1/72nd Revell Gato Wolfpack

[wlambing]

Re: 1/72nd Revell Gato Wolfpack

All,

Looking ahead a bit, but all part of planning. What is the convention these days for the shaft struts, bearings, screws, and shafts themselves? Got all that stuff for the big girl, but want to do the correct, and long lasting, thing for reliable propulsion on this boat. I've seen a couple of these boats on the water, but haven't had a chance to look at their pink underbellies! To go along with the propulsion end of things, my plan is to use whatever the Mad Genius, BD, comes up with for a cylinder system.

B^)

[wlambing]

Re: 1/72nd Revell Gato Wolfpack

All,

I bought the BD cylinder kit that Kevin P. put up for sale. My propulsion shaftline question has been answered! All straightforward and exceptionally simple! NEW QUESTION; Anybody looked into getting the Revell kit screws cast up in metal? They're actually fairly accurate, and way pretty!!!! (Also very sharp edged. We might have to wear meat cutters chain mail gloves while handling!!) Kind of a shame not to use them for something more than model stand embellishment. Brass would patina nicely after a few sessions in a pool or pond. White metal with a dark gray hot rod primer base and 2 light coats of Testors bronze lacquer looks good on my Marlin, as an example, if we could get just white metal. Just thinkin'...................

Take care,

B^)

[bigdave]

Re: 1/72nd Revell Gato Wolfpack

There is a company that does or did do the props in metal.
I have a set on my boat.
The name escapes me at the moment.
I have run the plastic kit props and a set of Rabosche as well.
All with good results.
I will try to remember the name of the company. BD.

[wlambing]

Re: 1/72nd Revell Gato Wolfpack

Thanks, BD!

The Raebosch screws are nice, no doubt, but just not as pretty. I like pretty.

B^)

[PaulC]

Re: 1/72nd Revell Gato Wolfpack

Cool, Bill! I saw where Kevin's cylinder got purchased. Glad it is going to the 'pack.

Are you guys thinking of the G-Factor props? They appear to be cast brass versions of the kit props. I can't find where they have a company website but here is a link to a vendor online that carries them: http://www.internethobbies.com/g1ussgasubrp.html.

[bigdave]

Re: 1/72nd Revell Gato Wolfpack

Thanks Paul.
That is it.
They look like a cast of the plastic as you said.
Mine needed some work to be functional.
But turned out nice. BD.

[wlambing]

Re: 1/72nd Revell Gato Wolfpack

Thanks, guys!!

B^)

[salmon]

Re: 1/72nd Revell Gato Wolfpack

So what came out of the Gato Pack meeting at the regatta? What interesting things did you discover?

[PaulC]

Re: 1/72nd Revell Gato Wolfpack

BD, so you used the G-factor props? What did you need to do to make the useable?

Tom, I dropped my camera in the water during the night run prior to the Gato pow-wow so I don't have any images/video of our meeting. But suffice it to say Jeff, Tom, Wayne and I spent quite a while going over the pile of parts and research material that Jeff and Tom brought with them. Between the two of them they had representations of just about everything I listed in my latest Smoke column minus scale figures. We basically went over who needed what for which boat and there was some swapping/donating to individual causes.

Tom had his Nautilus Models resin fairwater for Trigger. While the wall thickness was a bit heavy it really looked good. I've always been a sucker for the Mare Island profile. He also had a styrene Portsmouth limber hole set from Nautilus. This I originally thought was a stencil but the parts are actually to be used as replacements for the EB limber pattern of the kit parts. While pretty sparse in the way of detail, the limber set looked accurate and was a giant leap from scribing and filing them out on the kit superstructure.

The upshot of all that was a personal course correction regarding build subject. My original intent was to depict SS-249 Flasher using a near stock workup of the kit. However, having seen firsthand the Nautilus parts -- and with much cajoling from Jeff -- I've set my sights on Wahoo SS-238. Circa 2/7/43. We tried to entice Wayne to build a boat but he wouldn't bite.

[wayne frey]

Re: 1/72nd Revell Gato Wolfpack

I think we can count on Jeff's boat going with the all black paint scheme He kept mentioning it.
I am committed to my 2 projects, so I cannot play, although it is very tempting! It seems everyone is leaning towards going for a certain boat, (there are multitudes of variations,even on the same boat over the course of the war).
Tom pulled out what must be all the upgrade resin kits out there, and they are of exellent quality.But the boys found extremely minor changes in some parts, to be perfect. Paul's expertise on the details of the gatos kicked in.
They discussed how to cut hulls, etc, while I laid my plans of pond warfare and the balance of power between Borei vs Ohio, and Seawolf vs a gen IV X tail pumpjet Akula....
I would expect they will turn out some fine boats,seriously.
(I see Paul and I posted at the same time)

[bigdave]

Re: 1/72nd Revell Gato Wolfpack

Besides some flash cleanup the big thing was drilling out the hub for the prop shaft.
It was not deep enough and the wrong size if I remember right.
Very tricky job without damaging the prop. BD.

[Guest]

Re: 1/72nd Revell Gato Wolfpack

Prop shop are good for scale cast props, and they work well too. Not sure if they do an exact scale version of the Gato props, but they have a very wide range, not all of which is listed on their comprehensive website.

http://www.prop-shop.co.uk

[wlambing]

Re: 1/72nd Revell Gato Wolfpack

Has anyone done business with Nautilus lately? The website hasn't been updated for almost two years. Just wondering. Not gonna waste a phone call if no one's gonna pick up on the other end.

Work is progressing on USS Hake using BD's cylinder kit and instructions. Waiting for ordered parts to come in, or be acknowledged that they were ordered.

Take care, I'm getting ready to enjoy what the lovely Sandy has to bring me!

B^)

[tom dougherty]

Re: 1/72nd Revell Gato Wolfpack

Bill,
As far as I know, Nautilus Models is alive & well. James Corley is the owner, and also runs AAA Hobbies.

http://nautilusmodels.com/GATO.htm

Another 1/72 source is Iron Bottom Sound]http://ibs.eastcoastarmory.com/Csets2.htm[/url]

Best regards,
Tom

[wlambing]

Re: 1/72nd Revell Gato Wolfpack

Thanks, Tom!

B^)