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


JohnWS

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Hello again!

 

A small update.  

 

Torpedo roll-off rack cables have been added using silver/grey thread.

 

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The deck is pretty well complete with the exception of the superstructures & weapons.

 

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The boat should be complete by my next update.  After that, the focus will change towards the crew.   Also, I've ordered a little something to add more realism to the model.  It's new for me, so i hope it works out.  Stay tuned!

 

Thanks for looking.

 

John

 

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3 hours ago, seadog said:

Really nice details. Just gets better and better.

My sentiment exactly.

A joy to watch unfold.  Looking forward to the "little something"

Rob

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've been slowly plodding away putting the finishing touches on the Elco model.  There's not a lot to show for my efforts, touching up paint, fixing some fit-up issues, etc.

 

However, here's one thing that might be of interest.  As you may have read in my earlier post, I'm using the Atlantic Models 37mm Oldsmobile Cannon on the PT boat's bow.  It's a nice kit, but the PE ammo didn't quite do it for me.  The kit's PE ammo belt for cannon's auto loader has etched cartridges but no colour to differentiate the shell casings from the projectiles/bullets.  Here's a photo showing the PE part & the ammunition in the actual auto loader.

 

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I tried painting the projectile tips, first with a Sharpie marker & then with a fine pointed paint brush, but the PE shapes were just too tiny to paint accurately.  Finally, I thought I'd try to make a tiny decal for the projectiles.  After some careful measuring, I drew the projectile shapes using Photoshop, & printed out duplicates of the drawing on clear waterslide decal paper.

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Much to my surprise, the resulting tiny decal easily slid over the PE surface & was positioned using a drop of decal bonding solution.  Once dry, I painted the underside on the PE part with grey enamel & then coated the part overall with a clear dull coat to tone down the unpainted brass & to seal the decal.

 

I'm happy with the result, & I think it looks much better.  Mission accomplished. :winkgrin:

 

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So, now it's back to finishing off the model.

 

Thanks again for looking in.

 

John

 

 

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14 hours ago, longshanks said:

A great idea

It's funny how to ol' brain works sometimes.

5 hours ago, Courageous said:

Great work but those tiny decals must have been a 'pita'.

Actually, it wasn't too bad.  I've had problems with small decals curling or breaking up in the past, but this time the decal laid down nice & flat.  It helps having a good printer to print the small size & detail, as well.

1 hour ago, Arjan said:

Nice work John ! You must be the first modeller who took the trouble to represent the sheet metal plates on the deck 🙂.

My initial plan was to just add a few visible details to the plain deck to make it look a little more interesting, e.g. dead lights and reinforcement plates under the weapons. But, it grew from there. :winkgrin:

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Getting closer to completion.

 

Here's a couple of photos showing where the model sits today.

 

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There's still a few things I want to do to tidy her up, and then painting the crew members begins.

 

Thanks for checking in.

 

John

 

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A quiz for those of you who have been following this build.

 

Can you tell what new additions I've made to the model's deck in the photo below?

32485886867_9e691959dd_b.jpg

 

Here's a hint.

33551838648_02cd33b8e5_b.jpg

 

Yep, new ropes!

 

I mentioned in an earlier post that "I've ordered a little something to add more realism to the model.  It's new for me, so I hope it works out."  That 'something' is scale rigging rope.  I was so impressed with Rob's (robgizlu) rope cheesing on his ML 196 Fairmile B build, I decided to look for a way I could make the ropes on this build look more realistic.  I found a company called Syren Ship Model Company located in the US.  Among other things, Syren makes ropes for rigging model sailing ships, in a number of scales.  I ordered their 63mm dia. rope in tan colour.  It turned out to be a great quality product that was very easy to work with.

 

As you can see in the following photo, at 1/72 scale you can't see a lot of difference between my original 'solder' rope and the new product.

47427825201_5ed6d4407e_b.jpg

 

But close up, the rigging rope looks amazing.

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I've got to thank Rob again for giving me the incentive to improve this build.

 

Now, back to the crew.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

John

 

 

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The new  ropes and or cheesing are looking great really nice details coming out of this build now where is that note book of mine :book:

 

beefy 

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I did spot those but my memory wasn't up to knowing if they were what I was looking for. :D I think they look really good, something that I'll get against the time I have a crack at my kits. I may not go to the extent of detailing that you have but this is the sort of thing that can lift any model boat, even the most basic OOB build.

Steve.

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Hi again.

 

I going to call the boat portion of this build complete. :yahoo: 

 

I decided to take a short break from painting the crew, and clean my camera lens to test some backgrounds for the the 'Ready for inspection' forum photos.

 

Here's a few test  photos taken today.

 

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The crew is patiently waiting in the paint shop.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

John

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Thanks everyone.  I really appreciate your very kind comments.  This modelling site is the best.

 

I'm into scratch building for the fun of it & the learning experience.  Your feedback and advice during the build is icing on the cake. :thanks:  

 

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5 hours ago, Courageous said:

... What's next...

Well, I have to finish the crew for this build first.  I think I'm going to have to modify the poses for some of the figures.  I've never done this for 3D printed parts before, so I'm sure there will be a lot of trial & error.  After that, I'm going to take a sabbatical from modelling over the summer.  Our winter this year has been very cold & it'll be nice to come out of hibernation & enjoy some warm temps outdoors for a change.  As far as the next build goes, I really don't know. :shrug:  Time will tell. 

 

John

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