton (10-inch) guns fore and another two aft and a broadside armament of four 12 1/2-ton (9.2-inch) guns. In the last half of the 1870s the advances and experiments in the field of warship design were
frothing in their intensity. In 1880 the Admiralty asked Barnaby to prepare a design for a new armored cruiser with barbettes, inspired by French construction. By December 14, 1880 the design had four newly designed 9.2-inch (18-ton) guns
mounted in barbettes. The Admiralty considered the new 9.2-inch gun more powerful than the 12.5-inch (38-ton) muzzle loaders (MLR) guns of contemporary British turret battleships. The design also received a secondary battery of six 6-inch
guns. The armor was new steel faced iron with the equivalent protection of 12-inches of wrought iron. In many ways the design had better armor protection than contemporary RN battleships. The initial design was submitted on March 8, 1881 and
approved on March 19. The Controller, 3rd Sea Lord said of the design, "...a partly protected cruiser whose speed and protection makes her superior to any Unarmoured Cruiser, her protection, armament, and speed make her a match or
superior to what at present constitutes the 2nd Class Battle Ship of other powers.” (British Cruisers of the Victorian Era by Norman Friedman and drawings by A.D. Baker III, Seaforth Publishing 2012, at page 114) The 1881-82 program
included two of the design, HMS Imperieuse and HMS Warspite. The ships displaced 8,400-tons normal and were 315-feet (PP) in length with a beam of 62-feet and draft of 26-feet 9.5-inches mean. The propulsion plant developed 10,000 hp
forced draft. With the fall of William Gladstone as Prime Minister, the Royal Navy could get a greater share of the purse. First Lord Northbrook came up with the large supplemental Northbrook Program, showering the Royal Navy many new toys.
Five of a new design armored cruiser were allowed for 1884-85 and two for 1885-86. They were to be shorter and lighter than the Imperieuse but 3-knots faster. They carried two 9.2-inch guns and ten 6-inch guns, plus six 14-inch torpedo tubes
were introduced. This was to be the Orlando Class armored cruiser. They displaced 5,600-tons normal and were 300-feet (PP) with a beam of 56-feet and draft of 17-feet 6-inches. The power plant developed 8,622 hp forced draft for a maximum
speed of 19.1-knots. The ships constituted a Fiasco of the First Order because of their armor arrangement. The design had a narrow (5.5-feet in height) belt, which was supposed to extend 3 1/2-feet above the waterline. However, the ships were
800-tons overweight from the design. As a result the top of the armored belt was 2-feet underwater. Opps! Now the Orlandos were expensive, vulnerable unarmored cruisers! This disaster of naval design and construction soured the Admiralty on
the armored cruiser for the next 15 years.
William White, who had been Baraby’s assistant, was the DNC in the late 1890s. He had a tendency to design new ships without talking to the desires of the Admiralty and only present his designs without warning. They were usually approved and
ordered. He had been ill and took an long leave of absence to recover. During this time he visited  naval facilities and constructing firms in France, Italy, Russia.  He was especially impressed with what Italy had accomplished on the 8,600-ton
Garibaldi Class armored cruiser. During this same time period, the technology of armor design and characteristics evolved dramatically. For decades armor plate came in wrought iron. Then steel made its appearance with the French taking the lead.
Steel was more expensive and difficult to work compared to wrought iron so the Royal Navy stayed with wrought iron. Then came iron faced with steel, which was used for the Imperieuse. In the early 1890's Harvey process hardened steel armor
was introduced (RN access 1894) and then came Krupp Cemented armor (RN access 1896). In comparison 5.75-inches of Krupp Cemented equaled 7.5-inch of Harvey process armor, which equaled 12-inches of steel, which equaled 13-inch
compound armor, which equaled 15-inches of wrought iron. When metal 5.75-inches thick replaces metal 15-inches thick, the weight savings is tremendous. Because of the vastly improved armor and also because of new models of guns, White
started thinking about a new armored cruiser that would provide high speed along with armor thick enough for the cruisers to operate as a fast wing of the battle fleet within reasonable risk of engaging opposing battleships. Jacky Fisher had the
same function as White’s in Fishers conception of the Battle Cruiser a decade latter.
                     
White had designed the Canopus Class battleships with 6-inches of Krupp Cemented armor and now on May 3, 1897 he proposed the same belt for a new class of armored cruiser with 5-inches on bulkheads and casemates. On June 10 he submitted
his initial design with a new model 9.2-inch gun and either ten or twelve new model 6-inch secondary guns in double storey casemates. The design displacement was 12,000-tons and speed of 21-knots. On January 20, 1898 the final design was
approved. So the Royal Navy was back in the armored cruiser game and the six ships built to this design were known as the Cressy Class and were ordered in the 1897-98 program. As DNC White said, the cruiser could, “come to close quarters
with the enemy without running undue risks” The new cruisers were noted as being able to also serve on th the trade routes, “if required to be used in the protection of shipping, commerce & communications”. The Cressy Class armored
cruisers were 472-feet 6-inches long overall (OA), 460-feet waterline (WL) and 440-feet between perpendicular bulkheads (PP). The beam was 69-feet 6-inches and draught 26-feet 9-inches. Displacement was 12,000-tons normal. The power plant
of 30 Belleville boilers and two 4 cylinder triple expansion engines developed 21,000 horsepower for a maximum speed of 21-knots. The armored belt was 6-inches thick midships tapering to 2-inchs at the bow and none at the stern, 6-inches for
turrets, barbettes and casemates, 5-inch for end cap bulkheads, 12-inches for the conning tower and with an armored deck of 3 to 1-inches.
HMS Cressy was laid down on October 12, 1898 at the Fairfield Yard, launched on December 4, 1899 and completed on May 28, 1901. The Cressy Class made their first appearance in the Naval Annual of 1898. “Four cruisers of a new type are now in
hand. The displacement is 12,000 tons; the armour will be capable of resisting the penetration of a 6-in. gun; the speed will be 21 knots, and the cost of each ship £700,000. The new cruisers compare in fighting efficiency with battleships such as
the Centurion.” The Naval Annual 1898, Lord Brassy, J. Griffin & Co, 1898, at page 246. Earlier in the volume at page 11 it mentions that Aboukir, Cressy, Hogue, and Sutlej were laid down but their commencement would be delayed by the
introduction of new types of guns. In the next year’s annual there was an article entitled Recent Warship Construction, which was not flattering to the Cressy Class compared to foreign armored cruisers. “If in battleship classes other navies have followed
our lead, in the Cressy class we have followed the example of the Russian and other navies by adopting the belt for the protection of the vitals of the ship, instead of depending, as we have done hitherto, on a protective deck. The armament of the
Cressy class is the same as that of the Powerful, and includes two 9.2-in. guns, in place of the four 6-in. Q.-F., mounted on the poop and forecastle, as in the Diadem class. In energy of fire per minute, the armament of the Cressy is inferior to that
of the Elswick built ships Asama and O’Higgens, far inferior to that of the Gromoboi, which is about the same size, and of the Francesco Ferrucio, which is little more than half the displacement, and is only superior to that of the new French
cruisers. The 6-in. guns are mounted in casemates and distributed in the same way as in the Diadem and the Powerful. The speed of the Cressy is equal to that of the new French cruisers, superior to that of the Italian and German cruisers, but
inferior to that of the Asama and O’Higgens. “V.G.,” writing in Le Yacht, considers that the Cressy Class could take their place in the fighting line alongside the Canopus, and that “les croiseurs cuirasses anglais de 23 noeuds, aussi bien que ceux de la
classe Cressy, sont plutot construits pour combattre et detruire nos propres croiseurs cuirasses que pour servir d’eclaireurs d’escadres.” The new Powerful will have a speed of 23 knots, which is equal to that of the Jeanne d’Arc, the French and
American commerce-destroyers, and of the second-class cruisers, such as the Buenos Ayres and Yoshino, for the construction of which the Elswick firm is so famous. We can only repeat here that was object to such enormous displacement for a
cruiser.”( The Naval Annual 1899, Lord Brassy, J. Griffin & Co, 1899, at pages 184-185) This argument seems to overlook three significant features of the Cressy Class, it’s extensive armor protection (50% greater than the preceding Diadem Class),
including a 6-inch belt of Krupp Cemented steel equivalent to contemporary battleships, both the (9.2-inch and 6-inch guns were new models that were heavier than the previous marks and its coal storage capacity, which took up space and weight but gave
the ships longer legs than most of the foreign cruisers mentioned but not as much as the preceding Diadem Class.
In appearance the six ships of the Cressy Class were almost identical. Cressy, Aboukir and Bacchante had four bladed propellers while Hougue, Sutlej and Euryalus had three bladed props. With the requirement to operate with the battleships of the fleet
the tactical diameter of turning had to be close to that of contemporary battleships. A longer hull meant a larger turning radius so the Cressy was only slightly enlarged in turning circle over the previous Diadem Class and the two classes were very similar
in appearance. The armament consisted of two single gun 9.2-inch/46.7 Mk X guns in turrets fore and aft, twelve 6-inch/45 Mk VII guns in casemates, fourteen 12pdr/50 12 cwt QF Mk I-III (3-inch/50), two 3pdr QF guns, eight Maxim .303 machine
guns and two 18-inch submerged torpedo tubes. Delivery of the 9.2-inch and 6-inch guns were delayed not only bey the fact that they were new, improved models, but also by the fact that the Admiralty wished to give preference to Vickers in competition
with Armstrong Whitworth in constructing heavy ordnance for the Royal Navy. This krefuffle lasted until April 1898 and the result was that both firms supplied guns for the class. Full complement was 755 crewmen.

The first assignment for HMS Cressy was to the China Station where she served from 1901 to 1904. Captain Henry Tudor (Now, there is a name for a British Captain, Hal would be proud.) was delayed in taking the ship to China because of a structural
failure in the steering area, which took more than four months to remedy.  Based on his voyage to Hong Kong, Captain Tudor wrote of Cressy, “Cressy is a good fighting ship, and requires far less preparations for war than older ships. When she has
way on she answers her helm well, and turns in a remarkably small circle. When way is off the ship, or her speed is very low she is almost unmanageable, and to such an extent as in a small harbour to be almost dangerous: the inward turning
screws undoubtedly contribute to this, and I doubt whether their advantages outweigh their deficiency in twisting power.” (Armoured Cruiser Cressy by Andrew Choong, Seaforth Publishing 2020, at page 49) Tudor noted that the ship was wet with
issues on the lower 6-inch casemates and that in even a light seaway waves can hit hull projections such as lower casemates and send up sheets of spray that land on the boat deck. The ship went through a Typhoon and Tudor reported that Cressy was
very steady even when broadside to the storm and was a good gun platform even under those conditions. Tudor reported on all problems with the ship no matter how minor. He did not like the positioning of the accommodation ladders. “It is very
inconvenient especially in the case of receiving foreign officers: an admiral for instance arrives at the top of the ladder and having to get through the hole in the ship’s side, usually bangs his head against the top; after profuse apologies on my part
his attention is distracted by the efforts of the marine guard to present arms without perforating the boom boats overhead; and he is just recovering his equanimity when he falls over the boats derricks topping lift which when the derrick is in use,
leads across the entry port at a height of 2 or 3 feet.” (Armoured Cruiser Cressy by Andrew Choong, Seaforth Publishing 2020)
In January 1905 she was recalled to Portsmouth where was placed in reserve with a nucleus crew to keep up maintenance. Cressy was back in active service with a reduced crew from 1907 to 1909 as a member of 4th Cruiser Squadron on North
America & West Indies Station as a boy’s training ship. After that it was back to the UK to Nore and the 3rd Fleet from 1909-1914. In 1907 fire control positions were added to her masts with a sheltered position on the foremast. Flying topmasts were
added to improve wireless communication. While there in 1912 she was attached to the 6th Cruiser Squadron. By 1913 the Cressy, as well as the other members of the class, all were in reserve with reduced crews, were considered for disposal. With
the start of World War One she was hauled out of the Medway, manned by an untrained crew, and assigned to the 7th Cruiser Squadron. She, along with four of her sisters were based at Harwich in order to provide heavy support to the light cruisers
and destroyers of Commodore Reginald Tyrwhitt’s Harwich Flotilla. The key patrol area was an area known as the Broad Fourteens off the Dutch coast. However, because of consistent bad weather it was the cruisers on the front line and not the
destroyers that they were tasked to support. Their power plant was worn out and they could barely reach 15-knots. Trying to approach this speed produced a rash of breakdowns. Commodore Roger Keyes and Commodore Tyrwhitt both thought that
they were vulnerable. On August 17, 1914 Keyes wrote the Director of Naval Operations about the Cressys or Bacchantes as they were called by Keyes. “Think of ...(what will happen if) two or three well-trained German cruisers...fall in with those
Bacchantes. How can they be expected to shoot straight or have any confidence in themselves when they know that they are untrained and can’t shoot? Why give the Germans the smallest chance of a cheap victory and an improved morale (?)...
For Heaven’s sake, take those Bacchantes away! ...The Germans must know they are about and if they send out a suitable force, God help them...” (Castles of Steel by Robert K. Massie, Random House 2003, at page 129) On September 17 both
Tyrwhitt and Keyes were on a train bound for Loch Ewe for a conference with Admiral Jellicoe. On the train with them was Winston Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty. Churchill solicited their opinions and Keyes mentioned that in the Grand Fleet
the Cressy were known as the “live bait squadron”. Churchill asked for him to explain, which Keyes freely did. At the conference on board the Iron Duke, Churchill brought up the situation with Jellicoe and he also agreed that the Cressys should be
removed from their front line service. Churchill wrote the 1st Sea Lord Prince Louis of Battenberg (later in the war Anglicized to Mountbatten) that “The Bacchantes ought not to continue on this beat. The risk to such ships is not justified by the
services they render. The narrow seas, being the closest point to the enemy, should be kept by a small number of good modern ships.” Battenburg agreed and told Admiral Doveton Sturdee to take care of it. However, as was true for many decades,
the Royal Navy did not have enough light cruisers to replace them and Sturdee, thinking any cruiser was better than none, persuaded Battenburg to leave the Cressys in the Broad Fourteens, until they could be replaced by the new Arethusa Class light
cruisers, just coming into service. Their concern was the danger posed by German surface ships not submarines.
On September 22, 1914 the Cressy, Aboukir, Hogue and Euryalus of the class were patrolling the Broad Fourteens, in order to protect the northern flank of the convoys taking the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) to France. On the 17st weather was
bad so there were no escorting destroyers and Euryalus with Squadron Commander Rear Admiral Christian, had to return to port because of damage to her radio antenna and shortage of coal on September 19. Christian couldn’t transfer to another one
of his cruisers because of the weather. Christian didn’t issue any orders to the senior Captain John Drummond on Aboukir and Drummond didn’t issue any. However, on the 22nd the weather was calm with good visibility. At 5:00 AM Commodore
Tyrwhitt left Harwich with a light cruiser and eight destroyers for the four hour voyage to the Broad Fourteens. He would be three hours too late in his arrival. That day was latter named the “Three Before Breakfast” day. The submarine U-9,
commanded by Otto Weddigen, was lurking in the area. The remaining three cruisers were steaming in column straight ahead at 10-knots, ignoring orders to zig-zag. U-9 spotted the fine target and closed the three cruisers. The first target was
Aboukir. At 6: 20 AM one of the torpedoes from the submarine hit the cruiser. The ship lost power and glided to a stop and developed a heavy list. It was thought that Aboukir had struck a mine and the other two cruiser closed stricken Aboukir and
stopped to lower boats to rescue the crew of Aboukir. While this rescue was in progress Aboukir capsized at 6:46 AM. While this was happening U-9 was maneuvering for a better firing position. Two torpedoes went into Hogue at 6:55 AM. Cressy
now recognized that it was a submarine that was attacking and Cressy tried to get in position to ram the U-Boat. When the submarine disappeared the Cressy slowed for rescue of the crew of her two sisters. At 7:05 Hogue sank. At 7:20 it was Cressy’s
turn and she was hit by one torpedo.  Initially it appeared that Cressy could be saved but this optimistic forecast changed at 7:55 AM when U-9 slipped a second torpedo into Cressy. The ship lasted another 20 minutes until she too capsized at 8:15 AM.
A small Dutch steamship, Flora arrived at 8:30 AM and started rescuing survivors. She was joined by the Titan, another small Dutch steamer. At 10:45 AM Tyrwhitt with the light cruiser and eight destroyers arrived. In total among the three ships, 837
crewmen survived but the losses were an appalling 1459. After this the older cruisers were withdrawn from patrol duties. The three Cressys sank in shallow water of 90-feet. In the 1950s the wrecks were heavily salvaged.  

(Bulk of history from: Armoured Cruiser Cressy by Andrew Choong, Seaforth Publishing 2020;  Before the Battlecruiser by Aidan Dodson, Seaforth Publishing 2018; British Cruisers of the Victorian Era by Norman Friedman and drawings by
A.D. Baker III, Seaforth Publishing 2012; Castles of Steel by Robert K. Massie, Random House 2003; The Naval Annual 1898, Lord Brassy, J. Griffin & Co, 1898; and The Naval Annual 1899, Lord Brassy, J. Griffin & Co, 1899)
The Combrig 1:700 scale HMS Cressy - When I saw the announcement from Free Time Hobbies that they had the three armored cruisers that were sunk by U-9, I immediately ordered the HMS Cressy, the first of the class. I knew that Combrig
was producing it and I eagerly anticipated its availability. Well my dream came true and Cressy is in my hands. I just wish I had done a better sanding job on the parts used in the Dry Fit photographs. On both forward and aft chart houses, I didn’t sand
the bottoms smooth and as a result, the platforms on top are tilted. I also reversed the aft control platform. So much for my mea culpas. When I measured the waterline, it came in at 7.95-inches. Which equates to 463.75-feet in on the original.
According to my resource the waterline length of Cressy was 460-feet. A ship 460-feet long would be 7.89-inches long so the Combrig Cressy is slightly over-scale at 1:694.7 scale. However, that being said, the Combrig Cressy is an excellent kit. Two
improvements over previous Combrig kits jumped out at me. The Cressy seems to me to have more detail than earlier kits. I hope that Combrig upgrades the Drake and Kent Classes of armored cruiser kits to include the detail found on Cressy. I also
hope and suspect that Combrig will continue producing other classes of Royal Navy armored cruisers. Casting, as always with Combrig is excellent with no casting errors, no air bubble voids except for a couple of pinhole voids on a bollard head and
windlass, crisp parts and minimal clean up. About the only work to be done is to remove the larger parts from the resin runners.

The hull sides of the Cressy are packed with detail. The hull tertiary gun casemates bow and stern have sharply cast recesses into the hull for the gun barrels and individual gun position shutters with hinge detail. This level of detail is also found on the 6-
inch gun casemates with their sponsons outboard of the hull sides. They too have individual gun shutters with hinge detail and holes for the gun barrels. More tertiary gun positions are found midship and they also have shutters with hinge detail.
Midship on both sides are set of double doors, rather like a passenger liner entrance doors with portholes, as indeed these doors served the same purpose. This was prevalent for warship designs leading up to the 20th Century. The oval hull anchor
hawse have nice collars and sufficient depth for the anchor. The armor belt is nicely done. On each side of the bow are small half-circle positions for the anchors, before the change to stockless anchors that would rest in the hull anchor hawse.
Rounding out the hull detail are rows of portholes and locater holes for boat davits.
As usual there is even more detail on the decks. Although the deck planking still lacks butt end detail, the plank lines are fine. Open chocks and twin bollard fittings are found at deck edge on the forecastle and quarter deck. On the forecastle are two
different patterns of multi-hatch deck access coamings, again with hinge detail. Also found is a skylight with port hole windows. At the rear end of the forecastle is locater lines for attaching the first level of superstructure part. Midships, each side has
covered areas running the length of the midships section, which housed tertiary guns and other compartments. Therefore the open deck area is limited. The most notable features are the base structures for three of the four funnels. Locater lines are
present for the base of the forward funnel are also present. The aft funnel has a large field of deck doors that were opened to ventilate the engine spaces. Behind each funnel base is a locater rectangle for the very large ventilator cowls. There are also
two locater outlines for further deck houses and a locater hole for the main mast. Running down each flank are coal scuttles. On the quarterdeck the deck detail concludes with a number of skylights and deck access coamings. Locater holes are
present for two large mushroom ventilators.
Three parts are cast as separate parts, unattached to any resin pour stalk or runner. These are the two 9.2-inch turrets and the first levels of the superstructure. All three of these parts are very well done. The turrets have a fine base apron and two cupolas
on their crowns. The cupolas even have hinges. The crowns also have armor plate detail. The gun openings are deep, ensuring a secure fit for the barrels. The superstructure part has two levels. The 01 level has bulkhead doors with hinge detail and port
holes, while the 02 level is the conning tower with deep vision slits. Detail on the 01 deck consists of plank lines and short plank lines radiating out from the conning tower base. A thin resin sheet contains four platforms. These are the forward and aft
navigation decks, the bridge deck and the large deck that covers the aft end of the midship’s well. Also on this sheet are the first funnel base, a midship machinery house, and five detailed funnel base plates, even though you only need four. Ten resin
runners complete the parts laydown. One has the four funnels, which have nice top aprons and horizontal reinforcing bands. One runner has three very large twin ventilator cowls, which have a Y shape. These are very prominent on the model and the
mouth of the cowls are well indented. They also feature the junction bands where the cowl heads could be turned to face the wind. A third runner has more ventilator cowls in three shapes with junction bands. The 9.2-inch gun barrels, which have
slightly flared ends and hollow muzzles. The last part on this runner is the front face of the chart house. This part is highly detailed with numerous wood panel lines. The 6-inch and tertiary guns share a runner with navigation equipment and three
mushroom ventilators. The barrels have good detail, although one of the tertiary barrels had a slight warp. One interesting runner has the aft portion of the chart house with the same detailed panel lines found on the front face piece. It also has the aft
control deck house and two optional parts. These optional parts are gunnery control positions for the 1906 and 1914 fits of Cressy. Deck winches and lockers dominate another runner. The winches have outstanding detail and the lockers have foot detail.
Also on this runner are windlasses and a few other parts. Another runner has detailed anchors, searchlights, signal lamps, life buoy racks, two open tertiary guns, flagstaff and a balsa raft. The last three runners have eight open boats ranging from a large
whaler to a small dinghy. All have thwart and bottom planking detail. There are also two cabin steam launches, which are packed with deck and cabin detail.
A full brass photo-etch fret is included. Among the numerous brass parts you receive the stern deck walk platform and overhead as well as the criss-cross railing with top and bottom supports. The accommodation ladders have open grid platforms and
trainable treads on the inclined ladder portions. Combrig provides ratlines for the foremast and main mast on the fret. The masts’ top platforms are also included. Numerous boat skids with boat chocks are provided for the flying boat deck midships.
Four of the largest parts are lattice support structures for the forward and aft navigation decks. Among the other parts are individual boat oars and rudders, steam launch propellers, a steam launch open shelter, boat davits, anchor chain, cable reels, open
tertiary gun shields, support gussets, ship’s wheels, vertical ladder, inclined ladders with safety rails and trainable treads, deck boat skids, and railing. The railing comes in many patterns, some for deck edge and some for specific deck positions. They all
have individual stanchion ends without a bottom gutter. I personally prefer a bottom gutter representing a scupper, as I think it is easier to attach than railing with individual stanchions.         
Color comes to Combrig. Almost since inception, modeler have complained about the instructions in Combrig kits. Combrig responded by making incremental improvement of their instructions. With the Cressy there has been another big jump in
quality. The instructions are in color. The parts are color coded based on the type of part. Resin parts are light green, brass parts are shown in orange and parts provided by the modeler, such as masts and yards, are in blue. All parts are numbered in the
instructions with the number matching that on the resin runner or photo-etch fret. Thank you, Combrig! The instructions are 20 pages in length on ten back-printed sheets. I think that this is a new high in page count for Combrig.  Page one is the
standard profile and plan with a history in Russian. The profile has a full rigging scheme. Page 2 is the resin parts laydown. Page 3 has the fret laydown and template for cutting the modeler supplied plastic rod for masts and spars. Pages are not
numbered but since most pages have assembly models, this is a minor inconvenience. Page three has assembly of the forward superstructure and bridge in four steps. Page 4 has assembly of the aft superstructure, anchors, and accommodation ladders.
The next four pages are the assembly instructions for the masts in 1903 fit and 1914 fit. Page 10 has funnel assembly. Pages 11 through 13 have ship’s boat assembly as well as flying boat deck assembly, cable reel and turret assemblies. Page 14 is for
quarterdeck and stern assembly. Page 15 is on midship assembly. Page 16 is the forecastle and bow assembly. Page 17 is final midship assembly, while page 18 is final forward superstructure assembly. Page 19 is final aft superstructure assembly. Page
20 concludes with final assembly, which is mainly attaching boat davits to the hull sides.
You too can take on battleships, as Sir William White DNC, designer of the Cressy Class armored cruiser said, “come to close quarters with the enemy without running undue risks”. However, Sir William could not foresee the U-9 and the Three before
Breakfast, live bait squadron disaster. With the Combrig 1:700 scale model of HMS Cressy you get a very detailed model of White’s dream cruiser. Just steer clear of U-Boats.

Steve Backer
Huntsville, Alabama
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