The launching of the USS Puffer (SS-268) diorama COMPLETE.

Nice on the picture at the show.  Seeing what you do, that will go along way toward providing context on the dio, and should help secure some of the goodies awarded.

Nice job so far on the base and boat both.  Don't put in the rusted out corroded metal on the plane mechanism though.......

Thanks Bakster, jump aboard and well learn together.

M-C, thanks for this step by step process that you are presenting. This is something that I want to learn and I appreciate anything that you are willing to share. This is a very cool project.

Steve

Thanks Dave, 

Whenever I come up a new nutty idea I'm always fascinated with with the research I and others come up.

This hobby has taught me more about history than I would ever learn with a history degree. 

Great idea, Steve!!  Absolutely stoked to see your idea being put into an actual diorama.  I will be following your efforts as I have a great affection for American World War II submarines.  My grandfather was a motor mac and eventually left the Navy after 28 years of service.  He was a plank owner on the USS Jack, SS-259, a Groton built Gato.  So, your project really got me excited to see an American WWII sub being built.  (Can't believe how close those folks are to those flying support beams in the pictures!!!  Obviously, there wasn't much risk assessment being done at the time!! LOL

Dave

I wonder how much of that color variation is due to splash from water during the launch (depending on when the photo was taken).  I would assume that most of the hull would be painted while still on the ways and she was dry and accessible.  On the other hand, all of those pics of various boats show a big variance of colors in places, even boat to boat.

Navsource has some interesting pictures.  They show this water color print by artist Tom Denton - lloks like Measure 9, overall Black scheme.

Bob I’m curious,

I can’t tell form the pictures but do you know if the boats launched were already painted in MS9 (all black with Dark Grey 5-D horizontal surfaces) or possibly MS10 (Ocean Grey 5-O above the waterline), or were they primed with natural wood decks and painted later in New Orleans?

ManShipCo was guided by Electric Boat, and there were some EB people helping ManShipCo.  I was told by one of the COBIA volunteers last year at SubFest, that Manitowoc boats had wood decking over a longer section of the hull than the other companies boats. 

goldhammer

Nice, saved a lot of work, not that many outside of here would have noticed, but the judges in SLC might have.  Are you planning on a framed photo of what you have here for a guide pic to go with her on the table?  Or is that allowed?

 

GH

I will probably be showing it in the Diorama and Vignettes class so the judges may not care if all the goodies are attached. I hope to have the USS Johnston at Leyte Gulf and the USS Prinz Eugen at Bikini Island completed for the ship class.

As far as an accompanying picture, that’s a good idea. This will be my first contest so I will ask.

bluewavecaptain

I'm from Manitowoc so I'll be watching this with great interest!

That is cool Bulewave.

I started on the base tonight.
First I cut the base to fit the kit, then I drew the outline of the boat. I then carved out the area and vacuumed the area.

I then applied medium acrylic gel to the entire base.

Wetted printer was then applied to the entire surface and another coat of gel was applied and stippled using a brush. The paper serves to cover the Styrofoam texture and help add to the water texture.

Once dry, I will sand the base to remove the peaks and reapply and stipple the gel. After a second sanding, this should result in small ripples that would have been present in the river.

I'm from Manitowoc so I'll be watching this with great interest!

Nice, saved a lot of work, not that many outside of here would have noticed, but the judges in SLC might have.  Are you planning on a framed photo of what you have here for a guide pic to go with her on the table?  Or is that allowed?

Looks like they built to Electric Boat specs rather than Navy Yard build specs.  Navy yard builds had limber holes full length and EB boats were only about a third of the length.  This according to Squadron's Gato booklet.

The '44 I have has full length limbers, might check before you nail down the deck (if I'm not too late).

Side launching is/was the preferred method in most Great Lakes shipyards located on rivers.  ManShipCo was located on a bend in the river.

Here's a picture of ManShipCo from 1943.  The view is looking to the west.  Downriver to Lake Michigan is to the left.

IIRC, they didn't have enough water to launch stern first (normal) without running the stern into the other side of the river bank.  Probably not the depth to do it either.

That's the way they were launched at that shipyard. If you  Google "Gato class submarine launching" you will see several almost identical launching images of different "fresh water" subs.

Interesting project!Was the launch botched or was that just the way subs were launched at that ship yard?

My own connection is with Mare Island in Vallejo, California. 17 Balao and Gato class submarines were built there during the war.

Notables were the Wahoo, Silverside and Tang.

modelcrazy,

I ran the DC Shop at Base Milwaukee from 1983-87, and that's when I learned about the Manitowoc 28.  After launch, the subs would go out to Lake Michigan for sea trials and training.  Some would make practice torpedo attacks on USS SABLE or USS WOLVERINE, two side wheel steamer converted to training aircraft carriers.  Some of the escorts for the SABLE and WOLVERINE were USCG 78' Patrol Boats built during Prohibition.  After sea trials, the completed sub would sail to Chicago. The route was the Chicago River, Chicago Sanitary & Ship Canal, Illinois River, and MIssissippi River to New Orleans. 

You can get the book from the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc.  Last year the Museum hosted their 1st Annual SubFest.  This year SubFest is July 8-10.  It was a weekend event for the city.  We went for the weekend with 3 of my r/c subs: USS HAMMERHEAD SS-364, in 1:96 scale; USS BARB SSN-596 in 1:96 scale; and the Trumpeter USS SEAWOLF.  They set up a 20' x 40' pool in front of the museum for us to run our boats.  The SubCommittee has a thread about SubFest 2016.

BigJim

"I’m calling it “The launching of the USS Puffer"

Hmmm....

 

The "Yellow Submarine Operating Launch Car", well it looks puffed up. 

 

Big Jim, that is funny!

Bob,

This is such an interesting story to me. I never gave thought to were subs were built. I’ve always assumed they were built along the coast and I was interested to learn of some of them being constructed along the shores of Lake Michigan. I assume they were transported along the Ohio and Mississippi to New Orleans.
The scene is so striking to me that it seemed like a perfect diorama subject.
I would like to find that book and do a little reading.

An update to the kit.

As I thought, it’s going together quickly and won’t take long to complete. The inner hull was strange. I installed bulkheads in strategic places along with a floor. These bulkheads have holes where the watertight doors would be. This entire assembly is sealed up and installed into the outer hull. The only reason I can think is for a future cutaway version. I do like the fact that the Limber holes are open. I wish Revell would have done that to their 1/72 U-boats

This is where I’m at now. The inner hull, outer hull and deck has been installed. Everything fit well so I just need a little filler for the seams. I need to do a little research on which deck fittings were installed before launch.