This one might be for you CG Bob. I wanted to model a diorama of CMH recipient Monroe during his infamous beach rescue of a squad of marines. His boat was a LCM, which was definitely different from the LCT’s and Higgen’s boats. It had two very cool MG mounts up front and a narrow middle ramp for personnel. Anyone know of something like this?
-TMW
Not sure if this is the one you’re looking for, but there are 2 LCM-3 kits available:
One by Italeri - http://www.italeri.com/product.aspx?item=6436S
and another by Trumpeter http://www.trumpeter-china.com/war513/products/en_message.asp?id=14
There is a comparison of the two kits at PMMS http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/vehicles/misc/lcm3/lcm3.htm
I am trully sorry, I meant LCP not LCM. Thanks for posting the links, because I had not seen a compare and contrast between the two kits.
Do you mean LCP or LCVP? There are differences.
Italieri makes a 1:35 scale LCVP
The old Revell UDT boat is a LCP(R). It is somewhere in the 1:32 to 1:35 scale range. If you throw away the frogmen, rubber raft, and some of the clunky details and replace the .30 cal machine guns the boat itself isn’t too bad
The difference between a LCP and a LCP(R) is that there is a bow-ramp on the (R) version. The space between the bow machine guns is widened for men to debark (single file) ove the ramp. They must go over the side on the LCP
Here’s the official USCG link to Douglas Munro. The LCP(L) that Munro was in was an early style Higgins boat, based on the Higgins Eureka. The LCP(R) was a slight refinement by adding a narrow ramp. The LCVP was the final version later in tthe war. There is a book about Andrew Jackson Higgins and the boats and ships he built for the war effort. An interesting fact from the book is the construction of the early LCVP’s. They were built as LCP(L)'s and the spoon bow was sawed off so the ramp could be installed. The National D-day Museum may have plans for the LCP(L). They recently restored a LCO(L) as the boat the Munro was in charge of.
Thanks Bob!
I knew you would know the full story. Still, I wonder if there are any kits of it around or it will be a scartch build for me?
Semper P
-TMW
Reread my post. The Revell UDT Boat is your probable best starting point
That’s pretty darn close!
Thanks, what scale is that?
-TMW
The model is 11" overall. The coxwain & gunner figures are 2" tall.
Like I wrote previously, it is an old Revell box scale kit.
An LCP(R) was 35’10" (430") long. Doing the math 430/11 = 39.1 so it is 1:39 scale. You can use 1:35 scale accessories. The Academy .30 cal MG look right
A little historical correction.
The LCPR was NOT a progression in the Higgins line. LCPRs were built by Chris Craft because Higgins refused to have anything to do with the design, which was from the Navy’s BCR (Bureau of Construction & Repair). He felt it was too heavy forward, which increased the boat’s draft and was not a welcome characteristic when moving over sandbars. The book you mentioned covers this (and is a must-read for any Higgins boat fan). BCR wanted Higgins under their thumb and tried their own design but his ramp was much better and that’s why the LCPR wasn’t built after 1943 or so while the LCVP line ran the rest of the war.
Also, the early technique for putting the ramp on (cutting the bow off of a LCPL) was done because it was actually easier for them to do this than to stop the line and retool it to build them with the ramps from the start. This was changed at a later date, I believe when a new factory was brought on line.