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Patrol Torpedo Boat PT-579 / PT-588 (05165) 1:72 Revell PT Boats by their very name are Patrol Torpedo Boats. They are smaller fast attack craft designed primarily to launch torpedoes at enemy vessels using their fast speed as a their primary advantage. Elco were the makers of the longest, and most produced of these PT Boats made for the US Navy. Even though the main armament was four torpedoes later towards the end of the war some boats received two eight cell Mark 50 rocket launchers. These launched 5" spin stabilised Mark 7 and Mark 10 rockets. These had a range of upto 11,000 yards. These were equivalent to a 5" shell from a destroyer and the PT Boats carried 16 in their tubes with 16 reloads. This gave these Boats quite a punch. The Kit This is re-issue of Revell's new tool kit from 2018 with new parts to reflect the different armament of these boats, namely the rocket launchers and the 37mm M4/M9 autocannon which was not in the previous kit. In addition this kit features the lightweight 22.5" Mark 13 torpedoes on lightweight roll-off type racks, over the Mark 8 21" torpedoes in Mark 18 tubes which again were on the earlier release. As well as the main hull parts there are a further 11 sprues of grey plastic and a clear sprue. Construction begins with the hull. The left and right parts are joined with a centre bulkhead being added to stiffen things up. A small insert is added into the bow. The lower hull part at the back is separate and this needs to be added in. The transom will need to be added in, though or some reason this is not mentioned in the instructions! its not there in step 3 but appears in place in step 7? The inside parts of the deck houses must be added to the main deck and this can then be joined to the lower hull. The upperdeck is then fitted out with a myriad of deck fittings, hatches and other parts. Moving to the bottom of the hull the prop shafts and rudder are added. The stand for the boat can then be made up and used if need. Finally on the transom the exhausts are added. Moving to the top the model the superstructure is made up along with its internal parts. The side gun mountings are also made up and added at this time. For the aft deck the 40m Bofors and its mount are built up and added on. On the foredeck both the 37mm auto cannon and 20mm Oerlikon are completed and mounted. Next up the main armament of the 22.5" Mark 13 torpedoes are added along with their roll off racks. The radar mast is made up and mounted to the main deckhouse roof which can then be added to the model. The double machine gun units can then be added to the mounts previously installed. Last up the 5" rocket launchers are made up and mounted to the deck. Markings The decal sheet has markings for PT-588 & PT-579 from Engine Torpedo Boat Squadron THIRTY NINE (PTRon 39), Pacific Fleet, Samar, P.I., July 1945. Conclusion Its good to see this out representing the later model of the PT boat with the increased firepower. Highly recommended. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

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.

With the build of the Land Wasser Schlepper drawing to a close it's time to pull something out of the stash. Going from a tracked floaty thing it would appear to be time for a "Full Floaty". What is lurking on the horizon: Model? check Eduard PE? check Italeri munchkin crew? check Brass barrels for the gun tubs and the Oerlikon? check ready to roll.......................................................