So, this will be the build log for my entry into the "Warring Weather" GB; the legendary "Typhoon" class submarine. I say legendary in that most (if not all) of us have seen a particular movie about a particular stolen submarine...
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Anyways, I have been on a hunt of my own to find this kit:
Many years ago (around 2008) I had built the 1/700 HobbyBoss version, which suited me fine because I couldn't find a larger-sized model, at least not one that was easily available. Fast forward to 2014, lo and behold HobbyBoss announced a 1/350 Typhoon!
And it was a fairly expensive kit, too. And it sold out rather quickly. 
I frequently scanned my favorite online hobby stores just to see an "Out of Stock" or "Backordered" status listing. 
Wo was me.Then one random day, I got an email from a site advertising a "40% off" discount coupon, and thought, "what the heck," and did a search for my Typhoon. It was in stock!
I couldn't hit that "place order" button fast enough! 
Anyways, enough waffling; let's take a look at this thing!
First off, it is a huge - and I mean HUGE - box. Well, for a 1/350 submarine, it's huge:
Inside, you get two very large hull halves:
As you can see from the ruler, it measures out to about 18 inches total length, and also by looking at the upper hull, there is the option to have some or all of the missile hatches opened.
This kit features the anechoic rubber tiles that show up in some photos of Typhoon submarines. These were applied to help muffle the sounds from the submarine (or so I read; correct me if I'm wrong):
Moving on, Sprue A contains the parts for the sail (or conn tower, whichever you prefer), propellers, antenna masts, bilge keels, rudders, and the bow dive planes. There are two parts for the top of the sail; one has all of the antenna hatches closed, and the other has them open so that you can display all antennas extended.
You get four identical copies of Sprue B, however, I only took a photo of one:
These contain the parts for the missiles, missile tubes, missile hatches, the stern dive planes, and what I can only guess are some intakes for the underside. All four sprues will be needed to complete the missiles, missile tubes, and hatches, but only two will be needed for the dive planes and "intakes," so there are spares if you mess up, and knowing me, I probably will.
Sprue W is parts for the stand:
The kit includes a small PE fret with parts for one of the antenna and two replacement propellers. The propellers are entirely optional, but if you build the kit with the antennas extended, you will need the antenna parts:
The decal sheet has draft markings and what I think are markings for hatches to the sub's nuclear reactor. Sorry for the bad photo; all of the draft markings are in white and don't really show up very well:
So far, my only "out-of-the-box" gripe is that there is no decal or PE nameplate for the display stand. There's a space on the stand for a nameplate of some sort, but you're on your own to find/make one.
Anyways, onto the instruction booklet:
And lastly, a colorized paint/marking guide with recommended paints to finish the model:
And that's it for the contents of the box.
Some photos of the real Typhoon:
A brief history paraphrased from Wikipedia:
"The Project 941 or "Акула" (Shark) is a class of ballistic missile submarines used by the Soviet Union in the early-to-mid 1980's. NATO assigned it the codename of "Typhoon" and is currently the world's largest submarine ever built to date. Eight were planned for construction; a total of six were completed.
Dimensional statistics:
Length: 175m (574ft, 2in)
Beam: 23m (75ft, 6in)
Draft: 12m (39ft, 4in)
Total displacement: 23,200–24,500 tons surfaced, 33,800–48,000 tons submerged
The Typhoon carried 20 R-39 ballistic missiles, each carrying 10 MIRV (multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle) nuclear warheads. In addition, the Typhoon is also armed with six 21in torpedo tubes, capable of launching Type 53 torpedoes.
Of the six Typhoons built, there is only one still in active service with the Russian navy, TK-208 "Dmitriy Donskoy", used as a test bed for the newest Bulava missile. Two are being held in reserve, TK-17 and TK-20, however these are scheduled to be scrapped starting in 2018. The remaining three - TK-202, TK-12, and TK-13 - were scrapped between 1999-2009."
I absolutely can't wait to get started on this thing. Sub kits are usually pretty simple, and while this one is fairly large, it's still looks like an easy build. (We've all probably said that before.
)Anyways, thanks for looking, and stay tuned!
That's a big mutha submarine.
