Trumpeter 1/144 scale Gato Sub

Here I found this while looking for the 1944 one

Assemble the USS GATO SS-212 (1941) with this 1:144 Scale
                      Plastic Model Kit from Trumpeter®.
                         Suitable for Ages 14 & Older.

FEATURES: Realistically detailed static display model.
          Accurately detailed conning tower.
          Complete deck detail.
          Authentic waterslide decal markings and flags.
          Display stand with name plate.
          Illustrated assembly guide.

INCLUDES: One Plastic Model

REQUIRES: Assembly
          Cement (HCAR3415)
          Hobby Knife (HCAR0100)
          Paint (Black, Medium Gunship Gray, Gold)

SPECS:    Scale:  1:144
          Length: 26"    (660mm)
          Width:  2-1/4" (58mm)
          Parts:  121

Actually the Port and Starboard wells are a nice touch.. So many Gatos had either Port or Starboard anchor wells, Depends on the boat.. It's easier to fill in the well not used than to make a new well on the proper side..... I thought this kit was pretty good.. Deck gun needs work and the anchor is out of scale. This is the early EB Gato with the "federal Limber holes". EB basicily kept to the "federal" plans on their boats while places like Mare Island , Manitowac, and Portsmouth did as they wished. Asd well as the Skipper who wanted a quicker diver and added his own.

A big omission is the lack of Starboard side exhausts.... Also an easy fix. And the lack of Screw Fenders which were common on early Gatos but an accurate early Gato can still be done without them installed. I hope the 44 version has them.

As for 1/350 Gatos I think the Pit Road Combat Sub Gato is the best in that scale if you can locate one.. The YKM Balao and Gato are okay but need much more work than the Combat Sub kit.

I may have been confused with the time frame.  I have gone back to photos at NAVSOURCE and they seem to show the GATO with both port and starbord anchors in her as-launched configuration,  but photos in 1944 show that her port anchor well had been plated over.  

The presence or absence of anchor wells on one or both sides of the Gato/Balao boats is one of the key recognition features in determining which set of plans and/or which building yard the boat was constructed. 

EdGrune wrote:

The Trump kit as the early full conning tower with streamlined periscope fairings.   The model has the early limber hole pattern and Trump messed up by putting anchor wells on either side of the bow.

Ed, could you explain the statement in bold a bit better? The walk-around of the U.S.S. Drum (click to see it) at the Steel Navy site shows anchor wells on both sides of the bow. Was that feature added sometime after the first launch of the Gato subs? 

Thanks in advance!

The Trump 1:144 scale Fleet Sub currently comes in just one flavor - Gato, as launched.   They are planning another version for release next year as the 1944 Gato,  with cut-down conning tower.  Personally, I think it is a better size for displaying several versions.  At 4.5 feet the Revell is just too big.

The Trump kit as the early full conning tower with streamlined periscope fairings.   The model has the early limber hole pattern and Trump messed up by putting anchor wells on either side of the bow.  The kit comes with an inner hull liner -- with some rudimentary bulkheads.  Whether that is a hint of things to come? But whrn the hull is cemeted together there isn't any reason.   I cemented the inner tube together without the bulkheads and glued it in the hull halves for some inner strength.

The deck gun is totally bogus.  The water cooled 50 cliber gun isn't too bad.   The stern tube doors are molded open and closing them would involve some rework.    The decks are molded with some pretty good planking.  The conning tower is a bit spartan.

It is heads and shoulders over the Classic Warships 1:350 scale as-launched Gato.   That one comes without any limber holes or brass.   It is also waterline only.    

It is also difficult to compare with the Toms Balao.  That us a late-war full cut-down conning tower.  The Toms Balao has depressions for a full limber hole pattern and all the petite details, rails, props, etc are etched.    It is difficult too to compare with the Nautilus Models (now ISW)  Nautilus.   That has a unique way of forming the conning tower base limber holes.  Again brass for the smaller details.

Nautilus Models has come out with some aftermarket conning towers and guns.

http://nautilusmodels.com/Gato/144Gato.htm

They offer  the Haddo with the first cut-down, the Gurnard with the second cutdown and the Thresher, which was a member of the previous Tambor class, but externally quite similar.   It has the second cutdown plus some deck sponsons and mufflers.

White Ensign Models will be coming out with some 1:144 scale deck guns as will Iron Bottom Sound. 

White Ensign will also be coming out with some PE for the kit (date & price are TBD).  Tom Harrison has declined to do anything for the early Gato.  He told me that he was going to hold off until the later version comes out.   Nautilus Models is also doing some PE, James Corley has said that he is re-scaling his PE that he had for his Revell Lionfish towers.