Could anyone help me identify this small patrol boat/gunboat model?
Whilst it is a toy, I am fairly certain that it is based quite closely on a real prototype. It’s somewhat reminiscent of the PCF and the Nasty class but appears to be a more modern design (it has missile launchers, not sure if they’re anti-air or surface-to-surface). As it’s presumably made in China, it could possibly be a Chinese or Soviet design.
The scale seems to be somewhere between 1/72 and 1/48. As can be seen from the photo, the boat is armed with two missile launchers and a rear-facing AA gun which is probably a 20mm. The bridge/cabin is fairly large and is enclosed (not open-topped).
Any help would be appreciated!
Drawde the best thing I could tell you that it is a Nasty class except the missle lunchers.As a toy they will put anything on there to sale it.As it being Russian or Chinese you can pretty much forget it due to it is too squired.This is the best I can do for you,Digger.
Thanks for the info!
However after a huge amount of searching on Google, I haven’t managed to find anything like it. There are elements of
the PTF/Nasty, the PCF Swift boat, modern US PBs, and post-war Vosper patrol boats in the design, but it doesn’t match any of them exactly.
I can only assume that it’s a fictional “freelance” design based very loosely on real patrol boat designs.
Anyway, I’m going to use the hull (motorised) as the basis for a scratchbuilt model, possibly a PCF Swift boat. (I know Revell make a 1/48 kit for this boat, but I haven’t managed to find it anywhere here in the UK, even on eBay, and I enjoy scratchbuilding, anyway)
Just about everything from the deck upwards will have to be made from scratch, though!
I bought this for £2.99 from a market stall, I thought it looked like a real design rather than a fictional toy, and at the very least I’d be able to use the hull for a scratchbuilt model.
Obviously I was wrong on the first point though! I’ll post some more photos when I get round to building a new deck and upper hull.
From my inexperienced point of view, it looks to be similar to an Israeli design. The missile launchers look like Gabriels to me.Just my opinion, I could very well be completely wrong.
Thanks very much for the info, Duke Maddog, you put me on exactly the right track to identifying it. I searched for “Israeli patrol boat” on Google and found it within minutes, though it isn’t actually an Israeli type!
Turns out that my “hunch” was partially correct as well! It’s actually a Taiwanese/Republic of China boat designed with Israeli assistance. (Evidently the toy was made in Taiwan!)
It’s the “Hai Ou” type, seen on this site, which compares Chinese and Taiwanese military equipment:
http://www.emeraldesigns.com/matchup/partol.htm
This is a link to the image, hope the owners of the site don’t mind -
It’s unmistakably this type, even the shape of the missile launchers is correct.
(You were exactly right, they ARE Gabriels - or at least a locally-produced version of them)
Now I just have to find some more photos of this type to assist with remodelling it!