Been doing alot of sanding for the past several weeks...i must say the fitting is really, well not too good, which is expected for a kit this size.

this kit comes with the decals for 4 different gato class sub, but im not choosing any of them, im planing on doing one that just got in for repairs after months of operation behind japanese lines....and you could expect alot of wear and tear....and of course RUST. i think im gonna enjoy doing this


after sanding, and rework on the steel hull. i didnt like the smooth finish of the hull, so it has to be worked

this kit is really a headache...the fittings are , well ....
a lot of sanding....this is the 1st round



second round of sanding and still the marks are there...
:angry: :angry:


the headache continues... the propeller guard with large holes thats needs filling



worst to come...the sail is truth a nightmare to fix, i mean its ok to fill in gaps, but doing an uneven joint where one is bigger than another is no joke. i dont really know...how come the review of this kit says the fitting is outstanding...huh :angry:





some alteration made






the finish sail..i really love the details of the 20mm, 40mm dan 4in gun...truly Bagus

Wah Ari, you are really patient in handling all the problematic areas... good job.... Yoour build really makes me want to try building the submarine, but with all the problems you are facing, if it was me, I think this sub will be in back on the shelf and collecting dust in no time... :lol:

Bro,

what kit is this?? i mean what brand.... perhaps you could tell us.. it's revell??

How big is this kits oh? ^_^

if it's revell kit, then it measured 1.03 metre ... huhuh

yup this is the Revell kit...i guess its more than 1 meter, almost 4 feet, didnt actually ukur it. :D very much bigger than the Revell u boat which will be my next project after this.

yar druid, i know what you mean..had the same thoughts with my 1/350scale Uss Enterprise , the 1/200scale Sovremmery and the 1/100scale Le Soleil Royal....just couldnt imagine how to start or where to start, as its very much complicated and big, i know these are very good kits that could be turned into masterpieces...just that im not ready nor the confidence to build them, panzers i could handle, but ships is beyond my present skill...thats why they are in storeroom for years now...the Enterprise is almost 15 years since i bought it.

This Gato is a different story...here i could use my panzer painting skill, and lucky my elder brother is an engineer at sembawang shipyard, so i had asked him the state of corrosion on ships , the surface, and what other major points for ships after long period at sea.
here are his answer
1) the hull surface is anything but smooth, as they are pressed steel, rough and especially so if they had been repainted, as to remove the old paints, they use sand to blast the the paints away...and old method used since the 1930s.

2) there are at least 3 layers of primer paints, the base coats are sprayed painted and some parts are hand painted. the thing is ....even though the same colour of paint is used, the tone will never be the same on the ship overall, since it took time to paint the whole ship, the portion of mixture would vary from one day to another depending on whos doing the mixture. this is not something that could be notice at 1/72scale, but the difference is there.

3) corrosion...ah this is the interesting part...there is more corrosion on the top hull and deck than there is on the bottom hull . yar i was blur at first, but he said, corrosion will not happen unless exposed to air...hahaha, i always thought the part which is in contact with seawater will rust more...its just the opposite

4) the hull would be under constant attack from sea shells..theres no escape from this even with the latest anti shell paints. actually this is a nightmare for ships, as the the colony of shells forming on the bottom hull will create drag...thus more fuel comsuption


hope these points could be a help to model ship buildes


well, back to the Gatothe problem is just with the fittings with large parts, otherwise this kit is truly nice and well detailed.construction is easy, as most smaller parts fit in nicely.
this kit could be finish within a week for an OFB finish or it might take months if one really wanna super detail this sub, as its so big, the options are never ending.
try it..you wont be disappointed.

so it's revell kit..
i'm quite confused when u wrote 'steel hull'. I thought this is a metal kit.. or maybe u add metal part....

all submarine are made of steel la bro...huhuh only models not

hahaha..of course this kit is from plastic brader, i was talking about the real ships and the state of crossion on them..
imagine if this kit is from steel..hahaha...kenot even carry it...52inch of steel is bery heavy brader. :D

when i was a kid... i made my own submarine from syampoo bottle only, than i spray it black..hehehe

hahaha....thats a good one bos....andf when i was a kid i remember buying toy submarines with the motor attached below the hull..i think it was rm2.80. go and play at the pond, after a while it sank :angry: ...missing foirever

never ending story of sanding....here again..the part that needs filling
[U]




all finish and clean...ready for paint testing to see if the joint are ok






the finish...good as none of the joints could be seen...but im not happy with the result as its too smooth..man it looks like plastic...hahaha



so, i finally decided to take the plunge of NO return...diluted putty on the hull and if this doesnt work out, then its bye bye rm370 :unsure:

more updates...rework on the hull with diluted putty


close up...the new rough surface



a coat of red primer

Good improvement. Keep it coming

the upper hull is painted in several tones...1st its light gray, then egg blue strips, dark dary, then a final light gray again



light gray and egg blue




dark gray and the final light gray




i decided to paint in sections as im using paints thats been mixed....and i made sure i forget the ratio, as i wanted different shades of the same colour just like in the real thing



the stern still in its red primer



detergent been applied before the deck is painted




the deck is been spray 1st with gunze black + panzer gray



second application of pro modeller black satin and a final spray of gunze black + light earth. the wooden deck has only a light spray of black satin as i later scrape the paints off to expose the wooden deck.




finish and let to dry

walaweeeee...what a perfect job!!! 5 star!! i like your gato surface..look real man

overall the hardest part was to paint the sail ( for ships its call a bridge, for subs its sail), so i thought i would do this instead of delaying any longer or else i will never get it done. like all model ships painting the two tone deck is never easy, for a smaller scale one i would have hand painted the black deck but for 1/72scale a hand painted job wouldnt look good along a sprayed sides...so gotta to do it the hard way....masking




the base coat on..still need some touch up along the mast



still a lot of work after the base coat...this i will leave for later , as the hardest part is now over



just love this very detailed 4in gun...instruction says this gun is painted black, well i decided to go for gray as it very diffcult to hight light anything in black

superb progress...keep it up...

Pak Ari,

any update??