Trumpeter 1:350 - Russian Cruiser Pyotr Velikiy

I've always had a fascination with the Russian Navy and their unique ships and culture, and when i found out Pyotr could be purchased a 1/350 scale, none waterline, i was over the moon.Тем не мене...I appreciate not having to glue the hull itself together, so when it came in a whole hull i was grateful. I'm only coming back into modelling and i was appreciative of the many pieces and having a detailed kit to crack on with, but way it's far from perfect...I'll begin with the positives first:- The appearance and detail is fantastic, i'm incredibly impressed on the level of detail, although it takes time, but that's the whole point, right?-The inclusion of some Photo-etch parts for radars and the helipad nets, it's my first time with PE and a brilliant introduction, it makes the model look more detailed and is a brilliant inclusion.-There loads of pieces on about 10 sprues. It felt like it was never ending but i'm now grateful for the challenge that gave me.Negatives.- Fit on some pieces just wasn't worth what i feel was a lot of money. £75 is not cheap and the fit in comparison to the Tamiya kits I've recently built don't even compare. There was some parts of the superstructure that felt like they took a lot of work to fit, and had to re-spray some pieces just to eliminate the glue from pieces that didn't fit in their respective areas properly. The final gluing of the superstructure to the hull was an arduous task and i had to sand and repaint some of the deck in order for it to fit.-The designation of the colours for the deck were a bit in the air, it took quite a bit of research and help from my girlfriend (who paints) in order to get the deck colour smack on by mixing, but this i expected.-The amount of tiny pieces i think took the p**s just a tad. i know that's what modelling is all about but i did feel the need to leave out many pieces due to the fact their poor fit could compromise the quality of the kit.To summarise:If you really want to build something that is quite rare (probably why it's so expensive) and one of the most interesting ships to a 1/350 collection, and don't mind the occasional frustration, absolutely buy this kit. If you've built and been spoiled by Tamiya kits and their amazing quality, don't expect the same, although it's by far from terrible, some pieces really require some work.I'm personally still happy i got this kit and endured it, but if all other Trumpeter kits are like this it might be a while before i get another again.