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

docidle

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!

 

 

They look great but kind of expensive. They will add interest to the build. Great job Steve.

Steve,  I was following back in 2018  but I have apparently missed many updates since then. So, allow me to catch up...

      "Wow, that is fantastic work on the canvas coverings and an excellent job on the .50 cals barrels and that's a good looking windscreen replacement too.  Best of all you have a beautiful botom."

   Faithfully following from now on...

      Jim.

I agree that they were a bit pricey PJ but in the end they will add some interest to the model. At least I sure as heck hope so!

Steve

Nino

Steve,  I was following back in 2018  but I have apparently missed many updates since then. So, allow me to catch up...

      "Wow, that is fantastic work on the canvas coverings and an excellent job on the .50 cals barrels and that's a good looking windscreen replacement too.  Best of all you have a beautiful botom."

   Faithfully following from now on...

      Jim.

 

Better late than never Jim! Thanks for checking in though, I appreciate it. As always, if I have time to think, then the add-ons start to pile up. Hopefully I’ll get the raft done this weekend and then it will be time to button this up and start weathering it.

Usually it’s only my wife who compliments me on my beautiful bottom, but thank you just the same!

Steve

docidle

...

Usually it’s only my wife who compliments me on my beautiful bottom, but thank you just the same!

Steve

    LMAO

Nino

 

 

docidle

...

Usually it’s only my wife who compliments me on my beautiful bottom, but thank you just the same!

Steve

 

 

 

    LMAO

 

LMAO too!

Time for an update. 

Here is the solution for the life raft that I've come up with. I might super detail it later so I won't secure it to the model yet. I'm salvaging the sheathing for the brass wires that were used on the canvas dodger port side rear gun turret. After measuring a number of times I cut it to match the bands on the raft itself.

Next I needed to size line to not only fit scale wise for the raft but also for the crew's hand size. Syren line will be used not only for this but also the various lines around the boat.

I've painted them already but haven't taken pictures yet. I'll post those later this week when I finsh the raft. 

Just one more fiddly bit out fo the way with more to come before I can get to weathering this baby.

Steve

Looks good Steve. There is junk sitting around just waiting to be re invented into something else. I find many uses from left over wiring and the plastic casings too.

Just catching up with the Build and love the added Detail you have done. Very impressive work so far.....Cheers Mark

Hi;

      Took me a while to chime in here. I like what you have done so far. Looks like you did a good job. Now, that said. A couple of times the old Monogram PCF was mentioned. This kit lends itself to a little lengthening. Then civilian markings and you have- a pilot boat or an offshore rig crewboat!

     Oh and how many have taken the RAG boat and converted it for civilian use. Such as a Mailboat perhaps? There were two P.T.Looking boats running tourists around for a while. where I lived. Now those had the center engine and drive gear removed.

     This kit looks very cluttered. I always wondered about that. Photos I have seen seem to show a deck with a lot of clutter and lack of space. The Higgins boats were worse in that regard.

Hey Steve!

 I am resurrecting my old Lindberg boat. You want to build the guns for me? Man, that's beautiful!

plasticjunkie

Looks good Steve. There is junk sitting around just waiting to be re invented into something else. I find many uses from left over wiring and the plastic casings too.

 

I absolutely agree PJ. It’s also much cheaper than running to my local hobby shop, Shapeways or evilBay!!!

Steve

surfsup

Just catching up with the Build and love the added Detail you have done. Very impressive work so far.....Cheers Mark

 

Thanks for checking in Mark and I appreciate the kudos, high praise coming from you! 

Steve

Tanker-Builder

Hi;

      Took me a while to chime in here. I like what you have done so far. Looks like you did a good job. Now, that said. A couple of times the old Monogram PCF was mentioned. This kit lends itself to a little lengthening. Then civilian markings and you have- a pilot boat or an offshore rig crewboat!

     Oh and how many have taken the RAG boat and converted it for civilian use. Such as a Mailboat perhaps? There were two P.T.Looking boats running tourists around for a while. where I lived. Now those had the center engine and drive gear removed.

     This kit looks very cluttered. I always wondered about that. Photos I have seen seem to show a deck with a lot of clutter and lack of space. The Higgins boats were worse in that regard.

 

Thanks for checking in Tank. I like your ideas for the various kits. The owner of the local hobby shop once told me that there are assemblers and builders in this hobby. There’s nothing wrong with either of them but I think I take the builder monicker to the extreme most of the times though.....

If I let the AMS get the better of me, then I can build myself into not building at all!

Steve

Tanker-Builder

Hey Steve!

 I am resurrecting my old Lindberg boat. You want to build the guns for me? Man, that's beautiful!

 

I would say no problem Tank but I think my wife would have a thing or two to say on the subject...

Steve

Well, as the world turns and we’re in lockdown now, I thought I would post a couple of pictures of the “progress” I’ve made. That way, we can all entertain each other no matter where we reside. I hope everyone is staying safe and is healthy.

First off I thought I would further the discussion on AMS (Advanced Modelers  Syndrome). Hi, my name is Steve and I have AMS. 

After mulling over the mast and rigging requirements, I found some 1/48 turnbuckles from GasPatch that would go perfect on the mast, I just had to get them. 

Drilling holes into the mast was interesting to say the least. Here are some pictures of my insanity. What I didn’t figure out was a cleat to tie off to. Well at least it has rigging now.

And yes, I realize that most boats ditched their mast but I kinda like the look of it, so it stays.

Steve

Here is the size of the turnbuckle next to a dime.

And a turnbuckle drilled and set in the mast.

And rigged.

Nothing like working with tiny parts to get the flow going lol. That looks super Steve.

plasticjunkie

Nothing like working with tiny parts to get the flow going lol. That looks super Steve.

 

If you say so bud..... I was starting to see crossed eyed after awhile!

S

Small update. I finally have the replacement armored windscreen glued on and painted. Used Perfect Plastic Putty for the joint. Came out okay. I just realized that I don’t have a finished photo, so I’ll post that tomorrow. Here’s the work that I have photos for your enjoyment.

Steve

Here are the finished pictures of the puttied and painted windscreen. Definitely needs some touch up.

Steve

And here are the frontal shots. Man, I LOVE this plastic putty. Clean up with water and no sanding and no losing details!

I finally got around to the life raft after thinking about it for weeks now. Not as detailed as I wanted to originally do but a nice easy inprovement. Syren line of course. I'll also be using Syren to add lines around the boat.

So, to update. I used the plastic coverings for the brass electrical wiring that details the aft gun canvas dodger for the attachment points. Painted with the boat color. I started by glueing the line halfway into the first cover but didn't glue that onto the raft. I did this because I needed the end of the line to fit underneath that attachment point too.

Next I glued the second cover to the line and left some sag. It was at this point that I had a ah ha moment. I figured that I could glue the line to the raft at each attachment point, give it some sag and then glue the cover on........ DUH! Needless to say it went fairly quickly after that.

After everything was dry, I added the accoutrements but didn't glue them down since I will be gloss coating everything and I wanted to weather the raft etc...

Steve

This is outstanding work Steve. Your attention to detail is just too much.

Thanks PJ and please another beer for me! Also thanks for all the comments and encouragements, they have been most appreciated bud.

Steve

docidle

Thanks PJ and please another beer for me! Also thankd for all the comments and encouragements, they have been most appreciate bud.

Steve

 

Attention to detail.

Looking at photos of actual boats while docked, they shows that tarps were over the guns. So, I'm adding resin tarps from ValueGear, which are made for the Armor modelers or Heavy Metal enthusiasts, but I hope they won't mind me highjacking them for a ship model...

The first pictures shows an actual boat with tarps and the second shows the finished ones I did today. The oils are still wet so they're shiny! However, they'll calm down as the oils dry. I'll place them about the boat as needed.

As a side note, the tarps were probably painted with the Tropical Green color but I wanted a bit of visual interest well as color variation.

Tomorrow I tackle the life jackets and helmets.

Steve

Everything is ready for the Acrylic Gloss coat. So, here are some pictures before I coat it, add some decals for the 103 boat and then weather this puppy. Enjoy

Steve

Lovely clean work so far my Friend. Are you going to weather her..??.....Cheers mark

Thanks bud. Yes, I am going to weather it and I now have an issue. I’ll posts some pics so you can see what happened.

Steve

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

"...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.