1/72 Gato Class Submarine weathering

[mm1_tb]

I am building this sub and was wondering if there was a good way to weather it. I am going to paint it black as a lot of them were that color with no markings during WWII. Also wondering about what black to use flat or semi gloss.

Thanks for the help.

[mtaylor]

Go into the kit area and look for logs with the key word "Plastic".  There's a lot of the plastic models have weathering and also describe the method.  

[rcweir]

A great reference is "The Floating Drydock's Plan Book Gato & Balao Class Submarines".    I think this (and other Plan Books - they're all worth having) is still available as a pdf from http://www.floatingdrydock.com.     On p. 95 there is an article on camouflage which basically agrees with black for Gatos at least up to mid 1944.   Everything visible from the air had to be black and below the waterline black anti-fouling paint was to be used.     Sheen isn't mentioned but I think it should be matte.

Late in the war more complicated schemes that involved various shades of gray were introduced but (the article goes on to say) some boats were black throughout the war.

 

Bob

Edited February 2, 2020 by rcweir
clarification

[el cid]

You might consider using a dark charcoal gray instead of straight flat black for the base paint.  Or maybe flat black lightened with some white.  This serves two purposes.  First is “scale effect,” which kind of mimics the effect of viewing a real ship at a realistic distance. Second is that straight black is pretty stark.  IRL, the paint would start looking chalky pretty quickly because of sun fading and salt deposition.

 

FWIW,

 

Keith

[GrandpaPhil]

Or dry brush charcoal gray over the black.  That’s how I made mine a few years ago (1/144 scale Trumpeter kit)

[Bob Cleek]

Funny you should ask.  This posted today on the SF Maritime and Coastal History Club Facebook page:

 

 

USS Pompanito "weathered." She's a museum ship at the San Francisco Maritime Historical Park. Date and circumsances unknown. The background is apparently the Reserve ("Mothball") Fleet in Suisun Bay north of San Francisco. That Reserve Fleet has been pretty much entirely removed for scrapping by now. This may have been decades ago when she was undergoing preparation for museum display. There wasn't any further information on the photograph. It doesn't look like she's been maintained in a long time. There was reference to her "awaiting her close up," so it may have been weathering applied for a movie shoot. I wish the poster had been more specific!

 

 

 

[lmagna]

The book "Up Periscope" was written in 1956. The movie came out in 1959 so I suspect the picture dates somewhere about 1958-59 if the caption is correct. I do not remember any scenes in the movie where she looked anything like that bad.

 

I was able to go on board a number of years ago and she was looking considerably better then.

[catopower]

Oh, ran across this thread only today. 

 

I'm positive this picture has to date from no earlier than the early 90's. There appears to be a Knox-class frigate in the reserve fleet in the background, judging from the shape of the superstructures. The first decommissioning of one of those was in 1991, I believe.

 

It was a bit confusing because, apparently, Pampanito became a museum ship in the 70's. I'm pretty sure a museum ship wouldn't look that bad. But, further Facebook comments said that she was actually in the movie "Down Periscope" in 1990-something. This must have been a real weathering job then! 

 

Unfortunately, being a star in a Hollywood comedy seems a little undignified. But, hey, it probably helped her survive as a museum ship.

[Iggy502000]

The Pamponito was fully restored prior to her being used in the movie "Down Periscope". The weathering was to make her look like she had sat for years in the reserve fleet. During the movie she is cleaned and painted. After the movie the paint job and emblem she wore during the filming remained for a while.

Another movie fact. Scenes of her sailing through San Francisco bay were real. They towed her around with a tug for the filming.