Trumpters Gato sub

There was no official Guide to Limber holes on any given boat. The Trumpy kit is accurate for the first batch of EB boats as they went into service..

Many skippers added limber holes or drilled holes along the deckline as needed.. No 2 boats had the same patterns.

The major setback for this kit still remains the open torpedo doors and wrong size  anchor well and anchors, The sail size is a minor problem and it still looks right. I do hope they correct this on the later Gato. All the other setbacks including the lack of Ballast floods are correctable with some aftermarked help and some research.. All in all a pretty good kit considering what's out there. I think I'll wait for the Monster coming from Revell before I decide on what kit to build.

Why did they mold the T doors open????

Nautilus Models will soon be offering a couple of resin conning towers with the correct Government Tower configuration.  From what James Corley of Nautilus posted on SteelNavy, the Trumpeter tower is about 2 frames too long and tapers too sharply.  

 The initial release includes the HADDO (SS-255) 1942.   Covered bridge with cigarette deck cut down,  20mm gun, and a 3"/50.  The periscope fairing is corrected and the SJ radar mast is provided.   The 3"/50 gun is much improved over the kit.

Next is the WAHOO (SS-238) 1942.  This is the first cut-down sail with the forward deck opened for the 20mm gun.   There will be a 4"/50 gun and a TBT mount for the conning tower (I'm reading WAHOO by Dick O'Kane right now and a WAHOO set is on order.).

Also up is the TAMBOR (SS-198) 1943.  This is essentially a repeat of the WAHOO with a 5"/51 gun, widened deck sponsons and some resin replacement muffler bumps for aft of the sail.

James will be releasing replacement sails for the later war Trump GATO when it is released.   He is also working on a system for cutouts for the various shipyard limber hole patterns.

White Ensign is preparing a whole suite of replacement weapons,  .50 caliber, 20mm,  40mm single, 3-inch and 4-inch guns.

It's an excellent kit.. The drawbacks are as follows but all are correctable in you chose.

Lack of exhaust ports on Starboard side of turtle back, Lack of Ballast tank flood ports in lower hull.

Incorrect anchor wells and anchor is too small, and all 4 after torpedo doors are molded open.. ( Only one at a time could be opened on real boats).. Actually it's a very good early war Gato and an excellent start for a super detailed US Fleet Boat that won't take up all your shelf space.. Trumpy is soon to releace the late war version with all the Mare Island Shipyard refits..