The Soviet Union/Russian Navy Project 705 (Лира/Lira, “Lyre”) was a class of hunter/killer nuclear powered submarines. The class is also known by the NATO reporting name of Alfa. They were the fastest class of military submarines built, with only the prototype K-222 (NATO “Papa” class) exceeding them in submerged speed.
The Lira was a unique design among submarines; it used a powerful lead cooled fast reactor as a power source, which greatly reduced the size of the reactor compared to conventional designs, thus reducing the overall size of the submarine, and allowing for very high speeds. However, it also meant that the reactor had a short lifetime and had to be kept warm when it was not being used. As a result, the Liras were used as interceptors, mostly kept in port ready for a high-speed dash into the North Atlantic. More info after this link.
The Kit:
This is the 1/350 Alfa Class Submarine from Cyber Hobby bundled in their special Orange Box with the U.S.S. Yorktown of the same scale. This kit is a one sprue deal without much to write back home about it. The 2 hull halves fit is very good, but being a round shape, be ready to use some putty. The trick is snading down the joints with a Squadron sanding stick on a round surface.
In this case, I use the same approach as I do with some aircraft model’s fuselage. I do cut a strip of wet/dry sandpaper (usually 400 grit) and get the help of the 1st one who shows up in my room . I sand the two hull halves with wet sandpaper in ‘shoe polishing motion” ;o)
Painting the Russian Alfa Class:
I used 2 shades of Black. I first applied a coat of Tamiya XF-1 Flat Black to the entire model followed by airbrushing at random some Polly Scale Grimy Black. The lower hull was painted with Tamiya XF-19 Sky Gray. It might not be the right color, but I don’t really pay attention to that shade of gray if the model is to be heavily weathered (my personal opinion of course).
2 coats of Testors Gloss Cote, left the surface ready for decals which went very nice with no notable silvering over a black surface to complaint about. Once the decals were dry, a final coat of Testor Dull Cote was applied followed by weathering with Tamiya Weathering Master sets. Because most of this weathering will be lost if the model is sealed with another coat of Dull Cote, the model as you see it on the pictures is unsealed.
Enjoy and please, don’t forget to like us on Facebook 😉
