Alfa K-123
by Paul Helfrich

1/400 Alfa K-123 SSN (Maquette)

This is the Russian Alfa-class submarine kit in 1/400 scale released by Maquette of Russia.

There are some detail differences compared to other, earlier generation Alfa kits (like DML's from the early 90s, shown here. The tail fins are larger, compared to the DML 1/350 release, and there are also small maneuvering propellers (?) on the horizontal stabilizers.

I would assume Maquette's kit to be more accurate, being of more recent vintage.One might assume the Maquette release to also be more accurate due to its coming from a Russian manufacturer, but I don't know if that's true or not. The Alfa is no longer a cutting-edge submarine in any way, so perhaps details of its design are no longer as shadowy as they once were.

As made famous in Tom Clancy's "The Hunt for Red October," the Alfa-class were fast and deep-diving (although not nearly so much as rumored in the West) but they were also very noisy and had some reactor safety issues.

Maquette's kit is made of heavy plastic. The hull halves don't align properly and it takes a lot of sanding and filling to get them even close to matching. The decals are fragile and perhaps a bit large for the scale, but they do dress up the finished product nicely.