I was asked to undertake a commission build of this kit of the SS-567 Gudgeon for someone will present it as a gift to his father, a plankowner from the Gudgeon. This thread will document that build. The intention is to have this finished by late November.
The kits represents the USS Gudgeon at time of commissioning. You'll have to check out the "Tang Class" thread in CASF/Submarines for details regarding the six ships in this class (including their eventual disposition to foreign navies - some interesting stories there). All of the boats were lengthened at some point in their careersn due to engine conversions and the addition of PUFFS sonar arrays; several were lengthened before even being launched. So this kit is specific to Gudgeon at time of launch in 1958. Also worth noting that there appear to have been at least four different sail types among the six ships of the class.
Hull is about 9.25 inches in length and is cleanly cast in resin:
Several pour plugs to remove. Very minor clean-up required on the bottom mold scene, and only minor pitting to address. I used "Mr Dissolved Putty" from Gunze and Squadron green putty to address these issues in the hull. Once dry, these applications were sanded back to hull form. Minor gaps around the sonar at the bottom of the hull were also addressed with dissolved putty - it flows well and is relatively self-leveling:
I mostly model waterline, so this build represents my first attempt to mount a full-hull model for display. I found some brass supports that elevate the model, appear in-scale, and took a deep breath and drilled holes for their mounting to the boat. Did this by marking the centerline, then measuring equidistant in each direction. Then used a commercially available drill jig that allows me to centerline the round hull and keep the drill perpendicular to the line. Without mounting to the workbench, this set-up is top heavy, but careful, deliberate steps got me to the intended result.
The drill jig:
Hull in the jig after drilling second hole:
Result:
I'm open to a better way to do this, so all suggestions are welcome. Glad this worked without the need for putty and a second or third drill attempt!
The propeller shafts for the Tang Class are faired into the hull in a rather complex shape. Kudos to BRM for the molding that produced these "fins:"
Making sure the orientation was correct, these were glued in place with superglue. The resulting gap is about the biggest "problem" I've encountered with the kit:
I've already addressed these seems with Mr. Dissolved Putty, which flowed beautifully and matched contours with the hull and prop fins without any additional solvent. Camera battery failed before I could tale the "after" shot, so I'll get that posted soon. Very minor issue with the kit so far, and easily addressed with the right product, so no time lost.
