This scale model (1:178) was built by Tom Dougherty of Cheshire, CT who is a member of the Sub Committee, an organization of submarine modelers.

It was a standard model kit (Revell Lionfish kit) which is a Gato model and needed to be modified to the requirements for a Balao class sub. As such, many changes were made to the original kit. The bridge, conning tower and periscope shears are completely different than the kit configuration and are extensively modified and rebuilt. A lot of the details are built from scratch, which is a considerable job considering the sizes of these components. As an example, the two deck guns (5 inchers) are only 7/8 inches long and they are made up of 25 different metal and plastic pieces. Many detailed and close up photos plus seeing an actual 5/25 gun at New London made it possible to do this job. The radio antennas were detailed from actual photos taken on the Blenny in 1945. Other items were made in the same fashion. Tom spent countless hours studying drawings and photos in order to even start on building these items from scratch. All I can say is that it was a labor of love, and for that, Tom, you have my deepest appreciation. Other subtle details to look for are the smoke stained sides from the engine exhausts and the rust around the anchor.

If you are interested in building submarine models, check the SubCommittee page. The SubCommittee is a special interest model group, specializing in static display and R/C model submarines.