Hello all you fans of sea subjects. I built this kit for a GB here and thought that I would share the pics of the completed build. This kit wasbuilt OOB with the excpetion of the .50 Caliber machine guns which showed their 1960s vintage. They were essentially blobs so I replacedthem with some resin .50s by Verlinden. And I drilled out the barrel and recoil shield on the 81mm mortar on the aft combo mount. This was a simple quick build for me that I really enjoyed. There is lots of room for improvement on this vintage kit in so many areas, but I was trying to get this one done quickly so I passed on any major upgrades. Overall I am happy with the finished boat. I used a couple websites and the Squadron book “Riverine” as my primary references.
Comments and critiques welcome (I need help on my brown water weathering)
Really nice build stikpusher. I built one a long long time ago but it didn’t come out looking as good as yours. Started another one back in the early '90s but ran into serious fit problems and put it on the back burner for another try at a later date.
Thanks Jim. It really is a fun kit, but like I orginally said, it shows its’ vintage. I am half tempted to build another and add all the stuff to really make it look right. This one is a compromise of do good job with whats in the box and keep the add ons to a minimum. I really wanted to add interior details to the cabin, but the time factor for the GB nixed that idea.
AH, tis a clean build of an old dog that ! Now ,you know what I did with mine ? Over the years I was smart enough ? or lucky enough to acquire twelve of them OIB .Plus the two I had already built . I started getting requests for the SWIFT type crew boats used on offshore rig transport and construction transport in S.F. BAY for workers on the bridge projects . This means they had to be longer . I extended them where the aft side windows were located , a full 1 1/2 inches and modified the top house too .The result was a very well detailed model inside and out of a " SWIFT CREW VESSEL" . They still can be found operating in a lot of places .As to your weathering , yes , yours is way too clean . You need a noticeable brown stain at the load waterline .And lots of streaks where the muddy water ran off the deck and such . You would do well to totally darken and de sanctify the transom .They were particularly dirty after some months .They could be so dirty that markings would be superflous ! This goes for the bow number too . Many units had them painted real small or didn,t have any markings at all . . Running lights were almost completely covered in case that boat coming around the bend wasn.t ours .( They didn,t use running lights that I know of , until much later .) Now darken the color . An almost greenish tinge would be normal . Some of them were painted O.D. GREEN instead of grey and Many were just painted whatever green that made them hard to see .Sometimes a scattered map of three different greens and mud brown would be the color du-jour . The life rings and any other hardware would be matching in color .All cordage would be dirty and in some cases oily looking . The whole idea was to be able to hide , hit from behind and get the heck out of DODGE !! If,n you know what I mean .This info still does NOT take away from a very clean , reasonably good build of a very elusive guy when in service . tankerbuilder P.S. Most , below the waterline were painted black , except BEFORE they went to the " NAM "
Well, if you do get motivated to do another, you can focus all the interior details on the Pilothouse, as the aft cabins windows were either backed with, or replaced with plywood, on getting into theater. But, you probably ought to open the forward hatch, and would need to build all the detail around that companionway (the hatch was open for ventilation, and as a fighting position).
Also, it’s handy to remember that how clean the boats were tended to be proportional to their proximity to Brass. Further, the cleaner the boat, the less-exposed the weapons would be.
As clean as your GB example is, it really ought to have completely-covered weapons. Which would be doubly true for the state-side boats used in training.
Thanks for the feedback Tanker and Capn!!! The information is most appreciated. Being a ground pounder I was way outside my comfort zone and area of expertise except for the weapons[;)] The weathering critiques are most especailly helpful for my next couple Riverine projects.
Thought maybe you could use these links for your future builds if you don’t already have them. I used them for mine. However, it bit the dust a long time ago and I don’t have any photos.
Yes I had those sites already. Thank you. Along with the Squadron book Riverine, those were my primary references. The boat tour one got me wanting to do the cabin interior.[prte]
I know I answered this post already . I just thought you might like to know that some are now live-aboard boats in the CALIFORNIA DELTA .You have a lot of leeway as to your interior either as a in service military vessel or as a live aboard semi-motoryacht . As a civilian vessel they have done all sorts of mods to make them look yachty . I even saw one with a flying bridge where the gun is now, bar and chairs on a deck built over the aft cabin . Strange looking but useful in the fashion of many that were intended to be lived on instead of being showy . The nice part is that the room inside was unbelievable given the layout ! You should try to add one like that for your collection ,kind of like a " progression of design for required usage "situation . Good model anyway . tankerbuilder .
