Kursk SSGN
by Paul Helfrich

1/400 Russian Kursk SSGN (Maquette)

This is the Maquette 1/400 model of the Kursk. I got the kit through Trident Hobbies. Modelers interested in the Kursk now have a number of choices - the Oscar class sub included (with a British Trafalgar class) in the old DML 1/700 modern sea power series, the newer Tamiya 1/700 waterline Kursk, the Zvezda 1/350 version, and this one.

Maquette is a Russian company and the kit is typical of Russian models - big, heavy, and nothing fancy. The hull halves appeared to be vacu-formed and took a lot of effort to join. A large seam was left that took a lot of sanding and filling (and even then, I wasn't able completely to obliterate it, but it looks OK). Some of the attachment holes for the stern planes needed to be opened up a bit, and the thick, heavy, plastic of the hull was so tough it practically took a chainsaw to get through it! I did appreciate the molded missile hatches on the upper hull, and used a black wash to accentuate those a bit.

The decals included were of the very fragile, disintegration-prone type. While there was a nice decal for the Russian "double eagle" crest on the front of the fairwater, there was no decal for the "City of Kursk" emblem that appeared prominently on the side. I used a bit of medieval heraldry from an Andrea Miniatures dry transfer set to stand in for that one - not entirely accurate, but it looks better than nothing.

The top color is Tamiya Nato Black with some panzer gray weathering. I find this to be a nice all-purpose color for modern submarines, right out of the jar. I did the usual Russian white stripe at the waterline, then anti-fouling red (Polly rust streaked with Tamiya hull red) below. I looked at several other models displayed on this site and chose this scheme as a composite of the ones I liked best. I also consulted some excellent photos in the book "Lost Subs" by Spencer Dunmore and Robert Ballard.

The Russian flags were made by hand. Overall, I'm very pleased with this addition to my growing 1/400 scale submarine fleet. Maquette makes an extensive line of Russian subs (including a Kilo and an Alfa, as well as several WWII subs) and they go nicely with other 1/400 subs by Mirage and Heller.