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

[Patman]

Great craftsmanship Maarten!
I�ve just made the horizontal cut correct the side deck contour, but I have to arm myself of more patience to keep the corrective surgery going.

Saludos

Patricio

[Maarten Sch�nfeld]

That's the spirit, keep it up Patricio!

When you first cut up your nice looking model with a hacksaw it feels like slaughter (I think a surgeon performing his first plastic surgery must feel similar ), but it's really that you know beforehand what the end result should be looking like. If you keep that vividly before you, you will reach the end!

And after all it appears much easier than you thought, and the end result all the more satisfying...

[Patman]

I�ve just seen your Primo Longobardo Guppy III conversion.
Great job.
You even open the sail windows!

Saludos

Patricio

[Maarten Sch�nfeld]

Hi Patricio,

What's more, I didn't only open up the bridge windows, I even glazed them ... with Humbrol Clearfix that is. Works much better than Micro Crystal Cleer.

Maarten

[D-Boy]

Maarten, wonderful to see the build featured on this thread honored with the Gallery feature. Congrats, and thanks for all you've shared re this class.

Can you talk more about how you assembled the PUFF sensor platforms?

Another Guppy - ARA Santa Fe (S-21) - featured in today's gallery: http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery ... /index.htm

[Patman]

Portsmouth style sail for Fleet Snorkel and Guppy variants.
Generic sail without detail and specific model for USS Volador and USS Sea Leopard.
Work in progress.


P

[D-Boy]

I just took some photos of the Electric Boat sail of the SSK Croaker, now a museum ship in Buffalo, NY. Some details - from railings to rivets to a flair where sail meets deck - might be of interest.

http://s1122.photobucket.com/user/DrWin ... Submarines

[This post has been edited to correct erroneous original reference to a "Portsmouth" -type sail.]

[Patman]

Thank you D!

[seashark]

I absolutely love GUPPY's! I did my AFV GUPPY II as the SS 509 from "Ice Station Zebra" and have reached out to varous kit makers (Riich most recently) in hopes that they might produce my favorite of the GUPPY's and the one that started it all - U.S.S. Odax (SS 484) in her original GUPPY configuration. It would be the first time a kit of the GUPPY I type was produced. I think that would fill a gap in most people's kit collections.

What do you all think?

[krgf15]

you can never go wrong with fleetboats. IBS has quite a few conversion kits for 1/178, Just about in any configuration you could want with great customer service. He also has the sails in 1/72 and 1/144, but no hull modifications that I know of in those scales.

[seashark]

Nope, you can never go wrong with fleetboats. Thanks for the skinny on IBS! I'll check them out.

[Woodstock74]

Guppy III was what, about 15' longer than the Guppy I/II? Where did they lengthen the hull?

[Gator52]

Ran across these the other day while searching for data on the large sonar bows of SSKs:

http://www.cevisions.com/shipsubmarineproducts.html

I received my SSK plan today, and it looks pretty good. The drawing scales out to about 1/158 by my math. This may be the missing reference piece that I'd been searching for to start my SSK-244 conversion in 1/350!

Jonah

[krgf15]

Does anyone know of any 1/72 Guppy mods yet? I know IBS has the sails, but the Bow rework would be quite extensive without some resin help....

[Tom Dougherty]

Guppy III was what, about 15' longer than the Guppy I/II? Where did they lengthen the hull?

The Guppy III hull plug was placed forward of the conning tower sail.
Just about all of your Guppy questions can be answered here:
http://guppysubmarinetribute.homestead.com/history.html

[Maarten Sch�nfeld]

Correct.

But when you apply this directly to a model, you'll get a very wobbly hull shape.

So, while in fact the internal pressure hull was lengthened in front of the command center, the outer skin has to be lengthened at its widest point - you have no other option.

If you go back to page 3 of this thread, you'll see how I did this operation to get a Guppy III.

[markdido]

Glad I found this forum and this thread.

My dad was on Cubera (SS-347) and I've been wanting to build of his boat in his honor. I guess SS-345 is close enough!

[Gator52]

For a 1960s AGSS-244/SS-244 Cavalla as seen in this photo, would the hull below the waterline have been black or antifouling red?

http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/0824408.jpg

Also, would there be any domes on the bottom of the hull during that timeframe, such as part C5 included in the AFV Club Guppy IB kit?

Thanks

Jonah

[Vepr157]

She was almost certainly red under the centerline. As far as I'm aware, almost all submarines during the Cold War, except those overhauled at Mare Island, were painted with red antifouling paint.

As for the lower sonar dome, I don't think the Cavalla had one. It's possible, but since she already had the BQR-4, I'm not sure she would have needed a redundant BQR-2 dome as well.

Jacob

[Gator52]

Ok thanks for the info Jacob.

Jonah