Le Redoubtable
by Paul Helfrich

1/250 French SSBN Le Redoubtable (Betexa)

I built the Heller 1/400 scale kit of the SSBN Le Redoubtable some time ago, and when I saw this 1/250 scale paper model by the Czech company Betexa, I jumped at the chance to build another version of the French "boomer." It was a fairly difficult build - unlike other paper model submarines, with the hull in sections around a frame with bulkheads - in this case, the majority of the hull was one large piece that had to be rolled to shape. I was not fully successful in achieving an accurate shape. However, it makes an interesting addition to my submarine collection as a "four footer" - i.e. it looks OK from about 4 feet away!