Gato Class Submarine (9 Posts)

A build of Revell's Gato class sub. This beast is 52 inches long. I am going to build it strait out of the box for the most part. Thanks to Herman Moore I have a wealth of images of both the real thing and some amazing builds. I intend to add some weld seems to the top half but thats it as far as mods go.

Apr 08, 2012 16:53 Resting Place... for now

While I work on a few other projects the GATO has been resting in one of my basement window sills. Its really the only safe place large enought to hold it. Here is a quick snap of it from outside... took it while getting pictures of our back yard.

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Dec 15, 2011 12:12 Painting

Been madly airbrushing the past few days.

I've done all the major painting now, just some touch ups to do where I had some bleed through the masks.

The Hull
I first painted the front section Light Gray. Once this was dry I masked it off and painted the middle of the deck side Light Ghost Grey (or there abouts). While I let that dry for a day I painted the front and back of the Hull black.

I'm going to need to touch up a few areas that don't have good coverage and a few bleeds on the Bow.

Tower
I first painted the deck's black then masked and did the horizontal surfaces Light Grey. I thouched up any bleed through/over spray by hand brush.

Mast
I painted it Black, then masked and did the top of the scopes Medium Grey. I hand painted the steel.

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Dec 12, 2011 16:12 Weld seams and painting.

I've spent the last week doing the weld seams on the deck of the Gato. It was a long slow process. They are a tad more prominent than the seams on the hull but they will do.

Ive also started painting the conning tower and guns.

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Dec 02, 2011 17:12 Construction finished

All the major construction is finished. Took alot of elbow grease to sand all the joints. The hardest seam was the bow plates.

I picked up some 010 thou square stock today to repace a few seams. Also picked up the paint. Three bottles of black and one each of light grey and medium grey. Going to need to mix up a light ghost grey.

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Nov 28, 2011 20:11 Deck and Coning Tower

I attached the forward bafles and the three deck pieces.

Had to do a bit of sanding on each of the baffles and will have to do the same on the deck joints. The seam where the bow deck meets the bow hull has a gap of about 2mm and will need some filler.

I sprayed the upper hull flat black so that any areas that are open through the deck are already pre coated. Looks good so far.

I also started assembly of the conning tower. I have a bit of work left to do on the mast and then its on to the deck guns.

I will be leaving the coning tower and deck guns off until after painting to make it easier.

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Nov 25, 2011 20:11 Hull assembly

Have I mentioned who BIG this sucker is.


Basically just followed instructions to this point. About ready to add the decks.

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Nov 24, 2011 12:11 The Parts

This thing is huge. I am not sure how I will paint this thing. It won't fit in my spray booth that's for sure.

Anyways, a quick snap of the parts laid out.

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Nov 28, 2010 07:11 Opening the box.

I opened the box yesterday. Yowza... This is going to challenge me. Right off the bad the sheer size of the main hull piece. It's a little warped (how do you mold something that big and not have a warp?) so will require something a little stronger and bigger than clothes pins and rubber bands... a vice maybe?

Not many parts, 260ish.... Lots of big panels for some nice airbrush shading work. I am not sure if there will be much weathering, going to need to look a reference pictures and see how these things rusted/discolored/stained....

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Nov 26, 2010 16:11 My Next Project

Posted a few days ago about planning my next project. I want to do something different and big. This fits both criteria as it's definatly big, and I have not built a naval subject before.... Watch for updates soon.

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