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Merit's PT Boat

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The Merit 1:48 scale Late War eighty-foot Elco PT boat
-By-
T. Garth Connelly


Earlier this year, I heard that a company, Merit International, was going to be releasing two 1:48 scale kits of the eighty-foot Elco PT boat. One kit is of the eighty-foot Elco as a new-built boat would look in 1945. The other kit is of the first production series (PT-103 to PT-196), or simply put, the series of which PT-109 was an unit.

I saw comments on some of the internet scale modeling sites which stated that these two kits were nothing more than scale-downed “re-pops” of the now out-of-production 1:35 scale Italeri PT-596 and the newer 1:35 scale PT-109 kits. I did not put much stock in those comments, nor did I particularly think they had any validity.

That was because I did not think that a “giant” such as Italeri would stand for someone doing something like that, especially since the PT-109 is still in production and is still, for some reason, popular.

Those comments were the last words I saw about these kits until this past week. Last Wednesday evening, I received an email from Tony Chin of Merit International. The email stated this:

Dear Mr Connelly

My name is Tony Chin and our company, Merit International is about to release 1/48 scale series of Torpedo Boats from different countries.

I came up with the idea a few years back because PT Boats models are either too small in 1/72 scale or in my opinion, too big in 1/35 scale granted they are great model kits. I must admit that I had been using your great web site as reference during our research. While our first model kit will definitely have mistakes, we hope that we have minimized the mistakes to an acceptable level. Like Italeri, we have chosen the Elao 80', late type as our first release because it is laden with so much weapons and lots of conversion possibilities. The 1/48 scale model still measures 20 inches and has more than 500 parts

I have attached a copy of our paint guide for your reference. Advance review sample without box is available if you are interested. If interested, kindly provide a shipping address.

We look forward for your reply.

All the best Tony


I have to say, I was shocked and honored to receive that email. I have never had a model manufacturer reach out to me and ask for my assistance. I responded that I would be glad to help them, as much as I could. True to his word, Mr. Chin sent me a review sample of the kit. It was just the deck, hull and the sprue-trees without the decals and a small fret of photo-etched parts.

About the Author

About TimConnelly (TGarthConnelly)
FROM: CONNECTICUT, UNITED STATES

I've authored PT BOATS IN ACTION, VOSPER MTBs IN ACTION and I've co-authored SCHNELLBOOT IN ACTION. I've had articles appear in MODEL SHIP BUILDER, SHIPS IN SCALE, and the IPMS/USA's MODELERS JOURNAL.


Comments

All though the drums are a little different they should still pass as POL drums. The fuel drums are smother but I think these drums appear more like the type our community garage receive each year on the yearly sealift. The barrel is normally black with the top being painted different depending on the contents I think but am not sure about that part. Definitely looks like something that would be useful with the cargo trucks used by logistics corps.
APR 26, 2014 - 07:25 AM
At the risk of sounding stupid or ignorant ... what is a POL drum?
APR 27, 2014 - 03:58 AM
Petrol, Oil, and something else that starts with L??
APR 28, 2014 - 02:07 AM
OK. Now, ... next stupid question ... what drums? This kit doesn't have drums ..............
APR 28, 2014 - 02:10 AM
Ahoy Garth, I think Al posted this in the wrong section, it really does not make any sense or pertain to your thread on the Merit PT. Have a great day, Joe
APR 28, 2014 - 02:53 AM
Hi Joe. Ah, good .... Thought I was going woo-woo again, hahaha.
APR 28, 2014 - 03:22 AM
I have no idea how this commment ended up in this section. I made this comment in the armour section regarding a pallet lift truck with some drums and box's included. L - Lubricants just to finish the answer on what POL stands for. Computers are a mysterious item some days.
APR 28, 2014 - 05:55 AM
In U.S. supply parlance POL stands for Petroleum, Oil, Lubricants.
JUN 26, 2014 - 06:36 AM
Any idea as to when we can expect this?
MAY 30, 2017 - 04:24 AM
It's been out for a couple of years now.
JUN 22, 2017 - 05:36 AM