Quote:
Tirante had one 20mm and one 5" cannon
No. The guns on the
Tench class were the new (specific for submarines) 5/25 guns, not the earlier 5 inch guns which were installed on a handful of boats. The Revell kit actually comes with an older 4 inch gun, not a 5 incher (5/25). Also, this photo looks to me like 40 mm fore and aft on the conning tower, and indeed this was the standard "as built" outfitting of the
Tench class. The kit has 1 40 mm, you need a second (see below)
http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/0842011.jpg Here's what you do:
Nautilus Models makes a conversion set of guns, including a 5/25 gun and a 40 mm:
http://nautilusmodels.com/180-050.htmMore importantly, the
"Lionfish" kit is actually a
Gato conning tower fairwater, much more enclosed and not the more open type found on the
Balao or
Tench classes. The kit was originally issued as a
Gato (USS
Flasher) and then repackaged as a
Balao (Lionfish) without any changes than the name and box art. You might want to purchase a
Balao conning tower such as:
http://nautilusmodels.com/72-012.htm to get you closer to
Tirante. There were some minor differences between the
Tench class and
Balao class conning tower fairwaters, but the
Gato fairwater of the Revell kit is waaayyy different from either of the latest classes.
Here's an excellent set of references in PDF form to US fleet boats, describing the differences in appearance and outfitting:
Visual Guide to the
Gato class:
http://navsource.org/archives/08/pdf/0829294.pdfVisual Guide to the
Balao and
Tench classes:
http://navsource.org/archives/08/pdf/0829295.pdf