Tweet
Re: 1/72nd Revell Gato Wolfpack
Between Paul Crozier,detail oriented fleetboat expert, historian, and Flag Rank officer of the SC, and Jeff (Jeffty) Porteous, author of the meticulous and detailed build series of the eight windowed Seaview currently gracing the pages of our beloved SubComittee Report and Book column editor, I find the bar set pretty much about eyeball height on this build right out of the gate. So I know, my Trigger (SS-237), will only look better patrolling in company with Flasher (SS-249), and Harder (SS-257) someday out on the pond even if all I do is paint a liter soda bottle grey, scribble "SS-237" on its side in crayon, and pull it along with a string.
The first and most obvious bit of correction from the Revell Gato to my Trigger will be the correction of the limber hole pattern from the EB pattern to the Mare Island one. Most people hate drilling and filing out all the flood holes and such but I kind dig it. It's a simple straight forward and though tedious, a job that if done right can really make the model but that if done sloppily will be the first thing people will see. I have a template on order from Nautilus Models for the conversion.
Speaking of Nautilus Models I previously ordered a resin sail from them purporting to be an accurate representation of a late war Silversides (SS-236) or Trigger. It is beautifully rendered, highly detailed, and comes with a bunch of parts to accurize the Revell kit for either vessel. Out of the box its a great representation of Silversides but upon further review it's going to need some surgery and modification to represent accurately the Trigger. The front and bridge area of the resin kit are great with the odd and perhaps unique squareish forward 20mm platform included plus cylinders and other bits meant only for Trigger. Its the aft end of the sail that is, well, wrong.
Silversides tapers to a point some distance behind the 40mm gun with the diesel exhaust grill at the far tip. Trigger's aft sail is much more like the Gato kit, very rounded, terminating just aft of the 40mm railing with the diesel exhausting under the gun. A notable difference. Silversides and two Trigger shots below.
Something has to be done. Right now I'm thinking to borrow the back end of the kit sail and graft it to the resin piece. I'm thinking I should also go to the trouble of making a cast of it first in case I need to make a go or two of it but haven't decided yet. Ideas? Here's a shot of the respective sails.
By the way I'm not dissin' Nautilus Models in the least. The bridge area is super fantastic with molded in decking, hatches and doors, and all the bridge instrumentation crisply detailed. I plan more purchases from them but do check references for your particular boat in case you need to figure out some work-arounds.
And sure, like Paul says, this is an open thread jump in with your own in-progress build. Hopefully we'll see a whole flotilla out there the day the wolfpack departs for the Bungo Suido and glory.
TomK
Between Paul Crozier,detail oriented fleetboat expert, historian, and Flag Rank officer of the SC, and Jeff (Jeffty) Porteous, author of the meticulous and detailed build series of the eight windowed Seaview currently gracing the pages of our beloved SubComittee Report and Book column editor, I find the bar set pretty much about eyeball height on this build right out of the gate. So I know, my Trigger (SS-237), will only look better patrolling in company with Flasher (SS-249), and Harder (SS-257) someday out on the pond even if all I do is paint a liter soda bottle grey, scribble "SS-237" on its side in crayon, and pull it along with a string.
The first and most obvious bit of correction from the Revell Gato to my Trigger will be the correction of the limber hole pattern from the EB pattern to the Mare Island one. Most people hate drilling and filing out all the flood holes and such but I kind dig it. It's a simple straight forward and though tedious, a job that if done right can really make the model but that if done sloppily will be the first thing people will see. I have a template on order from Nautilus Models for the conversion.
Speaking of Nautilus Models I previously ordered a resin sail from them purporting to be an accurate representation of a late war Silversides (SS-236) or Trigger. It is beautifully rendered, highly detailed, and comes with a bunch of parts to accurize the Revell kit for either vessel. Out of the box its a great representation of Silversides but upon further review it's going to need some surgery and modification to represent accurately the Trigger. The front and bridge area of the resin kit are great with the odd and perhaps unique squareish forward 20mm platform included plus cylinders and other bits meant only for Trigger. Its the aft end of the sail that is, well, wrong.
Silversides tapers to a point some distance behind the 40mm gun with the diesel exhaust grill at the far tip. Trigger's aft sail is much more like the Gato kit, very rounded, terminating just aft of the 40mm railing with the diesel exhausting under the gun. A notable difference. Silversides and two Trigger shots below.
Something has to be done. Right now I'm thinking to borrow the back end of the kit sail and graft it to the resin piece. I'm thinking I should also go to the trouble of making a cast of it first in case I need to make a go or two of it but haven't decided yet. Ideas? Here's a shot of the respective sails.
By the way I'm not dissin' Nautilus Models in the least. The bridge area is super fantastic with molded in decking, hatches and doors, and all the bridge instrumentation crisply detailed. I plan more purchases from them but do check references for your particular boat in case you need to figure out some work-arounds.
And sure, like Paul says, this is an open thread jump in with your own in-progress build. Hopefully we'll see a whole flotilla out there the day the wolfpack departs for the Bungo Suido and glory.
TomK
Comment