Upfront, I want to upfront thank Hobby Boss for producing this kit and MRC for providing it for a review sample. Likewise, I would like to extend to the IPMS/USA a big thank you for allowing me to review the Hobby Boss JMSDF Harushio class submarine.

Background

JS Harushio was laid down at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Kobe Shipyard on 21 April, 1987 as the 1986 plan 2400-ton submarine No. 8098 and it was launched on 26 July, 1989. She was commissioned on 30 November 1990 and homeported in Kure. She belonged to the 5th Submarine of the 1st Submarine Group.

She was decommissioned on 27 March, 2009. The total journey until her removal was 243,000 nautical miles (about 11.2 laps of the earth). Her submerged duration was about 27,000 hours, and the number of dives was 603. She also participated in 10 Maritime Self-Defense Force exercises and 8 simulated combat trainings between submarines. [Background courtesy of Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JS_Harushio]

Kit

This kit is about as simple as they come. It comes in a color, glossy, end-opening box with a single sprue containing 10 parts along with a pre-finished base to display your completed model. Two of the ten parts are the stands that attach to the base and two more are a pair of optional parts for conning tower. The kit is a simple design and can be assembled easily in an afternoon. Also included is a small decal sheet along with a full color painting guide. The sprue layout and assembly guide (aka: the instructions) are printed on the back of the box.

Construction

As previously mentioned, this is a quick build. I broke the kit into two sub-assemblies. First the main hull, which consists of a top and bottom part. Before moving on, I took the time to clean up as best I could some of the panel lines. In general, they are well molded but require a little finesse to make them pop. Unfortunately, the halves join right through the middle torpedo tube door. My seam filling obliterated this door, so if you were clever enough to notice its absence, it is the fault of the builder, not Hobby Boss.

Next up was the conning tower, The sub-assembly consists of four parts, the tower itself, right and left dive planes, and the top. The top is provided with either the periscope deployed or retracted. Once the conning tower is attached to the hull, they final step is to attach the screw.

Once built, I primed, masked and painted the main hull assembly separate from the screw, finishing with decal application and a clear matte coat. In total, I have maybe two hours tops in the complete build. In full disclosure, the masking was the most difficult portion of the build.

The finished model is approximately 11cm in length (4.5”) and was a fun little weekend build.

Conclusion

I would really like to extend my thanks to Hobby Boss and MRC for making this kit available for review as well as to the IPMS/ USA review team for giving me the opportunity to review the kit.

Recommended!!!