USS Gato
by Ken Hart

1/178 USS Gato SS-212 (Revell)

A little research and some scratchbuilding helped turn that old Revell kit into a fairly nice rendition of Gato before her later wartime modifications began to take place. Well, there was a little confusion about her deck gun and its position- I learned she'd had several changes during a relatively short span of time -- originally, she had a 4" gun mounted forward, then a 3" gun mounted aft, which was exchanged for another 4", and eventually a 5" placed forward. So I went with a 4" gun on the forward deck.

  1. A starboard bow angle of the 1/178 scale USS Gato SS-212, mounted on a wood base with keel blocks
  2. A starboard side view
  3. A close-up of the model's bow detailings.
  4. A close-up of the model's stern detailings.
  5. A port bow oblique view
  6. A view of the partially assembled framework for a scratchbuilt pre-war style fairwater. Plastruct brand stock served as the framing, with thin-gauge plastic card stock for the outer skin.
  7. The periscope shear was also constructed from Plastruct and plastic card stock. The masts were easily turned from plastic rod stock using the Dremel as a miniature lathe.
  8. Thin-gauge brass wire was used to fabricate hand rails and grab handles, with finer "piano" wire for some of the antennae and railing stanchions.
  9. A close-up view of the completed model's fairwater detailings.
  10. A higher oblique view of the fairwater detailings.

This model of the Gato was built for a client who later commissioned me to build him a diorama display of a couple US Fleet Boats moored to a pier.

Ken Hart


© ModelWarships.com