Korean Missile Cruiser 드래곤 숨 (Deulaegon Sum), October 2017

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North-Korean Missile Cruiser  드래곤 숨 (Deulaegon Sum), October 2017

The Ship:

The small IJN cruiser Kinu was one of the six Nagara class cruisers build between  1920-1924. While it is believed that the Kinu was sunk by USN aircraft in the Visayan Sea on 26 October 1944, this is not true. Although the ship was heavily damaged during the attack, it was able to escape.
On its way back to Japan, a heavy storm caused it to detour to Incheon, Korea where it arrives in mid November of 1944. At the end of the war, the damaged cruiser was simply forgotten there as it was only worth to be scrapped.
In September 1950, when Incheon was overrun by North Korean forces, the Kinu - like other ships - were brought to the north. If not to be restored, the ships could be used to recycle the metal on it.
Again, after the Korean war, work to restore the Kinu was started as every ship was seen to be required to fight the aggressive South. This work only proceeded slowly, therefore by 1957, the ship was ready to get into service, now equipped with Russian/Chinese build weapons.

However, the ship was not used very often and stayed in port most of the times. But it maintained well and kept operational until 1991 when things changed.
On November 11th, 1991 the beloved son of the beloved leader Kim Jong-Il, Kim Jong-un saw the ship for the first time when he traveled to several military bases at the age of 6. With his bright mind he directly saw the potential of the old ship, took out his paper and pencil and draw something what he called "Deulaegon Sum" - the Dragons Breath.
He tried to persuade his father to turn the aging ship into the most powerful weapon the Korean waters have seen, but somehow his genius was not seen and it was thought to be the crazy ideas of a 6 year old child.

When Kim Jon-un got into power on Dec 19. 2011, his first order was to start the reconstruction of the Deulaegon Sum into a weapon that would put the fear into the eyes of South Korean and USN sailors. With a outstanding efford of North Korean workers - with a few Chinese advisors - it took until 2017 until the Deulaegon Sum was completed.
With its 16 SS-N-12 Sandbox anti-ship missiles, the primary objective of the Deulaegon Sum is to take out Imperialistic American aircraft carriers which try to get too close to North Korean waters. The existence of this powerful weapon puts the fear into the confused old man who is sitting in the White House, as it it was reported by North Korean News in early October 2017.

The model shows the Deulaegon Sum when it was put into service in October 2017.
 








The Model:

The model is a 1/700 Fujimi Kinu CL with additional parts of a Trumpeter Slava kit form the spare box part. Main additions are the Sandbox missiles, Russian artillery and the radar equipment. The ship is pained with Revell Aqua Color and fitted Eduard PE parts (railing and crew)

[NARSES2]

Brilliant. Love the model and the back story 

[zenrat]

Good job on both.

[Captain Canada]

Very nice build ! Love to see your builds. The details add up and give them such realism.