¹⁄400

Mirage Hobby of Poland has released kit 40048, the Polish submarine ORP Sep (“Vulture”) as the vessel appeared in 1955.

Molded in light gray plastic, the kit is conventionally laid out with a two part full hull split down the centerline with a separate main deck and two part conning tower. Surface detailing is abundant but a little faint, with the planks on the main deck only just visible and slightly wobbly scribed panel lines. The conning tower is festooned with surface detail, mostly engraved drain holes, rails, and round windows for the bridge. These windows are depicted as dimples which would be no problem to drill out, but unfortunately they are noticeably out of line! Slightly raised shapes on the tower sides depict doors. Smaller parts are ok but nothing remarkable. Fit overall is mediocre, and in some cases placement is unclear. The rudder/aft dive planes, for example, required quite a bit of adjustment to get them to fit. Decals, printed by Techmod, are excellent. They include markings for Sep as well as flags and boot tops. I don't have much in the way of references on this vessel so I can't comment on accuracy, but the completed model looks reasonably correct compared with photos.

The kit is also sold with slightly different decals as the Orzel ("Eagle"). That kit has the same hull parts as the Sep but with a different conning tower, main deck and deck gun to depict the boat in its World War Two configuration.

Mirage Hobby’s submarine Sep can be rdered from Hobbylink Japan at http://hlj.com/product/MIR40048/Nav for ¥1,170 (about US$12.00)