While browsing my local hobby store, I happened upon a plastic sub kit I have never built nor seen before. It is from a Chinese manufacturer (Trumpeter) and is a 1:144 scale model of the Chinese model 33 submarine. It looks like a chinese varient of the soviet foxtrot (a direct decendant of the type XXI). The kit was low priced (less than $20) and the box was about the size of the Revell U-99 kit, so I expected about the same level of detail when I purchased it. But I was pleasantly surprized as I built it; it had a fair (not spectacular) amount of detail, fit together surprizingly well and built up into a pretty good representation of the subject. The hobby shop had a second sub kit of a similar sub which also had cruise missile silos built into the pressure hull. Keep your eyes open for this line of kits, they are worth the time. Does anyone know if there are even more subs from this company?

Mike