Garth's Merit PT boat kit build

Looking forward to it Garth.

Jim 

Can't wait!!

Great Garth. Will be looking forward to the updates. I have mine and want to jump on it asap.

Bought the kit over to Stan, he likes it - he said the fit looks good - he said the detail level looks good ... but he did say the painting guide was confusing with the use of paint names like dark gold, cocoa brown and khaki green.  

Yes I did notice the color call outs to be on the odd side.

'cocoa brown' - interesting reference to a color.

With the Pacific sun and salt the colors would only be standardized shortly after application. A range from a medium to light, with the modellers 'artistic license' for fade and weathering.

The problem with common household items to reference is not everyone has cocoa on hand!

More common modellers food staples would be:

Kraft Dinner yellow or blue, tuna pink, burnt toast, strong coffee brown and of course peanut butter!

SuppressionFire

'cocoa brown' - interesting reference to a color.

With the Pacific sun and salt the colors would only be standardized shortly after application. A range from a medium to light, with the modellers 'artistic license' for fade and weathering.

The problem with common household items to reference is not everyone has cocoa on hand!

Merit Models is included somewhere in the Greater Co-porosperity Sphere of Wasan Moulding Co of China (eg. Banner, Trumpeter, Mini-Hobby Models).  

The production values are much the same -- packaging, instructions, and color call-outs.    Cocoa Brown is a common call out for USN Hull Red (Brown) on Trumpeter  color sheets. 

Hi All,

Not only is Stan an excellent modeler, but he's a genuine and good guy:

  I will start your model soon. I don’t see any real problem with what you want me to do. I think it will be interesting and fun to evaluate the kit.

   Thanks a bunch for the chance to do so.    Stan.

    P S Have a great day.

More to follow ...

Garth

Any further reports on the progress? Thinking about starting this one for a September show.

Hey,

Got an email from Stan the other day, in which he said that he'll start it "soon" ... When I dropped it off with him, I learned that he had surgery on one of his hands the previous Friday ... so, I'm assuming that's a factor in his soon statement ...

got it, thanks!

I picked up my boat today.  Looking over the instructions, they remind me of Trumpeter's instructions.  

Looking over the parts, I found no flash and the deck and hull fit like a glove.  I just might have to sneak this into the queue it looks so good.  The color call outs are a bit tough to make out, but since we're in theater, I am confident that my Boatswain will be able to come up with some compatible colors.

 I take it that no one has produced a PE set yet?  However, I believe that I will build this out of the box (with the small amount of PE included), and hope that there is a set when Merit comes out with an "older" version of the 80' Elco.

Steve

Anyone mind if I do an Out of the Box WIP on this?

That's a good idea, Steve... People will see multiple processes ...

Thanks Garth. I just did not want to step on your or Stan's toes and I would post it on a separate thread.  I agree that people could see multiple builds, one from an amazing professional like Stan and one from a fairly new returnee to the hobby.

Steve

Hey, ... Noooooooooooooooooooooo problemo Steve, that's fine.

Garth, I've been delaying working on mine pending your evaluation but I'm going to start building mine as I want to enter it in an upcoming model show in Sept. and time is getting short.

docidle, great idea for you to start a wip on this model so I will be watching out for it. I think it builds up really nice right out of the box.

I've been dabbling at mine and it's going together well. Only area I've really had to take my time with was the .50 cal gun tubs. Do the deck houses first and place (not glue) them on the deck before you glue the tubs in place - this will allow you to make sure you have the tubs lined up with both the deck house and the deck itself and minimize the need for joint filling. I just had a small gap on one of the tubs that was easy to fill with Mr Surfacer and "sand" away with Mr. Color thinner.

Hi ... not a problem.  Been trying to find time to email Stan for an update, but I've been too busy and too preoccupied with looking for a job and dealing with some personal issues here as well as writing a review of INTO THE DARK WATER ...

I will email Stan later ....................

Hello All,

I just wanted to tell you ... Stan is dealing with some family health issues - which has seriously prohibited his  doing this project for me.

I am trying to decide if I'll have another local modeler I know of do it - or have a friend - who is a modeler  from PA - do it...

Garth

Over the weekend, I shot Stan an email, asking for a little update.

Hi Guys,

Finally heard from Stan: He's dealing with some serious personal issues lately, but he did say this about the kit. I am not sure what he meant about the three 20mm when the kit only has one.

" Hi Tim,

The deck fits on the hull quite well. The following step was a surprise. It had me putting together 3 20 mm machine guns. I only made 1 because I couldn’t find where 3 went. After that it starts on the Structures that fit on the deck which is more understanding. I haven’t started those yet."  

Hi Guys,

I just wanted to give you an update on the status of the build.

Due to the fact that my modeler, Stan Pienkowski is facing numerous personal in his home life, our good friend, Bobby Cicconi is taking over for Stan.

There will be updates on the build with in-progress photos to boot.

Garth  

Hi All,

Got this update on the build from Bobby Cicconi in an email overnight. He likes the kit.

"I'm up to about section 10 in the PT build. So far I like the kit a lot. It's nicely done and has a minimum of flash and seams. I read one person who said that there are injection sink marks on the 50 cal turret assemblies that are still visible even when completed, but that's not the case. I'll try and send some photos this weekend. Nothing too exciting, mostly sub-assemblies ...."

Heard from Bobby last night ......

He says that there are three major sprue gates that need to be removed and sanded smooth before painting. They are the only major sprue flash that I encountered other than the usual attachment points of each part on the trees. The 40mm gun is very detailed and a mini-kit in itself.

Heard from Bob Cicconi .. he likes the kit's 40mm .... "I'm telling you- it's like a mini-kit. The torpedo racks are well done also. I really like the kit a lot. I'm extremely impressed with the fit. The parts fit together very well. The torpedo racks required the most dry fitting and cleanup, but even they weren't too bad. I remember doing the 1/35 Italeri kit, and the torpedo racks were a real pain in the ass."

Sounds like positive progress and feedback by the builder. Great to hear.

Yes.  I trust Bobby's opinion ..............

Received this from Bob Cicconi overnight, regarding the building up of the Merit late-war Elco kit ... he likes it.

"Virtually all the parts have the initial green # 2 color sprayed on them. I sprayed the prop shafts, rudders, and anchor Alclad steel. I sprayed the natural wood parts with Testors wood color. The torpedoes have the warhead painted green # 2 and the body and props are Alclad burnt metal to replicate the natural metal of the torpedo body with cosmolene or oil spread on it to prevent oxidation.  The canvas parts were sprayed with Testors khaki drab. I used the Merit prop color for the 3 main boat props. I started to put some of the secondary colors on some of the sub-assemblies, like the radar mast and strut and will start to mask off and spray the camou colors on the sub-assemblies and the hull. It's coming along nicely."