by Paul Helfrich
1/144 USS Gato SS-212 (Trumpeter)
This is the late-war 1/144 USS Gato from Trumpeter. It's kind of a funny kit - it includes a pressure hull, with bulkheads, that's completely hidden when built and not necessary for structural soundness. I guess they put that in in case anyone was inclined to make a cutaway version. I used the two main pieces of it but did not bother with the internal bulkheads.
The lower hull is very nice, lots of detail, but the fairwater and especially the guns are not as detailed as they could be. WEM makes a nice detail set which would dress the kit up considerably, and would avoid the need to use the kit-provided stanchions for railings. WEM also makes very nice 4" and 5"/25 deck guns and a single 40mm, for modelers wishing to model other boats from this large class of subs. My build, though, is OOB.
I went with the MS 32/9SS-B paint scheme, which shipcamouflage.com has as being correct for "1944." However, I suspect it may not have been applied till after Gato had her refit of late November '44, which means it may not go with the weapons fit in Trumpeter's kit (the refit replaced her 3" deck gun with a 4", one of the 20mms with a 40 mm, and changed the periscope arrangement). Again, there's those nice WEM guns, which I didn't know about till I was fairly far into the build.
So there is a bit of a fudge between the fit and the camo, but I prefer MS 32 to MS 9.
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