Russian Oscar-II SSGN
Reviewed by Sean Hert and Timothy Dike
| The Kursk was built under the "949A" project and was intended to fight carrier battlegroups. He was commissioned with the Northern Fleet in early 1995. The Kursk was lost at sea 12/08/00, with all 118 of her crew lost. | |||||||||
| This 1/350 kit from the Russian company of Zvezda is molded in black styrene. The molding is of good quality, with no flash, even around the delicate parts. The kit has a two versions to choose from; a surfaced or submerged configuration with the option to have the missile bay doors open. |
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| HULL | |||||||||
| The hull halves are well molded with generally good detail. Each hull half has a few sprue nubs needing some sanding. The halves mate up nicely, with only a small step where the screws meet the hull, easily fixed. The torpedo tube detail in the bow is a little soft, but it's not a mission ender. The inner hull around the 3M-45/P700 "Granite" (SS-N-19) missile tubes is plain, but I'm not sure how much detail would really show in this scale. | |||||||||
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| SUPERSTRUCTURE AND DETAILS | |||||||||
| The superstructure or "sail" parts are straightforward
and should pose no problems. The sail is finely detailed with vents and
crew access doors. There are clear parts included for the both the fair
and foul weather bridges.
The screws are nicely cast, with no flash on the finely curved scimtar blades. The missle bay doors are a simple two piece affair. They have engraved lines seperating the doors, and will not pose any problem for someone wishing to show them in a firing position; a few seconds with a razor saw will seperate the doors. I am curious about parts 14B(15B); they seem to be some sort of reactor cooling "scoop" or something. Since photos showing russian subs below the waterline are rare, I am usure of their purpose. The parts do seem a bit thick and out of scale, but could be spot on for all I know. |
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| INSTRUCTIONS | |||||||||
| The instructions are in Cyrillic, but this is no obstacle. There are seven basic steps, all clearly illustrated for both versions of this kit. | |||||||||
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| CONCLUSIONS | |||||||||
This is a great kit should build quickly. It would make a good weekend project, and build up to nice example of this famous submarine. This kit lists for $21.00 US, which I think is a pretty good deal. Thanks to Pacific Front Hobbies for the review sample. |
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