Painting Gato class submarines

constructor

While in my LHS, I got this crazy idea of building all the AFV Club Gato class submarines so I started by getting the 1942 version. While reading the instruction sheet  (quite simple though) I saw the the waterline is painted black and contrary to the normal waterline, it follows the line of the bulges on the side and is all black. I decided to surf and look for references. Lucky me I got several but it has different version of the painting. One has the straight line, one follows the bulge, and one has black horizontal surfaces. One even has a dark gray (half) and black waterline. So now I'm more confused than before. What is really the standard?

The standard was .... it depends

It depends on the time frame.   It depends on the camouflage measure.   It depends on the personal whim of the CO

Measure 9 was the early war overall black.   Other measures were Ms 32/3SS and 32/9SS.    Following cut out of a NAVSOURCE posting ...

"The new measures, 32/3SS-B and 32/9SS were spelled out in supplement 2 to the Revised 2nd edition of BuShips-2, the instructions for the painting of naval vessels when it was issued in mid 1944. Both the new measures called for graded shading. Measure 32/3SS-B, commonly referred to as the 'light grey job', started out with light grey paint applied to vertical surfaces from the bow until abaft the conning tower. At that point it was blended into a medium grey. further aft the mediume grey, in turn, blended into dull black. Decks were overall gloss black. White countershading was perscribed for the undersides of gun platforms on the conning tower. Persicopes were to painted with splotches no smaller than 5 inches across in dark and light grey. 

Measure 32/9SS was very similar except that it started medium grey in place of light grey and blended into dark grey forward of the forward deck gun. It gave a much darker overall appearance and was therefore known as the 'dark grey job'. The solid black of Measure 9 slowly disappeared from use as submarines rotated home for overhauls which included a fresh coat of paint. Despite Bureau instructions there were always cases where patterns or colors were applied outside the range specified. Sometimes this was caused by a particular color not being available at the time the boat was painted. In other cases, the commander of the boat decided to make a change. One example of this behavior was Harder (SS-257). Her Measure 9 was replaced with a 'light grey job' in December, 1943. But her skipper became convinced that a touch of red would induce Purkinje effect and make his boat harder to see. When she left Australia in early 1944 her light grey was reported to have a decidedly pink appearance. For those paying close attention, notice that the "new" measures were already in use well before their official proclamation date in Ships-2.

Official instructions for MS 32 3/9SS are here. It's later than the model you're doing though. If you can't find photos for the boat you're doing I'd do what feels best and dare people to prove you wrong on that boat.

Yeah, what Tracy said. When I eventually get around to my Gato/Japanese subchaser diorama, I'm going to paint the sub what I think will look best in the underwater display I'm envisioning ... and if the nitpickers want to pick, well, pfffftttt. I don't even have to identify exactly which sub it is since they never carried their numbers during the wartime deployments anyway.

Tracy White

Official instructions for MS 32 3/9SS are here. It's later than the model you're doing though. If you can't find photos for the boat you're doing I'd do what feels best and dare people to prove you wrong on that boat.

Tracy, "here" was most helpful. I guess it anwers all my questions. Thanks very much. By the way, the AFV Gato is fantastic. Detail is excellent. They went down to the smallest of parts not mentioning the PE that comes with it. Another question, I built their U-boat awhile back and comparing their sizes, is the U-boat really that small? It's like looking at the battleship beside a destroyer.

Well, which u-boat? The Type VII was 67 m long, the Type IX was 76 -- The Gato was 95 m long. Compare that to the I-400, which was 122 m. Almost twice as long as a Type VII.

We did have larger fleet subs, but they were designed for the pacific, where the distances were much longer.

Does it have the flood openings on the bottom of the hull? That is missing on the Revell 1/72 Gato.

Shape and placement depended on series numbers as the boats where built, there are also the grates for the Sea Chests and Chain Locker.

For scale comparison (since i have them) the Revell 1/72 Gato is about 51+" where the Type VII is about 36"

Division 6

Does it have the flood openings on the bottom of the hull?

I've only got the 1941 AFV Gato, but it does not have any holes on the bottom piece at all; the closest it comes is the torpedo tubes.

I am now adding the details to the sub and the amount of details on this sub is just fantastic. There are PE parts that is hair thin and plastic parts that you can not see at first glance attached to the sprues. The conning tower has at least 25 parts. After these I will start painting it. I will post some photos of the unpainted sub next time.

Gato class subs were designed w/ air conditioning and hot showers for the crew.  Not only did the crew benefit from AC, but so did the equipment.  The electronics and the engine functioned better in the dry, cool air.  The boat's stores were also enlarged, enabling the storage of fresh foods, and refridgeration of the perishable.  This necessitated the Gato subs to be larger than their German counterparts.  The crews benefitted from the comforts by being able to stay on longer patrols,and having better morale.

I also have the Revell kit and am interested in trying to replicate the USS Drum.  Not only a decent battle record but I have been on her at least twice.  Only thing I am worried about is that there are a few major differences depending on where it was built.  Hopefully the Revell kit doesn't need too much work to be the Drum.

Drum is a Portsmouth built boat where the Cobia (that the model is mainly based on) is an Electric Boat.

You'll have all those Limber holes down both sides, the extra anchor well on the port side, shutters on the rear torpedo tubes, no prop guards at stern although she may have launched with them and depending on the year being depicted you may have to build a Balao class fairwater.

Original fairwater was damaged and replaced with Balao style during 8th war patrol (Nov 43) after heavy damage from depth charging attack.

Thanks for the data.  Now just gotta find some pic and/or plans showing this stuff but sounds like even I could do some of that.

philip - shoot me a pm with your e-mail address. I have a fairly complete book of plans at home that I glommed off the web from  ... somewhere.

Hi  I need help learning how to paint a Gato 1/72 model.  Can you help me, Please?