Thank you to the great folks at Model Rectifier (MRC) for providing this review kit. I appreciate your hard work bringing new products to the scale modeling community. Wolfpack Designs continues to bring forth a wealth of innovative aftermarket products and new kits. I am deeply appreciative of the IPMS Reviewer Corps crew. Their untiring efforts are often overlooked, but those efforts are critical to the success of the program.

The Type 214 class submarine is a German export version that is popular with many countries. This kit fills a nice spot in my 1:350 submarine collection, providing a nice contrast with the Typhoon and Ohio examples. A retired submarine officer told me that this particular class can have a very interesting tactical role in force projection, one worth reading about.

The kit is packages in a compact end-opening, 8.625 x 6.75 x 2.25 inch box with no lid. Colorful glossy artwork shows 214 class cruising on the surface with a P-3 flying overhead. Kit details are printed on all sides. There is a “no cement” logo on one side, but I believe the intent is to say there is no glue or paint included. The kit is certainly not a glue-less offering.

My kit arrived with 2 black plastic sprues in poly bags, and small, simple decal sheet protected by parchment paper in a re-sealable bag. The sprues were very clean with very little flash and no mold release observed. Engraving is medium-fine in depth, but is not overstated. A simple but very adequate set of instructions is included. The instructions are also available on the Wolfpack Designs website. Submarines are not all that complicated, so three construction stages covered completion well. The plastic itself has a nice balance of firmness and flexibility and is easily cut and sanded. The thickness of the hull halves provides good stability to the glued-up hull and seams. Multiple parts are provided for docked, surface, and submerged configurations. If you do not wish to have cleats and chocks on deck, use the deck pieces without them. Different sail tops are provided for extended masts or stowed masts. The decal sheet is about 1 inch square, with markings for 214-class versions operated by the Portuguese, Greek, or South Korean navies. The differences between the markings are very subtle, but appear to be accurate. Plimsoll and rescue markings are included, but a very close look is needed to see the numbering differences. The ECM(?) masts seem a little too thick, but can be easily sanded thinner. There is a snorkel, with plenty of masts and periscopes included.

Actual construction was a delight. The assembly is simple and all of the parts fit well with minimal sanding and trimming. The plastic responded well to ProWeld. Be certain to mark the hole locations for drilling out the hull halves if you would like to use the securing “stanchions” on the stand. I found that the hatch on the forward base of the sail (part 22) snapped nicely into place after the hull halves and the deck plate were assembled. If you are considering adding figures on the sail bridge, you will need to scratch-build a bottom deck. There is no bottom included on the bridge. These were the only issues at all with construction and they are very minor issues. I did fashion a name plaque from an ID plate on a sprue. I squared the plate up, sanded the edges, painted it brass and buffed the lettering to show the black plastic color. I used a blend of Vallejo black lightly sprayed over a base of Vallejo German gray. The decal responded well to Microscale solutions and Vallejo flat coat.

This was great little kit to build. I generally don’t track build times, but I believe this kit was about 5 hours to complete, start to finish, including painting and decaling. I recommend this kit highly for a great building experience. Thank you again to MRC and the Reviewer Corps! I had a ball with this one.