I’ve got Italeri’s 1/72 Elco 80’ PT 117 in the works and I was planning on putting it in a small scene. Since the actual 117 was bombed at its dock, I wanted to recreate that scene. There were some PT boat stations on several islands such as Lumbari and Rendova in the Solomons. I’ve read that some of their temperary bases were known as ‘bush berths’ but I’m not familiar with the term and what exactly they would look like.
My question is: is there anything specific I need to create when building a dock for a PT boat? Should I simply use my imagination? Or can some one shed some light on what exactly a ‘bush berth’ is?
This question is a little vague but my knowledge on the subject isn’t great. If no one really knows a specific answer, thats fine too, no hard feelings! I’ll whip something up. But any help is appreciated!
Here’s a shot of 117 with her bow blown out. Photo quality is not the best, but it will give you an idea of the surroundings. This photo is in Bulkley’s At Close Quarters, published by the GPO in 1962.
Does anyone out there remember the old TV show McHale’s Navy? Any idea how close their base looked to the real thing? Maybe they had a former PT Boater on staff as consultant. If I remember right, the dock was a simple “T” with the boat docked alongside the top of the “T” so it could be put in action quickly. The beach area leading to the dock always seemed a little too open though. Too far for the crew to run to quickly, and the boat too much in the open for aerial spotters to see. But it was TV afterall.[;)]
Al, thanks for the response! I had actually seen that picture while researching this but I couldn’t figure out if that was where the boat had been moored or if that is where it was beached after the attack. If it was moored there, I certainly don’t see any dock or any where the crew could disembark.
tucchase, I do remember that TV show but haven’t seen it in years and I can’t say anything for its accuracy. A simple dock in the shape of a T wouldn’t be hard to build. I’m intending on this being a small vignette so I’m not too concerned about its distance from the beach or anything. However, I am intending on placing an in-flight Oscar in the scene with it so any measures taken to disguise the base from aerial spotters may be significant.
I know what I’ve read states only that the base was attacked by 18 Japanese planes and doesn’t get much more specific. So I may be taking a few liberties with placing an Oscar in the scene. Oh well, modeling is for enjoyment so I don’t wanna get too hung up on details. Thanks for the pointers guys! I’ll keep you posted as I go along.
Well, a PT drew about 6 feet in draft, soooooooooooooo - based on that, you’ve got know how quickly the shoreline fell away where the boats were based or did the Navy dredged it out more for them?
oddmanrush, HI ; I think also that you would like to know that the boat in Mc HALES NAVY was a redo of a vosper boat. The boat in question drew 5 1/2’ versus 6.2 feet for our ELCOS. The BUSH port was a likely spot well in cover, sometimes not, but, the Idea was to be able to get the boats underway quickly. See if you can get a copy of the movie JOHN WAYNE was in that dealt with P.T.s, the pier in there was as close as you,ll get.Not to far from shore, but in deep enough water to put the pedal to the metal(wood?) as fast as humanly possible. I saw the P.T. In FALL RIVER ,MASSACHUSSETTS and it,s a good source of info. Contact the FALL RIVER P.T.MUSEUM and I am sure they,ll be glad to help. I hope this gives you some help. tankerbuilder
Wasn’t Robert Mitchum in that movie with John Wayne. I believe Wayne was a Cruiser Division Commander at Guadalcanal and Mitchum’s son was a PT Boat Commander in the Gaudalcanal area. The name of the movie is “In Harm’s Way”
I think that this is the movie that is being referred to:
Robert Montgomery was, in actuality, a WWII PT commander and took over directing this movie when John Ford became ill. It is said that he did such a good job of directing, that he got other directing jobs later. The movie won two Oscars.
Another movie to look at for Ideas is PT 109. It shows up Base details including the T Jetty. The movie also depicts an Airborne Attack on the PT Base. From what I remember, it is well shot in the Pacific and gives you a rough Idea for details that you might be looking for…Cheers Mark
If my memory serves me well, the final scene of the movie has two PT boats on flatbed trucks being transported to a river/lake to interdict the Japanese forces. That would make a great diorama in 1:35 scale. Does anyone recall the movie scene?
Yeah, they were on some kind of flatbed trailers with trucks pulling them, IIRC. A great movie!
In Harm’s Way, John Wayne’s son got killed during the attack on the Japanese task force. He went back to PT boats after seeing how much of a louse the Congressman turned Commander really was. Another epic movie.
Well it looks like I have my work cut out for me but if it includes watching John Wayne movies, I can live with that! Steve, thanks for that link. There are a lot of great looking photos there that should be useful.
I’m also playing with the idea of having the PT under way and under attack rather than being under attack at its mooring. I think visually, that would be more attractive and it would ease the pressure I put on myself to get the base looking just right. What do you guys think?
Right now, the boat is painted basically two shades of gray. I’ve read the threads on PT colors, and I think that gray will work Ok. The kit only came with 3 crew members, is there a place I can get a hold of more? Or perhaps I can fashion a few out of some extra 1/72 scale figures I’ve got in the spares box. Jeez, I’m getting chatty…
Thanks for the tips! Looks like I’ll be wandering around the movie store, unless I can find it On Demand but I’m never that lucky!
I was reading the History of the 109, prior to JFK taking command, on Steves link and it looked like a good choice of Japanese plane would be the “Pete” (a Zero with floats). Apparently this was the main antagonist of the boats while they were out on patrol. Anybody know if anyone has released a model of a Pete?
I looked online to see if there were 1/72 Zero “Pete” varieties. Fujimi makes one variety-a recon plane with 2 floats. Hasegawa makes another with a single main float and outriggers. Both are listed at Squadron and presumably others. If the “pete” you are looking for is the biplane version, I don’t know what to suggest
I doubt that it was the biplane version. The article said it was a “Zero with floats”, and that it became the worst nemesis the PT boats had. As to which float configuration, it didn’t specify.
Hmmm, so what you’re saying is that the Ki-43 that I’m working on isn’t a viable option to be doing battle, per se, with my PT boat? I guess this is where personal preference versus complete historical accuracy comes into play. I don’t have a 1/72 Pete sitting in my stash and I’m not willing as yet to drop the dough for another kit. Maybe I should make this more of a ficticious encounter, not necessarily based on the story of the actual PT 117. I’m assuming that an Oscar would pounce on a PT if it saw it as a target of opportunity, so maybe this idea isn’t too far off. Isn’t it great how you can ask one question here and then wind up reassessing the layout of your entire project! Haha, you guys have been more than helpful with this!
Nope! Not suggesting that at all. Just letting you know about another option to consider once you mentioned maybe having the diorama of the boat underway. I have no doubt the Oscar was one of the common planes used to bomb the bases, so it would be very appropriate for your diorama, either way. If the Oscar hadn’t been used in this area, I am sure someone else would have mentioned it by now. You’re going to post pics as you build aren’t you? [?]
