Ok... I looked at the IBS emergency bouy.. it looks ok.. now the problem is i bought the Eduard deck plates.. does anyone have any suggestions on how to fix them??????

I haven't tried it, but...

1. Bend the Eduard plates into the desired shape, using the superstructure casing sides as a guide.
2. Fill in the areas with the oval buoy holes with strip plastic of the same width and dimensionality as the brass.
3. Drill holes in the same pattern to suit ship.
4. Locate where the new round buoy holes should go. Using sharp scribing tools, or an exceptionally sharp compass cutter, cut out the circles, being careful to work slowly and not distort the remainder of the brass deck. You may actually want to do this step first, depending upon your opinion of the integrity of the brass deck.

Anyway, I've given the problem some thought and this is the best I can come up with at the present time. This is part of the reason I'm making my own deck from scrap plastic.

Robert

As I am not a sailor type,but I do model for my own reasons. All referance material I have seen pertaining to WW2 Gato submarines show the rescue bouys removed and the compartments plated over. This was to prevent the bouy from being dislodged during attack and giving away the subs position. Also rescue was note considered a priority for a sunken sub and given the way our subs operated in WW2 a subs loss would not be known untill rescue did not matter anymore.So all you folks upset about the "wrong bouy"get off your high horse it's a hobby.

Many were not plated over. Some were, some were not. The boats I'm modeling (with one exception) carried theirs' at least through their first few patrols. A lot depended upon the year, and what bade they were operating from. Brisbane was pretty primitive, early on, while Pearl had a fully fledged naval yard. It all varied.

Also, there was no need for the high horse comment. Some of us are genuinely interested in building as proper a Gato as possible. As I said in a prior posting, the buoys are physically the wrong shape and in the wrong locations, and by a lot. Its like packaging a Spitfire Mark 22 as a Battle of Britain Spit. Yes, most wouldn't know the difference but we would. Its not a rivet counter thing, either. We're talking about the basic, major shapes of the model and actual ship. The buoys being wrong is a major error, making a wartime boat into a postwar one. Would it not be a big deal if a Griffon-engined Spit was marketed as a Merlin-engined one? The shapes would be different, positions, etc. Its no different for the Gatos. Please, I personally welcome vigorous debate. However, I would argue that saying someone interested in accuracy is on a high horse is uncalled for.

Robert

Again if you are not satisfied with the boat - fix it! Thats what modeling is about. You take a subject and you build it to the best of your ability or liking. use your skills and make the kit into what you want it to be. But don't cry foul because the manufacturer didn't get it the way you wanted.And yes you are correct that early war boats
did have the bouys in place. Also be aware that almost all
US submarines changed in many details after each patrol during refit for the next patrol.So get off your horse and build them suckers - I look forward to seeing your work as I enjoy everybodys builds

I never cried foul. I simply pointed out, as have many others, that Revell got a major part of the model wrong. Also, I am building one, Hardhead, using her original plans, scribing out hull penetrations, etc. I am also making my own metal deck from computer graphics overlays of photos atop the kit decks to create a proper deck, replete with proper buoys. I believe that is being productive, not being aggressive with other posters with whose opinions one may differ.


Robert