Hello again folks, 

First off, sorry for being away for so long (work gets kinda hectic around Christmas, so I didn't have that much time for building), but now that I'm on holiday, I can finally get stuck into my build!

A little intro on the kit: 

The SS United States was first released by Revell in 1955(!) and has recently been re-released by Revell Germany. As you can see, the parts are fairly good-looking for a kit this old...

... but the molded-in detail (especially those railings!) really hasn't aged all that well. 

Therefore, I decided to replace the railings with photoetch items from Artwox. 

So far, I've cut off the old plastic ones and cleaned up the areas where they were using (a lot of) putty and sandpaper.

I've also removed the lifeboats and their davits, with my plan being to make new ones (the old ones are, let's say, incomplete...)

Well, that's all my progress so far, guys!

As my build continues, I plan to open up the portholes (the molded ones are shallow to the point of invisibility) and, as previously mentioned, add new davits and aftermarket railings to detail the kit a little more. 

Happy modelling (and apologies for such a long post), 

Terry

Externally, they were very close, the major difference was in pressure hull thickness.

The major difference was in the periscope shears and the structure for them as they came out of the fairwater.  The Gatos had a lot of bracing on the scope tubes, and the follow on class had 3 heavy tubular structures that the scopes went through.

SD and SJ radars also mounted a little differently as well, and even that could vary between boats, just as it did in the Gatos.

You can get a 1/144 Gato in a 1944 fit from Trumpter, (about 2 ft length), deck guns (4", 5" and 20mm's) from Shapeways.  They are beauties in themselves.  Might be able to get a Balao tower and shears there as well, but have not dug into looking.

A 1/350 would be just under 12 inches for a Gato/Balao.

I keep coming to check in, Lots of nice work!

I'm thinking maybe I want to do another boat. I started with the USS Blueback maybe I should build her again.

SS-326, the original Blueback. Does anyone have a suggestions on a kit?

I would like to build something bigger than 1/700 scale. 

Since the Balao was very close to the Gato, can I use a Gato kit and update?

From my very limited research, It seems the major change was hull strength.

Any thoughts/sugestions/ideas?

Thanks

Mark

I keep coming to check in, Lots of nice work!

I'm thinking maybe I want to do another boat. I started with the USS Blueback maybe I should build her again.

SS-326, the original Blueback. Does anyone have a suggestions on a kit?

I would like to build something bigger than 1/700 scale. 

Since the Balao was very close to the Gato, can I use a Gato kit and update?

From my very limited research, It seems the major change was hull strength.

Any thoughts/sugestions/ideas?

Thanks

Mark

Steve, that is far more detail than my kit will have and it is looking great.

BK

Hey Admiral, she is looking great!

Steve: That looks great- love the camo! 

Btw: Is that tape over the anchor chains? Are you masking them? I can't tell from the photo and can't enlarge it. 

Things are now slowing down, do to the PE. The wood attached to the deck, PE added and touch-up painted. Next is many, many pages of deck detail including numerous 20mm Oerlikon and ammo boxes.

Lol!

'A little faster helm, the captain wants to waterski!'

BrandonK

 

 

modelcrazy

Not very fast, maybe 5 to 7 kts. Taking her time.

 

 

Trolling is done slowly. If you look closely...

 

Hey, that looks like me on my old cutter.

Captain's menu was for fresh fish for dinner.....

Nice!

She looked like she was just making headway speed.

modelcrazy

Not very fast, maybe 5 to 7 kts. Taking her time.

Trolling is done slowly. If you look closely...

Thanks Mach. It sure looks like one. Not very fast, maybe 5 to 7 kts. Taking her time.

Wow! great work everyone!

Steve, You Spruance dio is fantastic! Amazing.

BTW, Is this your ship, The USS Spruance?  I took this today going into Honolulu.

Mach1: Good luck with drilling out all those portholes. I don't envy you!!!

Steve: That camo looks good!!

That is some tedious work Mach.

Thanks about the Spruance. The waves are higher that I want so in a day or two I'll cut them down some. Working on the NC tonight and finished the hull. I'll start installing the wood deck tomorrow evening then on to the actual construction. Boy, I can't wait to make all those Bofors and Oerlikons 

Spruance looks fantastic. Thanks for the step by step on how you are doing the base.

I've been slow-rolling this while I finish up a few other GBs. I've gotten all 50-odd of the larger portholes drilled out. I discovered I need a smaller pin vise to properly hold the bit for the smaller port holes, hopefully the set from Micro-Mark does the trick.

Brandon: I have no idea but good luck!!!

Steve: Both of those look cool!

Should work well.  Simple and elegant.

I'm gonna paint the base gloss navy blue with a gold band around the outside. I'll order a brass plate with the name of the vessel and his name and rank on it. The ship will mount to that and should present fairly well. I hope.

BK

You can also use lamp finials or wood knobs drilled out for screws and use an appropriate length of nicely figured board for a base.  Was why I suggested gluing a bit of wood inside at the right spots.

You're right, kit stands are only good for cutting up to make scratch bits and pieces.

Since you are going waterline, you can do a little acylic gel for water effect.  MC can help more in that area than I can though.

Well, I'm going to make this mistake in building a happy accident. I have decided to place the waterline on a plaque base and screw it down. It's trying to warp anyway. This will give a bit of class to the kit rather than sitting on a cheap kit stand. Thanks for the assist gents.

BK

Nice paint work on the NC hull. Water on the Spruance coming along nicely.

What has BK in a knot is that there aren't any slots in the bottom of the waterline hull to fit in the tabs on the full hull bottom, hence my suggestion of removing them to eliminate the gap between.

Yes, GH is correct, it can be built either as a full hull or waterline. The second to last picture looks like you installed the waterline, which would be painted black for the boot top, the black line just above the red anti-fouling paint.

OK the Spruance. The second coat has been applied, now to let it dry for a few days.

Next, the NC. I painted the hull camo and will be installing the deck.

Judging by the box art, the dark gray halves shown are the hanger deck sides.  If so, then for a full hull you would probably have to cut the tabs off the bottom hull and glue in segments, checking alignment as you go.

This after another look at the pics.

That makes sense. The instructions make no mention of building it either way. They show the assembly all as one piece. Looks like I may be doing a water line version now. Rutroh.

BK

It can be done as either full hull or waterline.  In the next last pic is the bottom of the hull halves a separate piece?.  If so, you probably would have to leave it off, then put the bottom hull on using the locator tabs for the full hull version.

If going full hull, figure out if you are going to mount on pedestals and base.  If so you might want to glue a couple of pieces of wood where your mounts will be for screw anchors before you close up the hull.

Ok, gents. Here is my kit. I am already having issues. I will need your ship building expertise on this one, as its my first one.

This is a 1/700 Peleliu by Dragon. I am not impressed thus far. The pin marks, sink marks and standing ejector pins is hideous. I'll have some work ahead of me just fixing that.

Here is where my problem lies. Once I got the hull halves together I find that there are pins on the lower hull that don't go to anything, and I do have it togther correctly. As you can see by the pics this ship would not float. What are these here for? And it appears I just need to remove them to install the hull. Is this something common? I'm a tad puzzled by this.

BK