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1/72 USN 80' Elco PT Boat with some mods


JohnWS

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Thanks again everyone for the kind comments.

 

I consider the 'rabble' here to be some of the best maritime modellers, and you all have set the very high bar that I'm continually trying to achieve. :worthy:  It's your comments, &questions, & your builds that are keeping me motivated to do the best work I can.

 

So it's all your fault! :) 

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10 hours ago, Al Gunthwaite said:

... How did you print your number decals?  Are they individual numbers printed on white transfer paper?

Al

Hi Al.

 

Making white decals, especially at this scale & smaller, have always been a pain for me.  Especially trying to accurately cut them out from the printed sheet.  

 

For ease of handling, I made the decals for this build in complete 3 digit sets e.g. '620'.  I scanned the individual numbers in the correct format from an old parts bin decal sheet & scaled them down using Photoshop.  Again using Photoshop, I combined the individual numbers to make the '620' number.  To minimize the amount of cutting, I made the background the same colour as the paint colour where the decals would be placed.  Getting the matching background colour takes some trial & error.  After printing the Photoshop image on white waterslide decal paper, I sprayed on two coats of matt clear lacquer to to seal/set the decals.  The instructions that come with the decal paper recommend using gloss clear lacquer to set the decals, but I've found the gloss lacquer tends to darken the background colour.  I use only two light coats of matt clear lacquer since more coats make the decals too thick for my liking.  I made multiple sets of the same decals since the ink jet printing sometimes delaminates or dissolves in water & decal set solution.  More coats of the lacquer might prevent this, but each coat adds to the decal thickness.

 

Sorry for the wordy reply.  Here's the short version; :blush:

 

31711178068_d9d0ec506f_b.jpg

 

John

Edited by JohnWS
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1 hour ago, Courageous said:

... as for matching the background colour to the paint colour, nightmare scenario to me! ...

Photoshop makes it relatively easy.  The main problem I've run into is that the colour on the computer screen isn't necessarily the same colour that's on the decal printout.  To compensate, I put a few photos of the painted area into Photoshop & then print them out using the Photoshop program.  From the printouts I pick the one that matches the model's paint colour the best (if I'm lucky).  If I find one printout that's close to the model's paint colour, Photoshop allows me to select that colour from the printout's Photoshop image and then apply it to the decal's background image ... (I hope that makes sense????:().  That way I'm using the printer/printout as the colour reference & not the computer screen.

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One more thing I almost forgot.  Before applying the new decals to the model, I usually paint a test piece using the same paint & technique used on the model.  I apply one of the decals to the test piece to verify a colour match.  That way I don't risk damaging the model's paint finish playing around with the decals.

 

e.g.

42402296125_d3930a35e2_b.jpg

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Great stuff John.

I was curious as to whether you had found a printer that could print white!  Three or four years back I considered buying an ALPS printer but the logistics of getting consumables for a printer that was out of production seemed too difficult (and costly).  

I use the same method as you have outlined for badges and insignia on my figures.  However, using white decal paper leaves a white border at the edge of the paper when the decal is applied which has to be touched up.

An alternative method I use is to paint the area where the decal is to be applied white and then use clear decal paper.  An advantage is that you can fade-out the background colour to clear on the decal so that you don't get a hard edge to match with the colour on the model.

Al

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18 minutes ago, Al Gunthwaite said:

... I was curious as to whether you had found a printer that could print white! ... using white decal paper leaves a white border at the edge of the paper when the decal is applied which has to be touched up. ...

An alternative method I use is to paint the area where the decal is to be applied white and then use clear decal paper.  An advantage is that you can fade-out the background colour to clear on the decal so that you don't get a hard edge to match with the colour on the model. ...

Hi Al.

 

Yes, it would be great if there was an inexpensive printer that printed white.  It would solve a lot of problems.  I've just been using standard wide format printers starting with an Epson & currently a Canon with high pixels per inch resolution.

 

 I found that keeping the decal as thin as possible & minimizing the number of curve cuts help reduce the visible white border & hard edge.  Having the matching background colour has allowed me to cutout square/rectangular shapes.  I still can't cut out small scale complex shapes properly, e.g. badges.  Once these decals are soaked in water, the printed image tends to dissolve and the white edge shows. :(  Here are a couple of ink jet printed badge examples where I had to use the matching background technique (in this case dark green) to allow me to cut out rectangle shaped decals.  Even at this scale (1/48), after many tries I couldn't cut out the circular shapes properly without the white edge showing.

 

31725797158_05e25ff9af_b.jpg

 

45547776482_f2279983d7_b.jpg

 

John

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  • 3 weeks later...

I've been plodding along at scratch building the PT boat's radar mast.  It's taken a while to research the mast detail.

 

Here's where the mast build sits today;

 

30955228567_b96d2b3181_b.jpg

 

One challenge I faced was finding a detailed photo of the SO-3 radar antenna assembly.  There are lots of photos & a few drawings on the Internet showing the Elco boats & masts, but none show the detail I wanted.  Luckily, during my search, I came across an excellent close-up photo of the antenna at an unlikely source - the American Antiques Roadshow TV program.  A fellow from Wisconsin brought an SO-3 Antenna Assembly to the show to be appraised.  Here's a link to a video of the appraisal on the show, if you're interested - https://www.facebook.com/RoadshowPBS/videos/10155579460602781/.

 

Now that I had the information I needed, I started the build by carving out the shape on the antenna body from a 1/4" piece of plastic rod.

 

44981005835_e889e73ab3.jpg

 

After a lot of fiddling making little wire handles, the antenna, wire terminals, etc, the antenna assembly was complete.

 

30954879137_ea3a04f5f7.jpg

 

Here's a photo of the mast with the major parts dry fitted, sitting on the day cabin roof.

 

45894307361_8d5ec2c195_b.jpg

 

Next up, I'll be adding some wire & cables, and the remaining FOF antenna to the assembly, & apply coat of paint to finish it off.

 

Thanks again for looking in.

 

John

 

 

 

 

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Lead wiring and the  FOF antenna have been added to the radar mast.  I also revisited the radar antenna.  I originally made it from strips cut from plastic sheet, but it just didn't look right to me.  So, I went searching around the house for something I could use to remake the antenna.  I thought window screening might work, but no joy.  Finally, looking in my parts bin, I found some metal rigging on a small metal ship model that was just the right size to make the antenna.  I think it looks much better now.

 

Here are a few photos showing the mast wiring & new radar antenna prior to paint.

 

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45095223835_b3e6665737_b.jpg

 

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Next, painting the mast and continue finishing off the day cabin.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

John

 

 

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Hello again!

 

It's been over a year now, since I started this build. :yikes:

 

And I've reached another milestone.  After spending a lot of time building the radar mast, I finally was able to complete the day cabin. :yahoo:

 

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I was surprised how many bits & pieces had to be scratch built to finish off the day cabin.

 

46096793721_502d33fcfb_b.jpg

 

Here's a couple of photos showing the day cabin & engine room cover assembly dry fit to the model's deck.

 

45372513874_ceebc56e1f_b.jpg

 

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I couldn't resist dry fitting the the 50 cal. guns on the turrets & the 40 mm Bofors gun depression rail on the engine room cover.

 

45185012065_565180b32d_b.jpg

 

44280482730_b9c4c15d2c_b.jpg

 

Now I can start focusing on the main deck details, the deck guns, & torpedos.  But, that will have to wait while we prepare for the Christmas season.  There's lots to do and not much time for modelling.  Hopefully, I should get back at this build later in December.

 

Thanks again for looking,

 

John :santa:🎄

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Great job so far really looking busy not a lot of space left for anything else on the day cabin 

 

when you say you will be busy over the holiday period do you have a red suite and white beard  🎅🏻

is that the reason for less modelling time  :whistle:

 

beefy 

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