the kit I am biulding right now , the US Navy swift patrol boat, looks like the revell/mono people didn’t think about how the pieces fit together!
has anyone built this?
what was your solution?
also, it came with no interior and all the windows enable you to see the blank inside at any angle!
anyone got a good simple way to get out of this?
Dang! I hate it when I misspell and edit cause it shows![:(!]
Jin, I thought of getting the kit, but won’t now.
I don’t need another nightmare on the bench to worry about!
Keep us informed of your progress and how yu over come the pitfalls.
Don
I’ve never built the kit, but I did have a couple of friends tell me it is a real dog of a kit[tdn]
I think that everyone is missing the point that this kit is a re-issue and not a new tooling. My brother had this kit back in the early seventies and it actually probably came out in the late sixties.
Yes, the joints are poor fitting, but you can fill any gaps with thin strips of plastic stock and fill with putty. Detail is pretty basic, and some scratchbuilding will be required for an interior and any real representation of the twin 0.50 mount above the cabin. That’s where I am on mine right now. Sanded off all of the grab rails on top of the cabin and am replacing them with railroad eyebolts and wire. Bought mine the last time it was reissued back in the early 90’s.
The good news is that there are aftermarket accessories available now in 1/48 scale (including good figures and weapons) and it is the only injection molded Swift boat available!
I forgot that that kit exsisted. But I built it when I was a kid. I’ve built kits that were poorly designed before. Sheet styrene, sandpaper, Squadron puddy, superglue, and emery boards can fix just about anything. [8]
EDIT:
Wait a second!!! I visited a friend and his son was trying to build that swift boat model. He was hopelessly frustrated (He’s also 12). I think it has actually gotten worse, or I forgot how bad it is. I retract my previous statment.
EDIT 2:
They have managed to finish the kit and produce a good finished product. THey discovered that too much puddy can melt the plastic the hard way.
yay!
the figure that came with the kit looked like it had a WWII carbine!
are the accessories pricey?
hi all.
dkmacin I wouldn’t recommend the kit even if I am an FSM workbench reviewer(you know how they always recommend things).but considering that there aren’t any other swift boat kits, well… that sorta covers up the bad things I said.
And the progress has been snail paced.
I put in a metal bristle polishing tool into my dremel and it turned out that it actually sands plastic, so I used that and a 400grit sand paper. a lot of putty went in to the cockpit thingy(I’m a armor, a/c person) especially where the front part joins to the ceiling. I am thinking about the part where you put on the American flag. will the foil inside made the whole thing look shiny?
someone said something about putting foil between the decals to make it look wavy.
Since I made little blemishes on the waterline painting part, I’m just gonna put some rust spots on it and a couple of bullet dimples, but then again, if it were to be put on a stand-which the kit provides- it shouldn’t look dirty. Dang!
WOW I can’t believe I typed that much!
people: sorry if I didn’t sound too friendly. I’m reading this and thinking that I need to work on my writing skills.
I think I read too many TOO seroius novels/books!
I must proof read carefully, I must proof read carefully…
No specific accessory kits are made for the RM Swift Boat, so you will have to obtain items from the armor model accessories and aircraft accessories. I found some good 1/48 0.50 cal Browning machine guns in an armament kit for the MH-60G Pavehawk by Cutting Edge. The also have some separate 0.50 cal machine guns available as well.
Found a set of 1/48 jerry cans at Squadron. Other items can be found-just got to keep an eye open on the armor side-1/48 scale seems to be growing some there.
no interior and all the windows enable you to see the blank inside at any angle!
anyone got a good simple way to get out of this?
I’ve seen a lot of pics where the crew painted the day cabin windows OD so the bad guys couldn’t see in.
The .50 cal mounts were straight off of ELCO 80’ PT boats.
The Vietnamese soldier is holding an M-1 carbine, and this would be appropriate. He’s also barefoot, also appropo.
I have a scratchbuilt 1/12 scale RC Swift boat, and used actual measurements from the PCF 2 (PCF 1) is the boat in your picture. PCF 2 still resides as a research vessel in Virginia. Last time I saw her, she was at Little Creek Amphib base. I had the distinct honor to go out on her for a short trip. Made me apprecaite the Swiftiess!
I would be happy to provide information on the wheelhouse and/or other details if it would be helpful.
JR
I think the kit originally came out in 1967
I was disappointed with the lack of detail inside, but hey, I figure you can put little curtains over the cabin windows and only fix up the forward compartment
hello people, I’m doing a group build on this, go to my thread in group builds for more detail
Sounds like a very interesting model, deficiencies aside!
Do any UK model retailers sell it? I’ve never seen one for sale, either at a model show or in a store.
squadron mail order has them, but I don’t think you want them to ship oversees.
check some of the mailorder companies.
wait, can u ask him to join my GB?
my SPB is going pretty well, but the putty tube is like withered now
cut it off at the waterline and do a diorama.
hehe get some figures and do the watersking scene from apocalypse now[8D]
here are my progress pics for the swift patrol boat
[8D]
the masking tape is for the steps.
when I was sanding a gap near it, I was afraid that I would sand that off too, so I put masking tape over it so the sand paper doesn’t touch it
the boat is sinking into the desk!! man the life boat!!!
Not bad, I don’t remember exactly when that kit originally came out, but i know it was by the summer of 65
i just got the kit as a gift
tried to dry fit some pcs forget it[B)]
the only part that i see that fits perfectly is the box it came in it close perfctly[:D]
maybe i will have to make it in a diorama showing the boat damaged
I’ve got one of these in stock here at the shop.
I googled “swift patrol boats” and got a ton of places to go, many with photos…it’s better than nothing [:D]