I should probably be over on Shipwright with this, but I like all you guys here! And this is more a discussion on the problems of size than anything.

Anyway, on a recent visit to my LHS they had a 1/72 Gato sub in a pristine box for €50 (approx $65 or £45) and no postage included! I had wanted to do one of these or the smaller German VIIc but they were just that wee bit above my budget. Cheapest I could have found on-line would have been close to double that price when you include postage. They actually had the smaller u-boat for €75! So of course i snapped it up....I didn't fully appreciate just how big this is. With 4 kids by build area is the kitchen table in the evenings and every thing has to be put away afterwards. This thing is over 4ft long and takes up the whole table!!!! I don't know where I'll put is when complete.

This will give you an idea of the scale:
With a 1/35 Humvee

Really only been working on the conning tower so far:





Threading those rails was a real pain!

So has anyone ever done something that was just too big?

Cheers,
Sean

Been there - done that, but forgot to buy the T-shirt

Great price, I gave 60€ for my Gato, its a biiiig and impressive kit and looks stunning out of the box - you are in for a good beginning - but if you want feedback you propably would get more on Shipwright.

Remember that wartime Gatos didn´t have numbers on the fairwater.

Cheers/Jan

Looks like you're in for a ride.

I bought a 1/24 Huey Gunship, but after three years I never managed to even come close to finishing it. Although in all that time I know I have learned a hell of a lot. So when the Huey does get finished it will look a lot better than if I built it when I bought it.

I also have the Revell 1/72 German Submarine U Boat type VIIC that I haven't opened. I think that will get finished before the Huey even, it just looks so menacing.

I have no idea where I would display them though.

Some progress....some backward steps....

Weathering of the hull did not go as planned. Going to have to clean it up and start again! The conning tower's not too bad. Streaky, but a bit heavy but can be cleaned up relatively easy. Upper deck & sides came out OK. The wavy line between top & sides was done by hand. Its the black round hull I made a reall mess of....



_________________
Cheers,
Sean.

Some more progress pics...

I've re-done the hull paining. Based on some reference pics I've gone with some light-ish streaking above the waterline and plain black below. I'll dry-brush some metalic on the panel lines this weekend. Railings all complete and nearly went blind doing that part. Trying to thread black thread against a background of the black deck planking is not good for your eyes! Decaling, lights and the anchor plus a wee bit of tidying up to do as well as the stand.

Hope you like it so far:

As you cann see it takes up a lot of shelf space




Cheers,
Sean

The size it takes up is worth it. You did a really good job. One thing that keeps me away from ships is the small scale. This one definitely hits a happy medium between size and scale.
Nice.

Thanks Scott.
Not normally a ship person myself but I did enjoy this one. Plus at 1/72 is goes with my trio of MTB, PT & S-Boot. At he moment they're hidden behind the U-boat on the shelf!

Two boats that get the balance between size & scale just right are the 1/35 PT & S-Boot by Italeri, but alas out of my price range....

Cheers,
Sean

hi Sean. after seeing my freind al's german sub I counldn't pass the gato up at the price of 66 dollars. I was impressed when it wouldn't fit across the back seat of my truck. Now I'm thinking, I'll have to wait till I sell and move before this one gets done.and being a dio maker, well, that creates another head ache.

Finished at last:


Did some more washs over the hull to try blending the streaks a bit more, added the lights, props, flag and then decided to go with the numbers on conning tower and hull for a bit of extra "color"...





And with some re-org of the shelves found somewhere for it to go:


Hope you like it. Now, back to something a bit smaller and more manageable.

Cheers,
Sean