Are there any vietnam era CCBs on the market, or in the making?
thanks in advance
-xavier
Enlighten me please. CCB?
Hi Ed,
Essentially, a CCB was a Program 4 or Program 5 monitor in which the 81mm mortar was removed and replaced with communication gear. The open well was roofed over. In the photos, aside from the obvious structural differences, you can tell the difference by the numbers on the bow; e.g., C-91-1 was a CCB, while M-91-1 was a monitor.
Al Ross
Sadly, there are not many Monitors, or ATCs, on the market at all.
I want to remember a 1/48 ATC kit; and a very small, like 1/72 or 1/100-1/120 Monitor, but that’s about it.
Part of the problem being that the Riverine “heavies” were not made in any great quantity; and made to largely local specifications; and not generally preserved as historical items. Sub-variants of the heavies, like the CCB, or the ATC(H), or any of the various “zippos” becomes a search for rarer than rare.
It’s tough sledding. I have the old Floating Drydock collection of 8-1/2x11 two-view plans of Riverine craft; a body could spend a long time researching the info required to “flesh out” those simple line drawings. “Lif is shorte, an the Crafte so long to Learn” applies, or at least to me .
I want to say that I saw a CCB in a Verlinden ad one time. I think that a company called Viking (now out of business) made a 1/72 scale kit some years back.
It was closer to 1:87 scale, used ROCO guns (not included, up to you to find them). The forward turret was a salt shaker liberated from a McDonalds. It had the mortar pit (see Al Ross’ post above). It was up to the modeler to scratchbuild the bar armor. It was a great waste of good resin. Viking’s p*ss poor quality control and customer relations doomed them. No great loss to the hobby industry