Resin Kit Review: Cozmo Heavy Industries 1:2500 Klingon Korz Class Trasnport

NOTE:  You can click on most pictures to get a larger view of them.

WOW!  It has been quite a while since I've done a resin kit review.  For this one, I'm returning to one of my favorite kit makers, Cozmo Heavy Industries, and his 1:2500 scale Klingon Korz Class cargo transport.

C.H.I.'s eBay Advertisement

In Universe Notes:

Klingon Korz Class Transport

1:2500 Scale Cozmo Heavy Industries Kit

 

 

 

 

 

DeepSpace Pat's Paint Scheme

Dimensions
Length: 349.54 meters
Width: 251.76 meters
Height: 98.41 meters
Specifications
Decks: unknown
Crew: 200
Speed: Warp 7
Armaments: 6 Disruptor Cannons, 2 Photon tubes
Defences: Shields, Cloaking device (when not hauling cargo)
Auxiliary craft: None

Normally, being assigned to a transport ship serving in the Klingon navy would be viewed as being just shy of Discommendation in Klingon society.  Unless you are assigned to serve on a Korz class ship.

The Korz class was designed to haul valuable cargo through dangerous shipping zones.  Looking very much like her older D-7 and current K't'inga sister ships, she is as equally armed and armored and ready to take on any would be pirates.  She is a bit stockier than her counterparts but has more RCS thrusters to allow her to maneuver with bulky cargo.  The ship is capable of cloaking when not hauling cargo.

A favorite tactic of the captains of these ships is to feign helplessness and pretend to try to run from an assailant in order to draw them in.  Once within in striking distance, the ship will release its cargo pod and turn and attack.  When not hauling cargo, the ship is actually more maneuverable that the K't'inga class ships thanks to all the additional thrusters.  Many would be pirates have lost their lives in a vain attempt to take the cargo from a Korz class transport.

Additional notes from Cozmo Heavy Industries: Klingons designed thier cargo containers in such a way that Federation vessels could not tow them, but Klingon vessels would be able to attach to Federation containers.  Those allied with the Klingons followed suit.

Real Universe Notes:

The kit comes with 8 pieces, decals and a base for a stand.  The completed ship measures in at 12.5cm with the cargo container, and 8cm without it.

Jay who owns and operates Cozmo Heavy Industries is a great guy to deal with.  He is very quick to respond to questions, and like to talk tech when it comes to the hobby.  I'm always fascinated about the behind the scenes world of kit making, and Jay has always be very informative when asked questions about it.

In regards to this kit.  It is a new kit that he has developed, but it had been under development for a couple of years.  He doesn't remember where the original idea for it came from though.    It was part of several partially completed Klingon container ships on his bench and he seems to think that he bashed this type of ship together from parts and liked the end result.  One of his recent goals is to make resin kits that are easier to build, and this design was one of them.

For my build, I chose not to glue the cargo container to the ship.  The cargo container connects to the stand and the ship balances on top of the cargo container.  Because I have done this, I am able to display the ship with or without containers AND if I want, I can even swap out the stock containers with other types of containers.

The kit does not come with a rod for the stand.  If you have read any of my other C.H.I. reviews, you will know that Jay feels that everyone has different tastes in what they want for a support rod.  And quite frankly, he is not the only garage kit maker that does this.  I have included a link down below on a quick and somewhat easy D.I.Y. article on making your own rods.

The Build

If you are new to resin kit build, then you must ALWAYS wash your kit when it comes from the kit maker.  This is because the nature of resin kit making leaves an oily surface on the parts that makes it very difficult to paint and even glue together.  I have included a number of helpful side articles to help first time resin kit builders in regards to kit washing and gluing.  You can find all those articles in links further down below.

 

 

After giving the kit it's nice warm soapy bath, I commenced with cleaning up any residual resin.  This is quite common in resin kits and can be dealt with in several ways.  I typically just use an exacto knife and trim the pieces off, or if you are more patient, you can send them off with sand paper.  As you can see, there was some cleaning up to do on my kits, however, none of it was too difficult to accomplish with my handy knife in hand.

 

  

Assembly was straight forward and very simple.  The nacelle assemblies glued on without a lot of work which made putting her together a joy.  I installed a post for my stand and then drilled a hole in the cargo container.

 

Next step was to do some minor putty work on the cargo container and back of the actual ship.

 

 

The next time I got to work on it, I painted up the stand and the top half of the cargo container.  I also started doing the detail painting of the main ship.

 

 

 

I then made a bunch of progress over the weekend on this model.  I finished up all the painting and touch-up painting of the main ship.  I also decided to go out of my comfort zone and use the supplied decals.  Surprisingly, I only screwed up one of the large ones on the cargo container AFTER it had already been placed perfectly.  Once everything dries, the model was clear coated and considered ready for my obligatory photoshoot.

Conclusion

I opened this review up with a comment from Jay stating that "One of his recent goals is to make resin kits that are easier to build, and this design was one of them.".  Did he obtain that goal?

Honestly, the answer is a resounding YES!  Other than taking off some excess resin on certain areas of the model, the kit comes as a very crisp and clean setup for someone to build.  Gluing it together was a breeze and painting her was equally simple.  I don't consider myself an expert model builder or resin kit builder.  Putting this one together was so simple that I felt like an expert though, and I have no problems recommending it to the first time modeler, whether in styrene or resin.

I hope you found this article as useful and informative as I did while writing it.  Please feel free to leave any comments, questions or suggestions below.

So, for now, "Live Long & Prosper!"

Additional Links To Photos Of My Collection:

The Ship     WIP Pictures

Helpful Hint Articles

Washing     Warped Parts     Gluing     Filling The Gaps     Making Stands     Decal Application 

NOTE: If you are new to my reviews, then please read on.  This section talks about the garage kit maker that made this kit as well as a little about why I'm writing this review.  If you are one of my regular readers, then feel free to skip the rest of this article as it is a word for word repeat of stuff from previous articles.

Kit Maker Information

Jay who runs Cozmo Heavy Industries sells all of his kits via eBay.  He changes out what ships are for sale every Saturday evening so it is best to check in once a week to see what he has for sale.

Jay also maintains a FaceBook page where he likes to share his work in progress on future kit releases.  I really like this approach as I'm a big fan of behind the scenes stuff.

Lastly, Jay does have a website, but it is more of an informational page about the business and he has hinted on FaceBook that he may be closing down that site.

I find Jay to be a very approachable garage kit maker.  He has a regular day job and uses the business to not only allow him to make new ships for himself but to also help fund his love for the hobby.  If you have ever followed Jay's work, you will know that he hand makes all of his kits from pre-existing parts, and he hand crafts all the other pieces for the ship.  This allows him to produce all sorts of unique model kits.  He loves to talk about the hobby and has lots of good advice about the hobby if you ever ask him for it.  He will usually answer any questions you send to him within a day or two.

C.H.I.'s eBay Seller Profile: CLICK HERE
C.H.I.'s FaceBook Page: CLICK HERE

When I interviewed Jay about his business, he says that a lot of his kits were designed and made over 20 years ago so he is unsure now just how long it took to make most of them which is why I don't have a lot of behind the scenes information about the kits like in my other reviews.

Jay recently shared on his FaceBook page about his stance on stands.  In it he wrote, "Everybody does theirs different. I use .055" piano wire and not everybody has that size drill bit. Plus, that tiny wire would put a hole in the bag and get lost. I have also seen people use clear rod, or use the base as a badge to apply to a larger stand."  So there you go.  And as I've said in other articles, I have yet to see a resin kit that comes with a rod.

DISCLAIMER SECTION

I consider myself an intermediate model maker.  I'm pretty good with assembling kits these days  and OK on the painting side of things.  I ultimately end up with ships that look good enough to me to display in my collection.  I've found that there are all sorts of neat ships out there that no one has made a pre-built or pre-painted model of, so, in an effort to expand my ship collection I've turned to building them myself, either by kitbashing or purchasing ready made resin model kits.

There are several smaller garage kit makers out there that produce some very good kits.  I've actually developed a good relationship with a couple of them and volunteered some of my time to write up reviews about the kits I've purchased from them.  I have already warned them that I intend to be pretty objective, not pull any punches, and these reviews are going to be written from the point of view of an intermediate model builder.  If this means that I warn away a first time builder from a particular kit, then they will need to be OK with that approach.

Lastly, due to the nature of resin casting, not every kit is going to be the same.  Excess resin and air pockets are a part of the game when you get into this sort of model building.  The kit that I got and built may be slightly different than your kit as far as minor quality issues.  I will still point out flaws with my kit as those flaws could lead into a lesson of some sort for either you the reader or the kit maker themselves.