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

Hi;

 First and last time I ever saw a Higgins in plastic was REVELL'S Old,Old P.T.212 in the 50s. Haven't seen it since Before I enlisted in 1960

She is looking awesome Steve. Geez you are twisting my arms to start my late war Elco in the stash  Amazing work going on here. 

sharkbait

Some PT film on this WW2 documentary. Elcos I think. https://youtu.be/0-Y2hZVCThA

 

Sharkbait,

Thanks for the link, it's always great to see these old films. They look like Elco 77' with the aircraft turrets still on.

Steve

dhenning

Purchased the Gulfstream kit many, many years ago at the IPMS Nationals in Dallas. I have never built it due to the scale (1/96) and concerns over how to paint the molded in detail in several areas (plus resin kits still scare me!). Would love to see a 77 footer or a Higgins boat in 1/48th. Hopefully Italeri will release the 1/35 Higgins sometime this year!

 

I completely agree with you on hoping that the powers that be will release 1/48 scale of these other important boats.

Steve

Tanker-Builder

Hi;

 First and last time I ever saw a Higgins in plastic was REVELL'S Old,Old P.T.212 in the 50s. Haven't seen it since Before I enlisted in 1960

 

Tank,

They can be found still on evilBay in various forms of age related infirmaries, pretty much like me.

Steve 

plasticjunkie

She is looking awesome Steve. Geez you are twisting my arms to start my late war Elco in the stash  Amazing work going on here. 

 

Thanks PJ! I really appreciate the input. I'm looking to start on my Late model fairly soon, but what that means in my time reality could mean quite awhile to say the least.

Steve

Back around 4 years ago, I vowed to not do any scratch building on this model.....

Anyway, here is some of the non scratchbuilding that I'm not doing.

I decided that the canvas dodger needed stitching, so I thought that brass wire would probably be the best way to go. So I took some stereo wire and stripped the casing.

While it was a good idea, I found that I had cut too short of line. I started drilling the holes in the part using a #72 bit.

H

My first thought was to loop a single strand for each hole.

Great idea but it wasn't the look I was going for. So, going back to the drawing board, I stripped longer pieces of wire and decided to lace the wire through all the little holes I had created.

The problem came up that when I got to the framing, that I would break the wire. So after 7 attempts and getting the same results, I had to come up with plan of attack.

This seems like a good place to stop for now as I am still trying to come up with the perfect answer. I'll post later about some of the other things going on with this build.

Steve

Steve you thought about using thin nylon thread from Wallmart or HL?

plasticjunkie

Steve you thought about using thin nylon thread from Wallmart or HL?

 

I had thought of using EZ Line if the brass wire did not work, but as you can see below, I actually got it to work.

Steve

waikong

That looks pretty amazing, what a cool detail to add.

 

Thanks, I'm actually happy with it, but I know I can do better. I'll wait until I do the Late model boat.

Steve

Next update. I finally got the brass wire to work. I had to have a long length to be able to thread it through the framing. The one thing I'm not happy with is that I drilled too many holes. On the Late model boat I'll measre better. I also found 1/48 scale "threading" for WWI planes and used that for the vertical threading. I know it should be horizontal but I can live with the angle.

The next installmet will be about the windscreen and how I learned to live with and love the Bomb.

Steve

I'll clean this up before painting it.

Wow Steve that looks fantastic!

Wow, that looks nice!

EJ

plasticjunkie

Wow Steve that looks fantastic!

 

Thanks PJ. It was a bear but I think it was worth it in the end. I think I’m going to try nylon line on the late model like you suggested. It’s at least worth a try.

Steve

ejhammer

Wow, that looks nice!

 

EJ

 

Thanks EJ. And thanks for following along.

Steve

Now we come to the windscreen. In my opinion, it’s either the weakest part of the kit or the hardest part for me. You have a PVC plastic piece and a PE piece that is dang fragile. It will bend out of alignment if you look sideways at it. I thought it would be a cake walk but the photos will show what happened with my ham fisted attempts.

I ended up scratch building a ‘metal’ screen as it‘s my understanding that the crews replaced the glass(?) with metal armor for a bit more protection.

I framed it out too but haven’t taken pictures yet. Once I have it painted I’ll attach it and add some putty to blend it in. This was just my solution.

docidle

Now we come to the windscreen. In my opinion, it’s either the weakest part of the kit or the hardest part for me. You have a PVC plastic piece and a PE piece that is dang fragile. It will bend out of alignment if you look sideways at it. I thought it would be a cake walk but the photos will show what happened with my ham fisted attempts.

I ended up scratch building a ‘metal’ screen as it‘s my understanding that the crews replaced the glass(?) with metal armor for a bit more protection.

I framed it out too but haven’t taken pictures yet. Once I have it painted I’ll attach it and add some putty to blend it in. This was just my solution.

 

Sorry to hear about the mishap. Sometimes kit parts are so fragile that get screwed up just by looking at them lol. I read that most of the PT skippers added the armor and only a handful refused to have more protection than the rest of the crew. 

Anyway the upgrade looks very good.

plasticjunkie

 

 

docidle

Now we come to the windscreen. In my opinion, it’s either the weakest part of the kit or the hardest part for me. You have a PVC plastic piece and a PE piece that is dang fragile. It will bend out of alignment if you look sideways at it. I thought it would be a cake walk but the photos will show what happened with my ham fisted attempts.

I ended up scratch building a ‘metal’ screen as it‘s my understanding that the crews replaced the glass(?) with metal armor for a bit more protection.

I framed it out too but haven’t taken pictures yet. Once I have it painted I’ll attach it and add some putty to blend it in. This was just my solution.

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry to hear about the mishap. Sometimes kit parts are so fragile that get screwed up just by looking at them lol. I read that most of the PT skippers added the armor and only a handful refused to have more protection than the rest of the crew. 

Anyway the upgrade looks very good.

 

Ain’t that the truth sometimes! I read on some site that the picture of the 109 crew on the fordeck shows the windscreen replaced by plywood after the glass broke. I can’t verify that so hopefully one of our PT experts can chime in.

Steve

Just a quick picture of the added framing I did on the replacement windscreen. It’s not glued on yet but I’ve fitted and refitted it a number of times so it will hopefully blend in nicely. 

I’ve been working on the life raft now for a couple of weeks now. I purchased a 3D printed one from Shapeways‘ diStefanprint here:

https://www.shapeways.com/product/XWTGKN2WQ/1-48-usn-life-raft-oval-kit?optionId=130833973&li=ostatus

I couldn’t be happier with his products and service. It is first rate.

Anyway, as I have said adnaseum, I wasn’t going to add or scratch build anything on this kit!

So, I want to take this raft and make it look like this raft or at least a close facsimile. So if anyone has some great ideas or has done something like this, I would greatly appreciate the input.

Real example of a life raft on a PT Boat

This is what I have

The 3D printed stuff is unreal. A while back I bought a 3” gun from Shapeways for my 1/72 Gato and the details on that tiny thing are mind blowing!

plasticjunkie

The 3D printed stuff is unreal. A while back I bought a 3” gun from Shapeways for my 1/72 Gato and the details on that tiny thing are mind blowing!

 

I'll have to go back and check your Gato out to see the 3" gun PJ. I've been purchasing a number of things for this build but also my 1/72 Schnelboot as well as the Dreadnaught. It is VERY easy to go overboard with Shapeways' stuff.

Steve

This is a bit of an update since I'm still working on the life raft.

As I said in another post, I'm using ColourCoats enamel paints now. I really like that I do not have to try an get the color right, with these paints the colrs are right. I'm also enjoying working with enamels again. They lay down beautifully and the smell brings back great memories of my younger days. I use Laquer thinner from Blick's Art store so that the drying time is less and you need to use a good thinner with these paints.

I had laid down the Norfolk 65A AntiFouling Red (US14) before the Tropical Green (US29).  Once the Red had dried, I started masking off for the Trop Green. After an hour or so of difficulties and a bit of colorful language, I came to the realization that I should have done it the other way around. So.... Here are the pictures to show how it should be done in my opinion.

For the final pictures, I show how I marked off and painted the mufflers on the stern. I treid measuring with calipers and so on and so forth, but again found the answer in the simplest way. Paint the mufflers Green first, glue them on and then tape where the waterline is!

Enjoy,

Steve

That's looking great Steve. I love using enamels but the MM ones I use are being phased out. I'm trying some acrylics but I'm not sold on them yet. 

My Gato pictures vanished from the GB so here a some pictures of the 3d printed guns. The 3" has some incredible details as do the 20mm's. Click on the pictures for closeups.

PJ,

Those do look awesome! I used Shapeways deck gun and 20mm for my 1/144 scale Gato. I was amazed on the quality for that scale, but on the bigger Gato the details pop. 

I am going to pick up a three pack of the 3” deck guns for my USS England as well as the whale boat. 

Steve

Quick update or maybe a peek while I still work on the life raft and redoing the windscreen.

Here’s the upper half and a shot of the upper and lower together in Trop Green.

Steve

Getting closer. Here is a stern shot with the mufflers. It needs a bit of cleanup but not too bad. The second picture is the attempt at creating weld seams on the windscreen.

Steve

I’m still trying to solve the life raft dilemma so no further progress on that front. So, I went shopping. I found on Shapeways these great life vests and helmets from Panzer vs Tanks2.

https://www.shapeways.com/product/X2M23AS2S/1-48-usn-hanged-lifevest-and-helmets-set2?optionId=62198809&li=ostatus

I’ve cleaned them up, primed and painted them. They’ll go along the starboard edge of the day cabin and at various battle stations. Just a added bit.... I’ve got to finish this build before I end up motorizing it or some other insane thing!

docidle

Getting closer. Here is a stern shot with the mufflers. It needs a bit of cleanup but not too bad. The second picture is the attempt at creating weld seams on the windscreen.

Steve

 

That stern shot looks amazing!