Edward Casacia Posted August 27, 2016 Share Posted August 27, 2016 Here is PT495. It was an 80' Elco MTB and it is configured as it looked during the Battle of Surigao Strait in Oct of 1944. It was part of MTB Squadron 33 (RON33). She was named "Gentleman Jim" after a crewman who was KIA in July of '44. Later, on the night of Nov 19/20 '44, while transport a group of Alamo Scouts to a landing behind Japanese lines, the 495 boat survived a near miss from a bomb dropped by a Japanese float plane. One crewman died and all the rest were wounded, including my friend. With the help of one of the Scouts, he survived and returned to the States for a lengthy recovery.The kit is the 1/35th Italeri PT596 that was backdated using information and photos provided, in part, by a crewman who was aboard that night that I got to know as a result of my research. This was built not long after the 596 kit was released so most backdating items were built from scratch or made from molds I made. The colors are WEM. Please excuse the odd backgrounds. All lettering and markings were painted using custom stencils. These photos were used to strip away the backgrounds while generating some posters I made for my crewman friend and his family. Comments welcome. 30 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dads203 Posted August 27, 2016 Share Posted August 27, 2016 That's a really nice build, nice 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longshanks Posted August 27, 2016 Share Posted August 27, 2016 Cracking job buddy Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celt Posted August 28, 2016 Share Posted August 28, 2016 It is good to hear the history behind the boat, well done on the model,tidy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beefy66 Posted August 28, 2016 Share Posted August 28, 2016 That is very good has the look of a winner Beefy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted August 28, 2016 Share Posted August 28, 2016 A superb re-working of the original kit,beautiful painting and attention to detail,add to that the background story it's a real winner! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philtn Posted August 28, 2016 Share Posted August 28, 2016 Great job!! I really love the paint job on this one, the greenish waterline and the faded hull red...super duper ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitestar12chris Posted August 28, 2016 Share Posted August 28, 2016 Cracking build, well done Edward. All the best Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edward Casacia Posted August 31, 2016 Author Share Posted August 31, 2016 Thanks everyone. I appreciate the kind words. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philtn Posted September 1, 2016 Share Posted September 1, 2016 how did you do the green waterline, did you airbrush freehand? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edward Casacia Posted September 2, 2016 Author Share Posted September 2, 2016 how did you do the green waterline, did you airbrush freehand? Mostly free hand with an airbrush. I held a piece of cardboard about 1/2" away along the lower edge to get that edge sharper. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longshanks Posted September 2, 2016 Share Posted September 2, 2016 Just noticed the gun mount forward of the stbd torpedo. That's unusual, 20mm flanked by two .50 cals Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edward Casacia Posted September 3, 2016 Author Share Posted September 3, 2016 (edited) Just noticed the gun mount forward of the stbd torpedo. That's unusual, 20mm flanked by two .50 cals Kev It was called an Acey-Deucy. They were locally fabricated in the field. Most of them used the same curved ammo boxes as the twin-50 turrets. Several Ron33 boats utilized them as well as a few boats served by the same Tender and support facilities. One drawback was the powerful rotation that resulted should one of the 50s jam or run out of ammo before the other. It was not uncommon to see a pipe or pole fixed vertically from the deck in a location to prevent the Acey-Duecy from sweeping across the fore deck. Here is a photo of the Acey-Deucy on the 489 boat. It used rectangular ammo boxes. Edited September 12, 2016 by Edward Casacia 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longshanks Posted September 4, 2016 Share Posted September 4, 2016 Hi Edward, Thanks for posting the pic and info, really interesting. I would imagine it was quite a handful. Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Model Monkey Posted September 9, 2016 Share Posted September 9, 2016 Brilliant! Love the weathering, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 Just now saw this kit and all I can say is Holy Schnikes! So very impressed. I was looking for inspiration for my Merit 1/48 PT build and think I found it. Love the weathering at the waterline as well. Not often you see the algae growth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bangor Lad Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 Superb build, Sir! Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robgizlu Posted April 11, 2017 Share Posted April 11, 2017 Super job Edward - great looking MTB very expertly modelled. I really like the weathering and detail touches Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orion Posted April 12, 2017 Share Posted April 12, 2017 Hello Edward, Master modeler. Excellent model and some back ground information Regards, Orion / The Netherlands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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