Calling all GUPPY (Gato, Balao and Tench-class SS) fans

[Gator52]

Is there a conversion or kit available in 1/350 for a post-war SSK? I'm wanting to build Cavalla and figure I can use the AFV Club Guppy I as a basis since the sail seems correct, mainly needing to figure out the big bow sonar housing...

Thanks!

Jonah

[Tom Dougherty]

Is there a conversion or kit available in 1/350 for a post-war SSK?

In a word, no. I have never seen a conversion kit of the distinctive bow with the BQR-4 sonar array that wraps around it. Iron Bottom Sound Models has some conversion kits, but these are for larger scale (1/144 & 1/72 scales). http://ibs.eastcoastarmory.com/Cjump.htm

[Gator52]

Thanks for the info; I wasn't familiar with IBS, but looks like they've got some great products that I'll keep in mind for other projects.

Jonah

[Patman]

Hi Guys,
Sean,
Wait till my wife sees, "her", little table top!
#11 blade cuts, CA residue, masking tape residue...paint droplets here and there!
It WAS a nice table. It's only like 20" across with collapsable 12" high legs. This table matches some high dollar wallpaper in the room next to the kitchen. I'd say it's mine at this point, but once married.............
Here is a pic defining the outward appearance of GUPPY's to some degree...

Here is the Cochino earlier in 1949...were all of the limber holes gone in September 1949???

What to do??????
Tony

Hi
I�m very interested in the book you�ve shown with data about Guppy subs.
Could you please give me the title and author?
Thanks a lot

P

[Tom Dougherty]

The book is John D. Alden's "The Fleet Submarine in the United States Navy: A Design and Construction History"

Excellent reference for all classes and the postwar conversions. OOP but Amazon has several as second hand at reasonable prices.

[Patman]

Thank you Tom!

Patricio

[Tom Dougherty]

You're welcome!
Here is another good source of Guppy sub information: http://guppysubmarinetribute.homestead.com/Tribute.html

[Tony Bunch]

Hi Guys,
Hi Patricio,
I believe it was Tom's past reference to this book I posted pics from and I'm glad to see he pulled through as I could not remember the book's title. I actually borrowed the book from my local library. It had to be run through their inside, "circuit", and I believe they found the book I borrowed in the UCSD campus library. I graduated from SDSU, and would not have even thought to go there.
Bravo Zulu to Tom for being the awesome guy that he is!
Good hunting to Patricio!
Merry Christmas from a rainy Southern CA!
Tony

[Patman]

I�ve found it used on Amazon!
I�ll pick it up on my next trip to TX.

[D-Boy]

The book is John D. Alden's "The Fleet Submarine in the United States Navy: A Design and Construction History"

Excellent reference for all classes and the postwar conversions. OOP but Amazon has several as second hand at reasonable prices.

Tom - just Amazoned this book and the biographical notes show that he lives the next town over from me. Go figure!

[Tom Dougherty]

He served as an officer in WWII, beginning in 1942 so he must be getting up there in years.

[Patman]

The book is John D. Alden's "The Fleet Submarine in the United States Navy: A Design and Construction History"

Excellent reference for all classes and the postwar conversions. OOP but Amazon has several as second hand at reasonable prices.

Tom - just Amazoned this book and the biographical notes show that he lives the next town over from me. Go figure!

Life is full of coincidences. In 1997 I visited Charleston, SC. When I took the cab to go to Patriot�s point to visit USS Yorktown and USS Clamagore, we started chatting with the cab driver, a guy in his mid sixties. He told us that he was part of the crew of USS Chivo. He had a surprise when we told him that USS Chivo was transfered to Argentina as ARA Santiago del Estero, and our hometown was Mar del Plata, the home of Argentina�s only sub base.

[D-Boy]

He served as an officer in WWII, beginning in 1842 so he must be getting up there in years.

1842 would be old indeed!

He seems to be playing a leadership role in organizing senior activities in town, and submits an occassional letter to the editor, so I guess he's still spry enough! Just called him - hoping to meet up in the next week or so.

[D-Boy]

Just purchased a Guppy II 1:700 waterline hull in resin from a new-to-me seller on Ebay, from Peru. Not sure if he is the manufacturer of the kit, or this is a one-time auction item. I've reached out for clarification.

Here's photos: http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-700-Resin-GUP ... 2a292d6412

Turns out the seller is the manufacturer. He can be contacted at jrodriguezasti @ yahoo. es - eliminate the spaces and you'll have a functioning email address. He plans to sell regularly via Ebay (mine was a "Buy It Now" purchase).

[Gator52]

I'm thinking I'd like to convert my AFV Club Guppy I to an SSK, specifically USS Cavalla. Are there any good drawings or dimensions of the sonar housing (BQR-4 I think?) to aid scratchbuilding? I've found a few photos, but hoping for a bit more detail.

Thanks!

Jonah

[Tom Dougherty]

More photos are here: http://navsource.org/archives/08/pdf/0824415.pdf
I am unaware of any drawings, but you can take some dimensions off of the photos at the link above. Three photos of the bow sonar are below.
Croaker (in Buffalo, NY) also was converted to SSK http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/0824603.jpg Both have the bow BQR-4 installation.


Since these are both museum ships, you could write to them and see if someone can take some dimensions from them for you.

[Gator52]

Ok thanks for the info, I appreciate it.

Jonah

[Patman]

Thank you for the pictures.
Is that the same Electric Boat style sail as in other Guppies?
Here is some work in progress on an EB sail in CAD.



Saludos

P

[Tom Dougherty]

Yes, it is an EB Guppy sail. The EB sails have round deadlights in the front of the sail, and a straight trailing edge on the sail. The Portsmouth "step sail" has square deadlights and a curved trailing sail edge.

Here are shots of an Electric Boat conversion: http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/0833906.jpg and http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/0833923.jpg
Here are good photos of a Portsmouth Guppy sail: http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/0852228.jpg and http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/0852502.jpg

[Maarten Sch�nfeld]

Hi team,

I spend a few hours these last few days to set up a relative simple conversion of the 1:350 AFV Club GUPPY II into a GUPPY III.

This is how I did it:
- I first cut off the deck with a razor saw, and cemented the resulting rim to the lower hull.
- I added 1mm wide strips to the rim, to make the sheer of the deck much less, only 2mm in the middle. This is to correct the basic error in all of the AFV Gato/Balao/GUPPY kits. Filing and sanding until the cut off decks fits nicely again.
- Then I cut the hull in half at its widest point, and added a 15 ft extension (13.3 mm on scale).
- I cut the deck forward of the conning tower, as the actual extension is forward of the command centre. I added an extension from Evergreen V-grooved stock, 030" spaced, to match the same deck pattern as the kit.
- Next I cemented the deck back on again
- Further I added the three PUFFS sharkfins, using the very detailed pictures from the USS Clamagore website.
http://www.patriotspoint.org/explore_mu ... clamagore/.
Note the three fins are basically the same, but are mounted on stubs with different heights, so that they are at the same level in the water. Also note that the forward fin has some additional details.
- Next I relocated the diesel exhausts, and lengthened the bilge keels.
- Finally I modified the sail, resulting width being 5.5 mm at the top and 8 mm at the bottom. The bottom needs to be corrected too: cut off a sliver, 2mm at the front reducing to 0mm at the rear, otherwise the sail will appear too high and canted backward.

At this stage you can still very well see what I did, further detailing and finishing having no secrets for anyone. I photographed the model along with my earlier GUPPY IB conversion. The latter will be finished as a Netherlands navy sub (S803) while the GUPPY III will be finished as S501 'Longobardi' of the Italian navy, ex USS Pickerel SS524.

Cheers!