I have Revell 1/180 Lionfish. There is a resin upgrade for it, says
Gato parts from Nautilus Models reviewed at Steel Navy. Is it possible to build a USS Wahoo out
of the Revell Lionfish, Balao class kit? Any external differences? Thanks---John
You can, but if you want real accuracy, well, it's a lot of work! I assume you want the later war cutdown version and not the "as built" version. If that is the case, you want the Nautilus Models conversion. The resin Bluefish sale is close, but not an exact match for the war time version of Wahoo. 180-001 USS BLUEFISH CONVERSION $25 + S&H.
Here is an "as built" photo, important for the Goverment Yard (Mare Island) limber hole pattern. The Lionfish kit has a mixed limber hole pattern. Sand down the D-shaped limber hole outlines, as these were not on Government plans. The slot type of limber hole patterns is what you want. Decide if you want to open them up or paint in with black paint or a black marker. There are a number of other small details that need to be modified from the generic Lionfish kit (which by the way isn't anywhere close to the Balao class Lionfish; the kit is really a Gato class conning tower....sort of. See: http://ibs.eastcoastarmory.com/History.htm).
I was looking at the gallery site on the above post and saw some pictures
of a Wahoo. I am not too familiar with WWII subs, there were 2 "items"
coming out of the bottom of the sub near the front. Was this some type of sonar
or depth guaging device. Looked almost like landing gear.---John
This is my 1/72 USS Hammerhead I have had in work for about 5 years lol. It is still only about 75 percent complete. I havent even started on my IBS 5 inch gun that goes with it. Mr. Grima was extremely helpful with pointing me in the right direction on what I needed for this build and a few of my 1/144 builds that are almost complete. Hopefully I will have this one completed soon. The main reason I selected the hammerhead is because it commisioned with the tall cut down fairwater, and with the few pictures of it i could find on navsource for the late war fit, this seems to be pretty close to the railing on the actual boat. Please be honest if you see anything else that needs to be tightend up. I know it still needs to be painted, and I still need some more putty in a couple of places.
So I'm looking for a new project after finishing my USS Arizona and have almost decided to jump in and do a superdetailed 1:72 Gato next, maybe heavily war-worn and with a "chopped" conning tower.
One question... looking at the Revell kit vs the real thing before modification, it looks like the conning tower is a bit too tall in the kit. Am I right?
Also, if so, I don't see any kits done with a correct height factory conning tower and very few chopped ones.
Which would you do... a "chopped" or "factory" conning tower? I even thought about doing something inbetween... surfing Navsource I saw there were plenty of real gatos that had been modified by dropping the height of the front of the conning tower and cutting windows on the side.
Your not right, your getting confused. The revell kit is designed for the "Cobia" Fairwater, That is not a Modifed fairwater. It was the as launched fairwater. You are mistaking the early as built fairwater with the yard built fairwater of later boats. The very early Gato's with the As built tower(with windows) were cut down and modified, some eventually had the whole fairwater replaced. That is not the Revell tower. As the war progressed and from lessons learned Codia style towers had the upper part plateing removed, that is why the upper structure frame masts supports remained (like one the Flasher and Drum). Different yards also had their own influence into the mix.
Last edited by Mario on Mon Jun 25, 2012 1:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
OK I'm learning here. I thought captains/crew just did their own conning tower mods (fairwaters... learned a new nautical term too! ) but apparently there are specific designations.
so chopping the fairwater would be a "mod 4" and I am leaning towards doing a "Mod 4A"
Mario wrote:Your not right, your getting confused. The revell kit is designed for the "Cobia" Fairwater, That is not a Modifed fairwater. It was the as launched fairwater. You are mistaking the early as built fairwater with the yard built fairwater of later boats. The very early Gato's with the As built tower(with windows) were cut down and modified, some eventually had the whole fairwater replaced. That is not the Revell tower. As the war progressed and from lessons learned Codia style towers had the upper part plateing removed, that is why the upper structure frame masts supports remained (like one the Flasher and Drum). Different yards also had their own influence into the mix.
No, I realize that. I don't want to stick with the stock revell Cobia fairwater, I want to mod it. But it seems the Revell Fairwater is too tall to begin with... so if you wanted to get a more accurate model you'd have to reduce the height anyway...
I am having problem this morning logging on to navsource. I cannot log into your link. If you want to use the stock Cobia for a latter cut down Gato, you can. Leave the height of the bridge alone, There is no problem in the height. You only need to cut down the shield and shorten the bottom of the sail front piece( part #64). The mast support Part #65 leave alone. Also keep away from Govt yard boats, Their towers are much more different then the stock revell. Stay in within EB and Manitowac boats you will be fine. The problem that you will encounter is in the aft of the fairwater. The stock Revell has a round aft like the Cobia, some were round but some boats were pointy or blunt. I have the gizmos to change the aft from round to pointy if needed. Here are links I did for the USS Puffer. I cut the tower down and blunted the back of the fairwater. I hope this info helps you on way. Mario
Mario wrote:I am having problem this morning logging on to navsource. I cannot log to you link. If you want use the stock Cobia for a latter cut down Gatos, you can. Leave the height of the bridge alone,There is no problem in the height. You only need the cut down the shield. Also keep away from Govt yard boats, There towers are more different then the stock revell. Stay in EB and Manitowac boats you will be fine. The problem that you will encounter is the aft of the fairwater. The stock Revell has a round aft , some round but some boats it will be pointy and some blunt. I have the gizmos to change the aft from round to pointy if needed. Here are links I did for USS Puffer were I cut the tower down and blunted the back of the fairwater. I hope this info helps you on way. Mario
Well, this project is a go! just ordered a Gato and the Eduard "big ed" PE set.
I just need to decide which boat to build now... I'm going to try to scratchbuild the top of the pressure hull underneath the deck and probably hand-build the planking with styrene strips so it will look right... I've never seen a Gato in person, but I found a couple videos of the Cod on Youtube and was surprised to see how "see-through" the decks on those boats really are! I want to exactly replicate the conning tower on the boat I decide to do too... In short, this will be my first foray into extensive scratchbuilding and I imagine it will keep me busy for a long time!
If anyone know of any good resources to help that haven't already been mentioned I'd be most appreciative!
It's a superdetailer's dream... well... apart from going there in person anyway (it's a long way from Utah though).There lots of great quality, highly detailed close up shots of the USS Cod.
I have a question on "oil canning" on the Gatos... Am I right to assume it was mostly a problem on the exterior plating above the pressure hull only? I'm having a rough time finding pics of a "well worn" gato below the waterline... all I'm really finding are photos of the USS Drum museum and I don't see any canning below the waterline.
U boats seemed to get plenty of oil-canning down their entire hull... was it the same for gatos, or were U.S. boats more resilient to it?
You'll see oil canning on surfaces that have overpressure... this can be caused by waves or depth charges. The fairings above the pressure hull were thinner and more susceptible to it, so I'd imaging that's why you see it on the bow and sides more.
Tracy White wrote:You'll see oil canning on surfaces that have overpressure... this can be caused by waves or depth charges. The fairings above the pressure hull were thinner and more susceptible to it, so I'd imaging that's why you see it on the bow and sides more.
Makes sense. I've found some better pics of the USS Drum and see very slight oilcanning down the length of the hull too.
) but apparently there are specific designations. 
