Stern Plane Perspectives

Here are some additional perspectives from Matt's final stern plane drawings. The mottling of the red is due to file size reduction for the web and does not reflect the finished drawings.

First Parts: Stern Planes

To create masters, the process we've settled on is to draw up a part then send the drawing to the team member who wants to tackle it. Matt is doing the drawing in AutoCad then importing the geometry we want to model in 3D into Rhino. All of the correct cross-sections are then extracted out of Rhino and sent back to AutoCad for final documentation. We've begun to realize we are going to have a tremendous amount of data on our hands, not only of Wahoo but fleet boats in general, once the project is completed.

The first part selected were the stern planes. As I planned to take on the creation of the master I started to search for photos and plans. Matt and I agreed that the Floating Drydock drawings looked a little suspect.

What is interesting is you think you have an understanding of something then when it comes down to wanting to know definitively what it looks like you didn't really know as much as you thought you did. My experience with fleet boat stern planes is they have a certain shape and are flat in profile with tapered edges, like bow planes. This was reinforced by the planes in the Revell Lionfish kit and the Scale Shipyard Gato parts.

Since most all existing museum boats are either in the water or ground we couldn't just jack one up and take a look. We combed through the image galleries and got some good shots from Wayne Frey who spent some time last summer photographing USS Drum in Mobile. She is jacked up -- permanently resting on concrete blocks. Below is a shot of the starboard stern plane of USS Bonefish taken prior to her launch.

We discovered the stern plane geometry was much more complicated than we originally thought. The stern planes had a definite airfoil shape, tapered to a knife edge on the trailing end and slightly rounded on the leading edge. The outboard sides were flat but significantly thinner than the root. The pronounced taper from root to outer edge along with the fore and aft foil shape makes for a complicated piece. As a result the drawing will be sent to Tom Anderson in California and he will CNC the port and starboard masters for us. This will ensure all the curves are true and both port and starboard planes will match perfectly. Matt did an excellent job drawing the part. Here is a perspective from his work.

For those familiar with the stern planes of the Revell Gato in 1/72, you will notice that it does have a foil shape to it. However, the part is a constant thickness across the span giving it a chunky outboard edge.

Once the masters are CNC'd then we will detail them with the appropriate weld lines.

PHC

Deep Background: Crush Depth

Paul Crozier and I have each had a big crush on that wily lady Wahoo for many years.

For me it began with Forest Sterling's Wake of the Wahoo -- the book which lit off my interest as a kid, cooking it into a passion when I was lucky enough to befriend its unassuming author in the last years of his life.

For Paul, the love affair also came at an early age. It was forged by his early exposure to George Grider's submarine memoir Warfish, in which the author's duty aboard Wahoo plays a major part. Paul's young interest evolved into a lifetime of Wahoo dedication, chronicling the boat's history, derring-do, and ongoing postwar legacy in detail on his aptly named website: warfish.com.

In recent years, both Paul and I have continually sought to honor the memory of this gallant boat and now legendary skipper and crew. We've recreated her war flag. We participated in her official Navy memorial ceremony at Pearl Harbor (the natural offshoot of the discovery of her wreck off Japan a few years back). We talk up her cause and history wherever we go -- probably to the point of annoyance to any around us who've heard it all before.

Yet the one thing that's eluded us so far, the special something we've both always wanted as a further personal memorial to our beloved Wahoo, was a large-scale accurate R/C model of the mighty sub -- surely the absolute "dream boat" of both of our burgeoning model fleets.

Enter well-known R/C submarine modeler Matt Thor, about five years ago, when this project got its real start. He showed up at the first-ever SubRon5 Fun Run with an in-progress 1/48 Gato hull master (prototype) he'd been working up, professing his intent not only to make it into a Wahoo, but in so doing to specifically honor the lost boat and crew with a truly standout model.

That did it: Stand by to answer bells and get underway . . .

Enter Jeff LaRue, famed provider of high quality photoetched parts to the model submarine community. Jeff tells us that for years potential customers had been after him to produce an accurate 1/48 scale photoetched fleetboat deck to rival the ones he'd already produced for U-boats in assorted scales. A little friendly arm twisting and, behold, Jeff soon agreed to craft the fabled deck to recreate Wahoo's own. In fact, he and Paul have already spent significant time poring over the myriad details differentiating a generic fleet submarine version from a deck specifically designed to replicate the one unique to Wahoo. Paul's in-depth research and Jeff's incredible attention to detail promise to combine in the creation of something very special. I like to think I helped out at least a little by providing scores of closeup shots of Silversides' deck -- Wahoo's close sister, two hull numbers away and built at the same time practically alongside one another at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard -- taken during a visit to Michigan where Silversides remains on display today.

Now enter Tom Kisler, a fellow fleetboat fancier who's likewise always wanted a fine example of a large-scale Gato class model for his own collection. Tom's a crack scratchbuilder in my book -- as evidenced by his supremely impressive Liberty Ship (I don't pay this compliment lightly) -- and with his interest keenly piqued soon signed on to help out with the creation of control surface parts (starting with a bow plane, I believe) to get things rolling.

The team is still coming together; perhaps others wait in the wings, we shall see. As for myself, I'm not the consummate modeler these other guys are. But I've definitely taken on the role of cheerleader -- planning, along with others, to record our progress with entries in this blog.

I guess you could say we're singling up all lines, readying ourselves for a grand adventure. Why not stay aboard and head out with us for the ride?

Jeff Porteous

In The Beginning...

Welcome to the Wahoo Project where the ongoing effort to produce the definitive replica of the USS Wahoo (SS-238) in 1/48 scale will be chronicled. The project team consists of the following submarine modeler-historians: Paul Crozier, Tom Kisler, Jeff LaRue, Jeff Porteous and Matt Thor.

Please note the following ground rules the team has established:

1. It will be done when it is done.
2. Absolutely no time frame has been set for rule number 1.

At present we have a rough hull pattern, scale propellers and a boatload of drawings and images. Not to mention a strong desire to honor the men who served and died in the real boat.