USS Cobia (SS 245) 1943 by barryww - Revell - PLASTIC - Scale 1:72 - 52" Gato Class Submarine Kit

[barryww]

 

 

This build log will cover my building of the 1:72 Revell plastic kit of the Gato class submarine.  The decals that come with the kit are for the USS Drum and USS Albacore.  However, the fairwater, or conning tower, does not match either boat.  But it does match that of the USS Cobia, which is what I will model here.  Besides the kit itself which is 52 inches in length when completed, I have also purchased the complete "Big Ed" set of brass photo-etched parts for this kit from Eduard.  Where I will display it I haven't decided yet, but it will be on the work bench for quite some time.  Painting will mostly be done by airbrush, which I am quite the novice at using.  But it should be fun to build.  While not needing the skills to build like the wooden kits, I wanted to add this particular model to the log entries due mostly to the size of the model itself.    

 

 

(From Wikipedia:)

The United States Navy Gato-class submarines were launched 1941–43 and were the first mass-production US submarine class of World War II. Together with their near-sisters the Balao and Tench classes, their design formed the majority of the United States Navy's World War II submarine fleet. Named after the first vessel of the class, USS Gato, the Gato class and its successors formed the core of the submarine service that was largely responsible for the destruction of the Japanese merchant marine and a large portion of the Imperial Japanese Navy in World War II. Gato's name comes from a species of small catshark. Like most other U.S. Navy submarines of the period, boats of the Gato class were given the names of marine creatures.

USS Cobia (SS/AGSS-245) is a Gato-class submarine, formerly of the United States Navy, named for the cobia.

 

Cobia (SS-245) was laid down on 17 March 1943 by Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company, Manitowoc, Wisconsin. She was launched on 28 November 1943 (sponsored by Mrs. C. W. Magruder), and commissioned on 29 March 1944, Lieutenant Commander Albert L. Becker in command. 

 

On 1 July 1970, the Navy struck Cobia from the Naval Register, and she was towed to Manitowoc, Wisconsin to serve as an international memorial to submariners. In 1986, Cobia was incorporated as a part of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, declared a National Historic Landmark, and placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Cobia is permanently docked at the Manitowoc River's mouth at Lake Michigan.

 

 

 

[barryww]

I wanted to model the sonar booms that lower from the bottom of the hull.  These were not included in the kit, so I decided to fabricate them with various sizes of brass tubing.  The recesses were made by gluing 1/4" I.D. plastic tubes into the hull after drilling holes first with electric drill. In the second picture, you can see where I had to patch a hole as I drilled one too many.

 

 

Edited August 3, 2016 by barryww

[barryww]

I have built plastic models most of my early life, but have been away from the hobby awhile.  One thing that has changed are the glues available.  No longer restricted to the familiar Testors cement in the tube, I really like Tamiya's Extra Thin cement that you apply after holding the parts together to be glued and allow capillary action to flow the glue along the seam.  Good stuff!

 

[barryww]

Glued hull halves together after attaching the bilge keels.  This thing is big.  There are still the bow and stern sections to be glued to this main hull section.  I will need to clean up the hobby table so this thing will fit....never takes long to get into disarray does it?  Will start on the bow section next, which will include some photo-etched parts to solder and fit.

 

Edited August 3, 2016 by barryww

[barryww]

From the Czech Republic, here's some of the brass photo-etch sheets from Eduard that will add to or replace many of the plastic kit parts:

 

Edited August 3, 2016 by barryww