1/72nd Revell Gato Wolfpack

[jefftytoo]

Re: 1/72nd Revell Gato Wolfpack

Wow, Paul! Really looks great!

Never seen that grating before—did all the fleetboats have it?

JeffP

[boomerfunker]

Re: 1/72nd Revell Gato Wolfpack

Wow, Paul! Really looks great!

Never seen that grating before—did all the fleetboats have it?

JeffP

Yeah, What he said.

The correct answer is "Yes, all except Trigger."
But you're right Paul, it is a neat detail.

TomK

[wlambing]

Re: 1/72nd Revell Gato Wolfpack

Hi, gents,

Yes, all the boats had something along those lines. Never grates, though. If you get your eyes on a set of drydocking or shell plating (hull) plans , you'll find a notation in that area setting forth the arrangement of drilled holes in the hull shell plating. They're for flooding and draining the anchor chain locker.

Happy modeling!

Bill

[PaulC]

Re: 1/72nd Revell Gato Wolfpack

Bill,

Thanks for the clarification. They definitely look like drilled holes in the 1:1 Drum images. And they are oriented directly beneath the anchor wells.

BTW you can see some great close-up shots of USS Drum, taken during restoration efforts, here: http://www.drum228.org/restoration.html.

[PaulC]

Re: 1/72nd Revell Gato Wolfpack

Did a little more damage tonight. I divided the drilled holes in the chain locker wells by filling in a column with baking soda/CA. I then drilled another column on the aft end to balance them out.



I also began work on the unique Portsmouth/Mare Island superstructure detail forward of the bow planes. In the photo on the left you can see on Drum (port side) where there's a gap between the superstructure and the pressure hull between the bow planes and the anchor well. That cutout is, to me, highly distinctive and worth modeling. So I got my Dremel out and created the gap. Now I need to add some plastic to represent the pressure hull as it curved up behind it. I'll probably need to build up the superstructure area around the plane indentation too. It's pretty pronounced on Drum and is very subtle on the kit.



I'll also need to redo the limber holes in the bow plane wells.

[jefftytoo]

Re: 1/72nd Revell Gato Wolfpack

You're drivin' us all nuts, laddie.

Hat's off to you, Skipper. Squared white hats, that is.

Wow,
JeffP

[PaulC]

Re: 1/72nd Revell Gato Wolfpack

Remember, buddy. You started me down this road. I was perfectly happy to work up Flasher. But, no, you HAD to work your wiley ways and lure me into doing Wahoo...

[thor]

Re: 1/72nd Revell Gato Wolfpack

That boat is really looking super, Paul!

[jefftytoo]

Re: 1/72nd Revell Gato Wolfpack

Sure, Paul, I'm happy to take a little (undeserved) credit for the direction of your build. But we all know no one could build Wahoo the way you could, pal. And so, you're building her. Just as it should be, and just as she should be. ("The circle is now complete.") Besides, there was a method to my madness]we'll[/i] follow your lead. I'm not really as dumb as I look.

[PaulC]

Re: 1/72nd Revell Gato Wolfpack

So I'm kicking around the shop searching for something to use for the pressure hull sections I need to replace...something plastic with a large radius curve. I don't want to heat plastic sheet and try to form it over a tube of some sort. My attempts to stretch sprue as a kid always ended in disaster (guys like Shep Paine made it look so easy). And then I happened to look at the hull of the boat itself. Maybe I could remove a section that wouldn't normally be seen? Then I realized I already had.

As I cut down the hull for the WTC opening, I had tossed the scrap into a large coffee cup on my bench. Inside I found the perfect curved piece.



After cutting out a section with the Dremel, and a session of carving and filing to make it fit, I got what I wanted. A little Tenax and it was welded in place.

You can also see a thin strip of styrene glued to the superstructure. This will define the bow plane well forward edge. I will fair this in once I get some more filler. All mine has gone bad. Don't tell anyone but the angle isn't strictly scale. I chose a middle road on this one in order to leave room for the two flood holes between the planes and the anchor well. It seems the hull geometry is a little off. It could use an extra frame or two between the torpedo shutters and the bow planes.



Here you can see how the pressure hull curves up behind the superstructure in front of the bow planes. The new hull piece still needs to be faired in properly. But I love that there's a gap in there now (pardon my deep focus).



Rather than getting right to the exterior finishing, I reinforced the part at the seams with a little J-B Weld.



And I also cut out the section for the port side gap. Cut, scratch, glue, repeat.

[JWLaRue]

Re: 1/72nd Revell Gato Wolfpack

Nicely done!

-Jeff

[ober freak]

Re: 1/72nd Revell Gato Wolfpack

Good job!

As the stern is 1 frame to long, you could probably move it to the front.

Marco

[PaulC]

Re: 1/72nd Revell Gato Wolfpack

Thanks guys. Pretty funny, Marco!

[thor]

Re: 1/72nd Revell Gato Wolfpack

Very well executed, Paul!

[PaulC]

Re: 1/72nd Revell Gato Wolfpack

Thanks, Matt. Here is the finished pair with a shot of primer.