Im not sure if this falls under ships or armor but what are the dimensions of the ramp on a higgins lcvp?
Best I could come up with in a quick search.
Hope it helps.
Josiah
It is good to remember that the critical item for vehicles in an LCVP is weight, not dimension.
But, you are not likely to get a WC-54 sized item aboard.
Good, also, to remember that whatever you get in, it has to remain stable as you insert and extract from the beach, in what ever surf is there. So, whatever is inside needs to not tip in 15-20º rolls–or you need to have room to get tie-downs in, at sufficient angle to be roll resistant.
Part of the great dance of organizing an amphibious landing, is in waybills to get the logistics load to the beach. Which can develop a mind-set of just using the Mike (LCM) Tango (LCT) boats for vehicular transport. Through all the repetition of practice landings and exercises, that “command thinking” will pass down to the cox’ns and their boat crews too.
A couple of issues ago the journal of the Nautical Research Guild had an article on the LCVP with great dimensioned drawings. I intend to use that article to scratch a 1:32 or 1:35 scale LCVP. Great photos of a model in the article.
My dad had a friend in the Navy. He had an LCVP with a small tractor in it. The tractor would sit facing the ramp at the rear of the cargo area. They would fill up the remaining cargo area with trash and take it out to deep water. He would get on the tractor and push the trash out the front of the LCVP into the water. Now how’s that for a nasty diorama idea.
Dave
My favorite LCVP diorama would come from the scene in ‘Away All Boats’. The mission is to go around the invasion island and extract a company of Marines who are cut off (think Guadalcanal), The OIC is laying out on the end of the lowered ramp with a battle lantern wrapped in a kapok. The lantern is shining down into the water and he’s looking for a hole in the reef, a way in. The LCVP is just idling along while he looks. It would have to be done in a 3D box to show the reef and perhaps a small light shining down through the water.
I just bought the Lindberg LCVP kit. Years ago, I did Lindberg’s Harriet Lane civil war blockade runner. My skills are beginner to intermediate & I own an old Badger 200 airbrush. I tried looking for a review of this kit & just can’t find any. I notice one thing: the styrene is a kind of military gray. The instructions suggest to leave some of these parts unpainted, I assume because the styrene matches the original color (!?). Needless to say, I do plan to spray flat primer & carefully paint all.
Wow, that would be cool. For the Dio as much for the concept.
Away All Boats remains a reason to lurk eBay and the like for the old “UDT Boat” too.
The dio that still is in my head is using an LCPR as a recovery boat, towing a damaged 'VP backwards with the ramp down/damaged
Yes, I’d like to get hold of these photos. I’m doing a kit of this ship (Lindberg), & I’m just not impressed with box art or paint instructions …
That’s an interesting thought, I had not thought to go look for a kit review.
The rope nailed to the gunwale (aka gunn’l) is largely a US Army affectation, but has been found on MSTS-operated ships, too. That rope will be painted to match the hull (but would be a good weathering candidate with some “exposed” rope showing).
Painting is going to be heavily influenced on time and location. For LCVP carried from davits on AKA, APA, and APD and the like, the 'VPs will be painted to match the area on the ship. Which is likely to look odd. For the ones stacked as deck cargo, it will depend on the nesting and hatch location.
Post-war, they will be “haze grey” with some version of “deck” grey in the well deck area. Cox’s’n and MotorMac positions ought to have non-skid. Note that you can pretty much cover over the MG positions. Oh, and rather than fuss with the detail on them, a nice lumpy waterproof cover is far more apt than having them exposed. Which they only will be if manned, and then only in the waves in the very first part of a landing.
Now, LCVP in US Army service are often in a darker grey overall. They can even be army green if part of a river-crossing unit.
Go to google images and put “LCVP” in the search box, you ought to get some excellent images–I know I have.
Scratchbuild? Did you know that Italeri released a nice LCVP kit in 1.35 scale a few years ago? It is much nicer than the old 1/32 Lindberg kit.
Wow … After looking at Italeri, … get what I pay for. Uptick in quality is clear. Reviews are very good. Now I’ve decided to go ahead & aqcuire Italeri & use the Lindberg as a parts source & cobble over whatever possible. I note the 3/100 scale difference.
Thats an oldie but goodie! I need to watch it again soon. I think that scene you describe wass upposed to take place at Makin Atoll. Lots of good scenes in that movie involving teh landing craft. I always love teh first rehearsal scene where one of the officers says "they look like a bunch of lady drivers trying to find a parking spot on ‘dollar days’ "
Anybody with any interest in LCVPs has GOTTA go see the new Russell Crowe/Kate Blanchett/Ridley Scottt movie “Robin Hood” (AKA “Gladiator” meets “Braveheart” meets “Saving Private Ryan”). Therein you will discover that the basic design of the LCVP - complete with ramp and winch - originated in the eleventh century.
The scene where the French land on an English beach is one of the most ridiculous pieces of “nautical” movie-making I’ve ever seen. (I think the title of Most Preposterous Movie-Makers’ Creation of a Ship, though, belongs to the one in the first season of the Showtime mini-series, “The Tudors.”)
Actually my wife and I really enjoyed “Robin Hood” - as a fun, high-budget, summertime popcorn movie. Just don’t take it seriously - and don’t think it has much to do with history.
I thought Troy had a great amphibious assault sequence.[8-|]
I agree. Ancient history isn’t my specialty, but I have the impression that the moviemakers at least looked at some of the scholarly sources (of which there aren’t many). The galleys in “Troy” certainly are, in terms of accuracy, miles ahead of the ones we saw in older epics like “Ben-Hur” (either version).
I’ve built both the Lindy & Italeri LCVP, & the are ‘as near as’ the same size, allowing for the fact that they were built by different mfr’s (!)
The Lindy is some 40-odd years old, was motorised, & could be more easily r/c’d if you wished, but the Italeri had better definition & details. Both were fun builds.
which is actually coincidental since real LCVP’s were actually manufactured by different companies as well.