The Gatos were enlarged version of the preceding Tamber class. The first Gato class submarine, Drum, was commissioned on 1 November, 1941 and many of the submarines in its class including the Flasher, Barb, Growler, Silversides, Trigger, Wahoo and Harder became famous durint the war. would probably become involved in the war. placed an order for 73 Gatos in response to the realization that the U.S. Various submarines were developed and commisiioned at that period, and, among them, the Gato class boats were the main strength. submarine fleets that gave heavy damages to Japan, which relied on ocean-borne supplies for natural resources.
US GATO CLASS SUBMARINE UPGRADE
No doubt the aftermarket companies will be hard at work supplying upgrade and conversion parts for the kit to turn it into a true museum piece.During the Pacific War, it was U.S. Built right out of the box, the model makes an impressive display model of a Gato sub. The finished model matches the dimensions for the Gato class listed in Osprey's New Vanguard U.S. I thought I would never finish painting that satin-black hull. It took me about 28 hours to build the big boat. After the deck stanchions and details were added, I glued the deck gun and sail to the deck. I painted the propellers using Testor Metalizer brass. I lightly dry-brushed the deck with some medium-gray oils. The sail and guns were also painted sky gray, then given a wash of dark-gray oils to make the detail stand out. The rest of the hull was painted with Tamiya semi-gloss black (XF-18) mixed with flat white (about 10 percent) and some Tamiya flat base. I used Tamiya sky gray (XF-19) for the light gray sections of the scheme, and neutral gray (XF-53) for the darker gray areas. Notice how the tower sides are lower that the ones in the photo of the USS Cobia. For a good look at a cut-down tower, look at the upper photo in the decal-placement guide for the USS Silversides. The measure 32/335B paint scheme indicated in the instructions is a late-war scheme, and by that time most Gatos would have had their towers modified to a cut-down style. The clear-plastic gun sights don't look too realistic, and will best be replaced by aftermarket photoetched metal parts. I had to trim the right gun-mount shaft it wouldn't let the barrel assembly sit in the mount properly. All of the guns went together easily except the 40mm. A guide piece is provided to space the steps the proper distance from the sail side. You will need a pin vise and small drill bit to open up the holes for the wire steps. Some filling was needed around the deck joint. Don't forget to open up holes in the deck for the deck gun before gluing it in place. The fit of the side vent plates and the deck pieces is good, but filling was required at all of these seams, especially where the front deck meets the nose and where the vent plates meet the decks. Even though some of the stretched-sprue welds exist in places where there weren't seams on the full-size boat, the results blend in nicely. Rather than using putty to fill them, I used pieces of fine stretched sprue to fill the gaps, since they look a lot like weld seams. The hull pieces fit together nicely, but small gaps do still exist.
Before mating the forward hull to the mid hull, I painted the interior sections that might be seen through the hull's openings flat black. I also left the prop guards and prop shafts off the rear hull until it was joined to the rest of the hull. I didn't add the bow planes as indicated in step four, preferring to add them after the hull was painted. Next come the fore and aft hull sections. The only seam that really needs work on the mid hull is the keel, and this is a flat area that was easy to fill. Large alignment pins and bulkheads make the assembly strong, but I still needed several rubber bands and clamps to get a tight fit between the hull halves. Markings are provided for four different submarines. The large decal sheet includes a large selection of flags, as well as hull and tower numbers. Detail painting notes throughout the instructions do not match the photos of the built-up model on the box, though. The large instruction booklet contains clear assembly diagrams and almost all of the parts are named. Thin black thread is provided for the cable rails on the deck and forward gun platform. Pre-bent wire for the grab handles and mast antenna is a nice touch. Clear parts are supplied for the running lights, compass, searchlight, and gun sights.
The hull features delicate raised weld lines. The hull is molded in six parts, with its fore, mid, and aft sections molded in halves. I was impressed that the large hull pieces show almost no molding flaws. How big? How about 52" long! All of the parts are packed in a study box. Revell has released its 1/72 scale model of the Gato-class submarine, and boy, is it big.
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