Italeri & Lindberg PT boats

Thanks Al, I figured the Lindberg kit would not be the one for me.  A little more scratch work than I care to encounter.  I guess I'll put that project on the back burner for now. 

Cheers...have a great week....

WC

Many thanks for your help.  You've cleared up several issues concerning my origional thoughts of back dating the Italeri kit.  The only Lindberg kits I've been able to find are motorized & this kit also lacks reasonable detail I would like to see in a kit. So, back to the drawing board.  Again my thanks for you help.

Cheers....have a great week...

WC 

As with most of the Lindberg kit, the tubes are lacking in detail and are largely incorrect, especially the mounts and bases.  The MK18 tubes and their associated mounts looked like this:

 There are also many detail differences between the 103-196, 314-367 group (Lindberg) and the 565-624 group (Italeri) that require a lot of surgery if you are interested in producing a reasonably accurate model of a tube boat.

Al Ross 

 

Actually the Lindberg model depicts an early war first series Elco 80' PT; so the .50 cal gun tubs are at the correct angle.   On the mid war class, the forward gun tub was moved aft about 3 feet.  The Italeri kit is a late war series Elco 80', the gun tubs were angled forward slightly. 

The drawings below are from PT Boats, Inc.

PT 103, early war series, 1942. 

PT 314, mid war series, 1943.  The forward .50 cal tub has been moved aft about 3 feet.

PT 486, late war series, 1944.  The .50 cal gun tubs have been angled forward.

 

 

Thanks for the heads up on that problem area.  I would not be using the Lindberg kit for my primary model, but the Italeri boat.  I would use the torpedo tubes from the Lindberg kit to "back date" the Italeri kit.  I don't know of an aftermarket source that retails those tubes, do you?  Seems like Eduard & Lion Roar only have enhancements for the Italeri kit as the late version.  Many thanks for your help...cheers...have a great weekend.

WC   

Watch the gun tubs on the lindberg model-they mount at a terribly wrong angle.  They should slant towards the bow so that when the boat is at high speed and the bow is high out of the water they're relatively level.  This is the biggest flaw of the lindberg kit.