USS Gato SS-212 1944

Love these little subs that Hobby Boss has been putting out lately. They're immense amount of detail given their tiny size. Full hull or waterline pieces that actually fit together properly and all of the panel lines line up. Takes about 5 min to put together and that includes finding you glue and opening the tube. Only qualms I had with the kit is it actually portrays an early model Gato in their '43 fit and not their '44 fit. This mainly has to do with the kit only offering the early model AA guns, (3/50 and 20mms only). For a '44 fit you'd need to find or make a 4/50 or 5/25 deck gun and some 40mm AA guns. The old Skywave weapon sprues supplied the appropriate guns and with a tiny amount of sanding I was able to make a surface ship 5/25 pass for the sub version. That's just a tiny flaw though and could easily have just been a typo by the designers. These kits are perfect for small scale dioramas and great for a first time diorama you could make in a weekend. They are a great refresher after spending months on end detailing that 1/350 battleship.