K-3 November SSN
by Paul Helfrich

1/350 K-3 November SSN (Zvezda)

New submarine kits are coming out like crazy these days. In addition to the popular U-Boat and US Fleet boat subjects, there are also some more obscure boats being covered by the news releases.

These would include the November class kit recently issued in 1/350 by Zvezda. The Novembers (or Project 627 "Whale," as it was called by the Russians) were the Russian equivalent of the USS Nautilus - their first nuclear-powered boats, and also, in the case of the K-3, their first submarine to reach the North Pole. K-3 achieved that feat in 1962, four years after the history-making voyage of the Nautilus.

The "November" designation was no doubt chosen by NATO with the "N" standing for "nuclear." The Novembers were armed only with torpedoes; the basic design was later adapted into the "Hotel" class ballistic missile subs, including the famed K-19.

These subs were a bit unsafe, reactor-wise, and noisy as a freight train. The class has a bit of a checkered history, to say the least. The K-3 lost 39 crewmen in a fire in 1967, and the K-8 had a serious reactor incident in 1960, followed by her sinking under tow in the Bay of Biscay in 1970 after a fire. Interestingly, evidence has emerged indicating that the K-8 laid 20 nuclear torpedoes as mines on the floor of the Bay of Naples a few months prior to her loss, where no doubt they lie to this day...a third member of the class, the K-159, was allowed to deteriorate badly due to lack of maintenance and later sank, with some loss of life to her salvage crew, while under tow for disposal.

Zvezda's kit is simple and goes together well. I was impressed with the decals - far and away the best I've found in a Russian-manufacture kit. I'm looking forward to doing Zvezda's K-19 soon as well.