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Hi everyone ! I am building the Trumpeter Gato (1944 version) as well, but I am trying to do a conversion of the kit to the Balao class subs. My question is... The flood vent holes that Crazygary has here https://forum.sub-driver.com/filedat...6&d=1392222664 .. I have made the holes on my sub using the nautilusmodels144-701 Gato/Balao Class Flood Template .. What I'm trying to do is make a raised ring around the holes (the Silversides had them from what I have read). From what I have read there was a ring around each one of them. I have looked for a photo etch set that I can use to do this with, but so far no luck. My attempts at just cutting plastic sheets into them has been a total nightmare.. no luck.. can anyone suggest how i can do this ? I appreciate any info that you guys can pass along. thank you.
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At this scale such a raised ring-around-the-hole coaming would not be very noticeable. However, if you must:
Take a length of .014" diameter brass rod and heat it to red. Let it cool at room temperature. The now soft (annealed) brass is formed over a mandrel to the shape of each holes outline. The softened brass will retain the shape when slid off the mandrel. The brass coaming is then CA'ed in place. An alternative is to find some 18-gauge zip-cord, strip away some of the insulation and use lengths of copper wire from the braid to produce the coamings you want for your little BALAO.
DavidWho is John Galt?Comment
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Hi David thank you for the reply, This is what they looked like on the sub. So I'm trying to replicate it.. I'll try your method and see how it works.. it sounds better then what i have been doing..
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That picture with the two Diver's in it: Are you sure that's a GATO/BALAO/TENCH class boats MBT's flood-drain hole? I was crew on the TRUTTA, though I never dove or saw the bottom in dry-dock. But I'm skeptical that any of the mentioned classes of boats had this coaming you're trying to represent. I was always under the impression that these were simple cut-outs at the A and B sides of the MBT's with no grating or coaming.
But, I'm willing to accept this with a little more information.
DavidWho is John Galt?Comment
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Dave, that picture is a screen cap from the movie "Below" (not really good, but the sub parts are ok) according to the info on the production of that movie, It was filmed using the Silversides Sub exterior, which included the below the hull filming. I don't have the reference with me to post here, but from what I have read, some of the holes had that ring around them. I'll look for the reference and post it as soon as I can.Comment
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Are you really going to turn the sub over when running it, to show everyone how accurate it is on the bottom? Sorry, but this seems just a little bit overboard and unimportant when it hits the water. Maybe I need some more coffee.Comment
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Type7, you do have a good point.overkill it is, but I started this, and can't seem to stop.. (must be my compulsive-obsessive thing..) but honestly, i'm not as bad as some folks i have met.. Like the folks that drill dozens of holes on the deck, fairwater etc.. all in 1/350 scale !Comment
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Well, I have plastic models as well but there is a big difference between judging a static model from one foot away and one running in water 20 feet away. Guess it strikes a nerve with me because I have a friend who is buying rapid prototype parts for a 1/48 scale Gato and 1/100 scale Bismarck which are not even close to running nor does he have the strength to get them out of his basement. Also, Subcommitee has a thread many pages long of people obsessing on detailing 1/72 scale Gatos and as far as I can tell, almost none of them has hit the water. Just seems like wasted effort to me.Comment
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And Type7 makes the point -- either build it for museum display or as a practical r/c model submarine. Don't catch the AMS (advanced modeler's syndrome) sickness -- it only results in incomplete projects, never to see the light of day. How about some pragmatism here!
Just assemble the god-damned thing and be done with it. This ain't a Faberge Egg, pal! Even if the prototype has those coamings around the flood-drain ports, at that scale you would not see them without optical amplification. Be practical. Finish it.
David
The HorribleWho is John Galt?Comment
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David, Type7 you guys are right.. if this had been a 1/48 scale, then it would make sense.. thanks..Comment
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As only David (The Ogre) can say things....His heart is as big as a whale. He is cutting through the BS and getting to the point. Get the sub running. Then detail later. Anything on the bottom of your sub will get scratched up and knocked off. If after it is running, you want to add details like you are mentioning then go ahead.
Another point is the movie sub is WAAAY post war and many re-fits later. I would not take it as fact. If you have not done so already go here and look at the photos of the sub you want to build http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/04idx.htm
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I will agree with other postings that a few short feet out NO ONE will see details that you can see up close.If you can cut, drill, saw, hit things and swear a lot, you're well on the way to building a working model sub.Comment
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I stumbled on this build article just a few months ago, and it inspired me to dust off my sub I started so many years ago.
My lady wants the Sea Tiger. Thanks for the inspiration, (all who have contributed to this thread).
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Here are some images.
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Forgot this oneComment
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