Hobby Boss’ 1/700 Type 094 Jin Class SSBN is composed of 18 injection molded styrene parts, 1 photo-etch part and a small decal sheet. One painting example is offered in full color. Assembly is broken down into two steps. Step one brings the hull halves and conning tower parts together. Step adds the conning tower to the upper hull, adds the photo-etch screw and places the supports of the display stand. Overall a very simple model.

This kit did not present any major challenges, but the hull is split into upper and lower halves which leads to steps on either side of the hull. Removal of the locating pins did not help solve the step problem. The upper half is slightly wider than the bottom. Instead of having one large step, I decided to split the difference and have two smaller steps to sand on each side. There are six rectangular blocks on each side of the hull and the seam and step run through the middle of four of these. Sanding and blending the step took a considerable amount of time as I did not want flat spots in the hull. Keeping the rectangular blocks, the proper shape also took time as the seam and step run through these. The rest of the assembly was trouble-free, but the parts are small and can be easily lost. I painted my model using ICM and Tamiya acrylics. I did not follow the paint diagrams exactly. I used the box art, artistic license, and a few hundred small tape squares to create an Aztec pattern to add some visual interest. The decals performed without any trouble. I was able to get the water depth markings to conform into the square depressions on the side of the hull with a few applications of Mr. Setter.

Thank you to MRC for the review sample.