Merit 1/48 Elco 80’ PT Boat Early Type Ended

docidle

Well, I airbrushed acrylic Clear Gloss on the boat and this happened. For some reason, the gloss pebbles up on me. It’s all over the boat so now I need to figure out how to fix it. I REALLY don’t want to screw this model up at the end.

Most advice I’ve gotten so far is to use Future and see if I can get it leveled out. So I’ll need to order some Future or Tile and Vina floor care, or whatever they call it now. Argh!

Steve

 

Drew Cook

"...so many PTs?" There were only three converted 85' Crash Boats in the movie "PT 109." That's why you never see more than three onscreen at the same time. 

 

I knew that there were three boats in PT 109 and in my opinion they did a pretty good job on them. Especially to the four year boy when I first saw the movie. Fell in love with PT boats from that moment on.

I’m wondering if you could answer a question regarding the the stern numbers and depth markers. I’ve decided to do the 103 boat when she was first repainted in the Solomons. From pictures I’ve found online, it looks, like the depth markers on the early boats were painted over and I can’t find a picture with the boat’s number on the base of the 20mm. It’s there while Stateside but hard to tell in theater.

Can you clear up any of this for me, please and thank you.

Steve

waikong

Love the life raft details. Can't believe I've been following this thread for 5 years!

 

Thanks W. I’m a REALLY slow builder but I usually work on a number of projects at the same time so this contributes to the snail pace of my WIPs.

Thanks for following along for all this time. I’ve gotten the clear coat issue somewhat fixed so I’ll be starting to post again with the decals and then the weathering.

Steve

Jim,

Thanks for checking in, you know I always appreciate it.

I have the clear coat situation to a point that I’m somewhat comfortable to proceed with the decals. I ended up using 90% iso alcohol with a q-tip and rubbed down the entire model for a couple of days. It helped knock down the pebbles a bit. Then I started airbrushing Future in thin coats on her. I also waited a week inbetween coats to make sure it cured.

It’s not perfect but hopefully I’ll be able to do a bit of trickery with the oils and weathering and have a “Happy Accident” as Bob Ross would say!

I‘m planning on starting the ‘Later’ version soon. I have the 1/200 Arizona that I’m working on now as well as a few smaller projects that I need to paint and get off the work bench. It’s very much GMorrison‘s Workspace formula.... “ no matter how big your workspace is, there only about two square feet of workable area... ALWAYS!

Stay tuned for further update.

Steve

Here’s a public service announcement for everyone thinking of building one of these. Make sure to paint the underside of the deck! I caught it after I had painted and was checking the fit of the deck and hull. 

There’s a overhang, so make sure you paint it.

Steve

By the way, those are my beautiful wife’s hands and not my ugly mits.

Great work there Steve and glad you got the clear coat issue under control. Just to let you know, I recoat Future after about 4-5 minutes and NEVER had any problem. I like to use a wide soft brush and apply the Future this way giving me a glass smooth finish after about 4-5 coats.

It sucks when you have things looking great and then something stupid happens. I was working on a plane the other day and the paint came out fantastic but I tried to fix a tiny thing hardly noticeable but I ruined the beautiful finish on the wing. I waited till the following day and used 1,200 and 6,000 grit pads to polish out the disaster which took out 95% of the damage. Thank God I laid several paint coats when I painted the plane a couple of weeks before. I then took some Novus and polished the area and it was fully restored showing to damage at all. 

glad you fixed the future issue, and congrats on your professional hand model to show off your builds. 

Due to an unforeseeable accident, I lost all my ship models. So here are some pictures of the trashed PT Boat. I've tried to repair the damage but it is too extensive. I'm not sure at this point whether I have the heart to start a new one. Thanks to everyone you followed along, I appreciate all the input.

Steve

Oh man, so sorry to hear that!

Thanks PJ and Waikong. There was a great deal of work in there. 

Steve

my heart goes out to you mate .

docidle

Due to an unforeseeable accident, I lost all my ship models. So here are some pictures of the trashed PT Boat. I've tried to repair the damage but it is too extensive. I'm not sure at this point whether I have the heart to start a new one. Thanks to everyone you followed along, I appreciate all the input.

Steve

   Steve when you say "...all my ship models..."   do you mean ALL?

If so what happened? 

With that kind of catastrophe in mind, do you need some new kits?

Hit me with an email or PM.

       Jim.

Jim,

Just sent you an email. When I say ALL, I meant all my finished ship models. Thanks for asking and checking in bud.

Steve

Steve, 

From what I've seen over the years of studying PT boats, almost anything white on the boats -- including the stern depth markings, and the boat numbers --  would have been painted over in the forward areas. I doubt that any boats retained their shaded white naval numbers. I've seen photos and film footage of those numbers with the white parts painted over in gray (color film footage of Ron 9 at Rendova), and also photos of the numbers painted in straight (unshaded) black numerals.
 
I've never been able to find out if the 109 had the boat numbers painted over in black, like many of her sister boats (the classic photo of JFK and crew on the 109 foredeck is unreliable -- the apparently white, unshaded "109" number on the charthouse looks added-on in the clearly retouched photo). However, the oft-published, black-spot-damaged photo of the 109 at speed at sea, it appears to show a rounded white (unshaded) "109" numeral on the forward starboard twin-.50 turret. 

There is only one photo I've ever found that might clear this mystery up -- a b&w photo of the 109, moored against the tree line in the Russell Islands and mostly blocked by two 77' Elcos moored to the 109's port side. I can't really discern any number, black or white, on the 109's charthouse or port cockpit splash shield. So..?