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


JohnWS

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi everyone!

 

Another milestone on this build has been reached.  I've completed the last of the large assemblies for this model - the 37mm Oldsmobile Cannon and the 40mm Bofors gun.   There's still a few small parts that need to be built, but most of the scratch building and parts assembly have been completed.  :yahoo:

 

I chose Atlantic Models (White Ensign) Oldsmobile cannon & Bofors gun kits for this build.

 

33147037718_bfd3440d39_b.jpg

 

The 37mm Oldsmobile cannon had an interesting history.  Designated M4, the 37mm cannon was designed by the Browning Arms Co. and was built by the Colt Manufacturing Co.  It was also built by Oldsmobile automotive manufacturing under contract from Colt.  The 37mm cannon was originally used in 1942 by USAAF and Allied air forces'  Bell P-39 Airacobra and P-63 Kingcobra aircraft, serving in North Africa and the Pacific.  The cannons were first mounted on PT boats during the Pacific Solomon Islands campaign, pressed into Naval service 'salvaged' from crashed P-39s.  Beginning in 1944, the M4 37mm cannon was installed at the Elco boatyard as standard PT boat equipment.

 

Using the Atlantic Models kit as the base, I replaced the 37mm gun's cast barrel with aluminum tube for added strength, and made additional supports for the ammo feed mechanism from pulled plastic sprue, to simulate the actual gun.

 

Here's a photo of the 37mm Cannon assembled, painted, & dry fit on the model;

46970417902_265753e8a8_b.jpg

 

Using the Atlantic Models Bofors kit, I replaced the Bofors cast gun barrel with aluminum tubing for added strength.  I added a few structural details to the Bofors mount using Evergreen plastic round rod, drilled holes in the cast base, & filed down the base height to match the actual gun.  I really like the PE detail supplied in the Atlantic Models kits, but unfortunately PE doesn't like me.  It seems to have taken forever to complete assembling the PE parts. :wall:

 

Here's a photo of the Bofors gun assembled, painted, & dry fit on the model;

46970422382_6da98a0129_b.jpg

 

And finally a photo of the model with all its guns dry fitted.

40057662633_339a5862a6_b.jpg

 

Next up, it's time to start gluing all the parts & assemblies to the boat's deck.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

John

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6 hours ago, Courageous said:

Excellent John, excellent.

Have you tapered this as the pic seems to indicate so?

 

Stuart

Thanks Stuart.

 

Yes, both the Bofors & the 37mm barrels are tapered.  I used 1/16" (1.57mm) O.D. aluminum tubing with a .014" wall.   To get the correct barrel diameters & the taper, I   held 7 cm lengths of tube in a variable speed hand drill, & rotated the tube against various grades of emery paper.  It was trial and error at the beginning, as the tube bent easily at too high a drill speed or too much pressure against the abrasive paper.  I finished them off by rubbing them down with automotive metal polish.  The 37mm cannon took more work & care since the diameter of its barrel is smaller than the Bofors.

 

I attached the barrels to the gun bodies & the Bofors muzzle (cut from the kit's barrel) using CA glue & copper wire inserted in the tubing and in mating holes drilled in the gun bodies & Bofors muzzle.

 

John

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7 hours ago, longshanks said:

She's certainly loaded for bear . . . .

 

You wouldn't want a broadside from that lot coming out of the dark

 

Kev

 

3 hours ago, seadog said:

... 80ft of bad news!

One of the reasons I chose this build was the wide range of weaponry that these late model Elco boats carried.  Pretty impressive for small craft.

 

I wouldn't want to be a gunner on the foredeck.  There's not a lot of protection against enemy fire. :fraidnot:

Edited by JohnWS
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Oh no, my PT boat seems to be taking on water!

 

46307550054_6862dfda44_b.jpg

 

Just kidding. :winkgrin:


Seriously, I've removed all the dry fitted parts from the boat's deck, & will start the process of laying out the deck to locate where all the deck hardware - vents, dead lights, fairleads, mooring bitts, etc. - will be glued in place.  Rather than doing a lot of measuring & re-measuring, I'm taking a page out of Bandsaw Steve's RMS Carpathia build playbook & use a deck layout drawing to mark the locations on the deck.

 

46307553144_04f73aaf4a_b.jpg

 

 I'm planning to make a hole in the centre of each item on the drawing, & then try marking the deck with a pencil through each hole.  We'll see how this works out.

 

Stay tuned.

 

John  

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2 hours ago, JohnWS said:

Oh no, my PT boat seems to be taking on water!

 

:clap2:

 

2 hours ago, JohnWS said:

 I'm planning to make a hole in the centre of each item on the drawing, & then try marking the deck with a pencil through each hole.

 

From my  experiences it might be better to use a needle or similar to put a pinprick on the deck. Saves making holes in paper prior to and although small you've got a relatively indelible mark.

HTH

 

Kev

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6 minutes ago, longshanks said:

From my  experiences it might be better to use a needle or similar to put a pinprick on the deck. Saves making holes in paper prior to and although small you've got a relatively indelible mark. ...

Thanks for the advice Kev.  I'll give a needle a try.

 

Now, where did my wife put her sewing basket ...  :undecided:

 

John

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2 hours ago, JohnWS said:

Rather than doing a lot of measuring & re-measuring, I'm taking a page out of Bandsaw Steve's RMS Carpathia build playbook & use a deck layout drawing to mark the locations on the deck.

 

46307553144_04f73aaf4a_b.jpg

 

 

Wow! An honourable mention in a a build of this quality. A rare honour for me.

 

Hope the method works for you or I’ll feel horribly responsible. 😕

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4 minutes ago, Bandsaw Steve said:

Wow! An honourable mention in a a build of this quality. A rare honour for me.

 

Hope the method works for you or I’ll feel horribly responsible. 😕

No worries Steve.  If it doesn't work, I'll be after you to send us some warm Australian weather.  The temp here is -11°C tonight with a wind chill of -22°C.  Brrrrr!!!!

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On 08/02/2019 at 22:55, longshanks said:

... it might be better to use a needle or similar to put a pinprick on the deck. ...

Kev's tip has worked out great.

 

I marked the locations of the small bits & pieces on the deck using the layout drawing & needle (on loan from my wife's sewing basket) to punch location holes.

 

First up was gluing 13 dead lights to the deck (there are actually more of these on the Elco's, but only 13 are visible on this build).

 

All my trial & error attempts to make the dead lights seem to have paid off, & I'm happy with the results.  They are tiny at this scale, but they add a little extra detail to an otherwise plain deck surface.

 

Here's a photo .  It's not the best resolution, but it gives you an idea of what these tiny parts look like on the deck.

 

40109865353_1800ed165c_b.jpg

 

Next up, glueing on the vents & deck hardware.

 

Thanks for looking in.

 

John

 

 

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Really amazing build John there just seems to be so many great builds going on at the minute I am losing track of what to keep an eye on and my notebook is getting full will have to start on volume two soon  :book:

 

Oh and thanks for keeping that link to the RCN British power Boat in your signature makes it so much easier for me to use as reference on my 466 build  👍

 

beefy

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20 minutes ago, beefy66 said:

... so many great builds going on at the minute I am losing track of what to keep an eye on and my notebook is getting full will have to start on volume two soon ...

Thanks beefy.

 

Yes, there are a lot of great builds here, & a lot of maritime knowledge to boot.  One issue I have with my year-long slow builds is that new tips & build practices show up all the time, & I'm continually trying the remake parts with that new knowledge.  It seems that my builds end up going forever, always trying to improve. :wall:

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