I started this mostly to hone my scratch building skills before I try a different project I have in mind.
The USS Montrose kit is one of the old Revell 'flat-bottomed' kits from the '50s. The hull is based on a VC-2 Victory Ship. I'll use the hull, and maybe can use some of the booms and kingposts, but everything else has to be scratch built. I got VC-2 plans from the Smithsonian Maritime Commission Plans collection.
The Montrose has a rise aft of the main superstructure that I cut off. I sliced a strip off the top of the hull piece just below the molded-on gangway features. This made the hull look too flat at the aft end, so I built up some sheer to the stern with styrene strip. Also, the bow looks too blunt. I glued on a strip of styrene right on the stem and faired it in with putty. It still looks like a tugboat, but it's better than it was.
Here it is with the main decks added.
Thanks for looking.
Fred