I’ve got the kit, Lion Roar PE set, Al Ross’s plans, and the Italeri figure set. I’ve actually started construction and am going to scracth build the forward crew head so I can leave the hatch open to something other than a “black hole”!
I’d really like to hear from anyone that has built this kit and would especially enjoy building along with anyone that is just starting like me!
Also - I’m installing the skylights into the main deck at the moment. You have to be very careful doing this as there are a number of skylights in the deck that will be covered up later by various armament installations - and you don’t have enough pe skylights to install in each. You have to install them only in the skylights indicated on the instructions.
Personally, I think this was a pretty short sighted decision on Italeri’s part as many will want to have different armaments and not all installations “cover” the skylights in the same way as PT-596.
Good luck with the build. I did the Lindberg 1/32 scale PT-109 and used many resin parts from Scale Shipyard. Check them out. I also did mine fitted for radio control. She looks beautiful in the water. She cuts a very realistic wake. Perhaps you might consider r/c-ing your model. Either way, please bless us with pics as you go.
I’ll post pictures - I haven’t made a great deal of progress so far but I’ll post what I have!
The RC aspect is definitely appealing, but I think with all the photo-etch, etc. that I’ll be adding that things will be too delicate to run “for real”.
Hmm… I thought I knew how to post pictures but apparently I don’t. I uploaded them to flickr and made sure they were public. I’ve tried adding both the link and the html and neither seems to result in an image when I do the preview…any help would be greatly appreciated!
Here is what started it all…notice the open hatch just aft of the forward gun emplacement. It was evidently quite common for crews to leave this hatch open to provide cooling in the hot Pacific environment. Of course, this hatch leads to the forward crew head, so they may have wanted “more air” for other reasons as well!
There is enough room to see at least some of what is in this space, especially the ladder and bulkead hatches.
Here are some pictures of this area on the inside:
From Bill Maloney:
From Al Ross:
Here is a picture (again from Al Ross) of the Crew’s berth on the aft side of the bulkhead I’ll be modeling:
Finally, here is an interior photo from Bill Maloney - note the hatch design…and actual PT crew member Jack Madden (Thanks Bill!).
As a side note I highly recommend www.williammaloney.com! He has a “military museums” section that is really a great resource for modelers!
I’ve been scratch building the forward compartment area and will take some pictures and post them soon!
I used plastic card and strip and AB putty for the built up areas. I used a contour guage to get the right shape for the bulkheads, transferred the shap to index cards, and basically fiddled with things until I had approximately the right shape to transfer to plastic.
You can also see where I scribed some of the simulated wood panelling on the inside of the hull.
Here is a picture of my hatch and the beginnings of the toilet…I can’t believe I’m making a bathroom as part of my modeling effort!!!
One thing I need to figure out is exactly how I’m going to make the handles for the hatch - any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Finally, here is a picture of the deck so far - showing the photoetch skylights. Notice especially as previously noted that not all skylight holes are supposed to be fitted with photoetch parts!
Hello -jlbishop. I don,t know about the U.S.N. p.t. setup BUT I bought a coast guard air rescue boat at auction years ago to convert to what is commonly called a liveaboard …The decklights (the ports on the deck) were flush with the decks surface , and made of some kind of heavy glass (bullet resistant??) that could not be opened .In two places ,storage lockers covered the port ,but, the lockers were on mounts that raised them up about 6 ’ off the deck ,thereby still letting some light in . I DID NOT change anything topside so my neighbors in the marina always teased me about getting callouts if the coasties ran out of boats . The mount pedastels were still there so I built full size dummy guns and kept the exterior as she served . She was a luxury home for my wife and I and two dogs, threebirds and lots of tropical fish until the better half passed . The only original thing below decks that was original in the quarters area was the galley . All else was converted for easy living . My model work area was in the engine room .which by the way all three purred like kittens when I rebuilt them . The yard that built her as fate would have it ,was 12 nautical miles away , and, still in business .Maintenance cost was no more than a large fiberglass houseboat . tankerbuilder
I’m building this kit right now, and am 90% finished. I have left out the skylights to avoid tedious masking, and will install them last.
Do yourself a favor and throw out the kit cabin windows and use clear sheet styrene.
Every single existing styrene peg did not fit into its mating hole. Every hole had to be drilled more.
I would cut off the pegs for things like the on deck rocket lockers and torpedo launchers/holders.
There was also no need to make the torpedo fins P/E. its just adds a great deal of time to get them correct and they get painted anyway. They should have included styrene as well.
It is a great kit but as any kit is, its less than perfect. I would also hold off on the props until dead last as I have broken mine off twice now while doing some detail painting.
I intend to get the crew kit, but the price at $30 retail for 10 styrene figures is pretty nuts.
The camo scheme contrasts very sharply and needs to be weathered correctly to tone it down to reality. I’m trying to figure out how I will solve that problem now. I have a film camera so photos are infrequent.
It’s nice that you got the extra Lionroar PE and the figures. I haven’t got any, just the boat kit. Looking forward to seeing your finished one. For the mean time, I’m going to post a finished one, OOB.
I am happy with the result even though this work won’t stand up to intense scrutiny…it will, after all, be 90% covered by the main deck and whatever is visible (mostly the companionway outside the head) will only be discernable through the forward main deck hatch.
I really like the hull ribbing that I put in - that will definitely be visible! The sinks are actually the nose portions from some surplus ordinance from the Academy 1/32 F-18 kit.
Here is a picture of the two hatches I made - the larger one will go on the aft bulkhead, the other to the forward anchor locker. They both have a unique “black on white” paint job so will most likely be visible on the completed model.
The ladder is also going to be very prominent - I’m going to have to see if I can get a really good natural wood finish on it - any tips on this would be greatly appreciated!!
I couldn’t restrain myself and started using some of the photo-etch - this is a beautiful set from Lion Roar. I really like the thickness of the parts - and it seems to me that it bends pretty easily as well relative to some other sets I’ve used - no tempering required so far!
Here is the helm…I added some extra details/bolt heads to the torpedo launching control (on the far starboard side of the panel.
I also have left off the engine instruments and compass details for now as i’m hoping to avoid a masking problem later.
One problem I’ve noticed is that the compass needs a shade more room under the bridge top shelf - fit will be a problem but i think I can get by with letting a small gap exist between the top and side bridge pieces and filling in the resulting seam.
What a cool model so far, really like the custom work, even if 90% of it will be covered. Great job on the control board as well, that’s a nice looking PE kit.
Here’s a link to a tut by Huxy on just that. Fairly straight forward concept as well.
jlbishop — I wish I could post some but i got here to TEXAS just after I sold her and the truck never made it to our new home. I do miss that boat and I understand she,s being used as a workboat as the guy I sold her to couldn,t find a marina to take liveaboards in san diego .He sold her to a firm I believe in ALASKA and only the man above knows what she,s being used for . Shoot she might be a tug now , or maybe a mailboat ? Thanks for asking though .
That photoetch looks kickin . keep up the followup . The fact you had to do a toilet in scale means you have arrived , no 1/35 clogs though !! He,HE, that is a weird idea ain,t it .? tankerbuilder
HEY jlbishop — The easiest way to make correct hatch dogs is to try and remember the handles on some old refrigerators . .It,s kind of a shallow L shape laid on it,s side with the anchor or swivel point at one end of the L . The pictures show me that you should correct this .It,s your choice but you might have someone else mention it . Your framing and other detail look pretty well dead on ,considering the fact that you won,t be able to see a lot of it ,and thats a shame , but YOU know it,s there tankerbuilder
I built this a little over a year ago, before there was a full compliment of figures available[|(]. I also was not able to find that really nice PE stuff you have but had some PE. I really enjoyed this build. The one thing i did was to complete the decks as much as possible prior to attaching to the hull. The way I have it displayed i needed to mount the hull to the display before attaching the deck. Here is the link to the post i did then.
