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.

Mr. Chin did send me an email with a 'proto-type' of the decal sheet and here it is:

A modeler can easily finish the kit as any of the PT-565 to PT-624 production series of the Elco eighty-foot PT boat design. Of course, only the boats of Squadron 40 (PT-589 to PT-600) in 1945 was placed into service and sent to the Philippines. However, the war ended before this squadron saw action against the Japanese. The rest of the production series were not completed, placed in commission and were doing a shake-down cruise when the war ended or cancelled.

The kit arrived and I poured over the sprue trees, one by one and I have to say that impressed does not begin to describe my opinion of this kit. There is absolutely no flash on any of the trees, no injection marks or anything of the kind.

What impressed me the most about what I saw was the amount of detail incorporated into the kit's parts. I realize that this is the 21-st century and anything is possible and doable, and OK, I am in my mid-fifties and I tend to be amazed by technological advancements that remind me of what I saw on Star Trek, but still....

The detail is incredible!

I can debunk the claim that this kit is just a scaled down re-pop of the 1:35 scale PT-596 kit. How can I make such a statement? Simple. The Italeri kit had the after, port machine gun turret molded as part of the dayroom kit. This kit does not. The turret is a separate piece which is meant to be attached to the dayroom cabin.

Another thing which impressed me was the way how the .50-caliber machine guns and the Bofors 40mm M3 would go together. The same thing can be said about the 20mm would go together. I was a little skeptical about that mount because of what I saw in a sample of the proposed box-art. In the painting, the 20mm on the foredeck appears to be on a Mark IV mount instead of the correct Mark X mount.



Mr. Chin sent me the kit instructions and what I saw in them relieved me. The 20mm from the kit is on the correct mount. It is also very accurate as well.


When asked why did Merit International decided to do a late-war Elco PT boat, Mr. Chin said this,

We were choose between the Elco or the Higgins boat as our first release and we have decided to make the Elco 80 first because:
 
1. Influence of JFK, "PT-109" movie and the overall historical fame of the Elco 80, although Elco 80 were not used in the movie.
2. The movie "They were Expandable" used Elco 80, although they should have been different Elco boats.
 
This made the Elco 80 a better choice because it will be better received by modelers.
 
We will make the first 2 releases as the "late type" and "early type" rather than a PT-109. Of course, modelers can easily customize the "early type" to become a "PT-109"

When asked about what resources did they use in the development of the kit, Mr. Chin said this,

We used a lot of materials from available books and web sites and we study work from modelers perfecting their build on various PT Boats model kits. We actually used a old 1/72 model for a basic scan and then use printed hull shape data to re-pot the correct shape and outline. We hope we will not offend anyone by doing this

The price of the kit, according to Mr. Chin, The MSRP is $93.00

When asked if there would be photo-etched brass details for the kit, Mr. Chin said,

There are some P/E that comes with the model kit but it is our understanding that no matter how well we fair, after market companies will always manage to create fantastic products to super detail the model. We have to consider overall retail price and ease to build vs. making the model kit too expensive and difficult to build.

Finally, Mr. Chin commented,

Our next release is not be a "PT-109", it will be released as a Elco 80 "Early type". I do have one such "Nose Art" in mind for the release,... then again, I think it is better to leave it to the after market manufacturers to help. They are so good in coming up with something of interest and hopefully help expand the interest on the PT boats to the next level. In all, we are hoping to provide an affordable priced kit as the platform and let the aftermarket manufacturers and modelers to run wild with it. We hope the modeling community will support our concept. There will be a 3rd variant to the Elco 80 series of model kits and we will make a release in our "Built and Painted" series of models as well.

In conclusion, I think that ship modelers will embrace this kit and the next one from Merit International. What's more, from what I saw in the instructions and on the sprue trees, the kit(s) will be an enjoyable and stress-free build.

Interesting post. I was saving up for the 1/35 PT-109 but this changes everything. I will wait for further news.

Cheers

First, congratulations to you on your work being recognized in this manner.

Second, this is great to hear. Sounds like they have a well thought out program for releasing these kits, and hopefully they will take it farther than Italeri did.

This is very good to hear (or read), and I'm glad I had the foresight to pre-order from Free Time before they sell out.

Thanks for letting us know.

Sounds far more promising than I'd been led to believe. I may still wait for the early though. Currently building both the Italeri offerings in varying guises

A good option for Merit is to release an conversion kit rather like Italeri did but more comprehensive so kits can be tweaked to the builders hearts content.

Keith

Won't comment on Merit's quality, but Hauler makes excellent resin + PE .50 cals and .30 cals, and RB make turned brass barrels for both the above as well as for Oerlikons. All in 1/48.

I'm always happy to see another PT Boat kit come out. These are such wonderful subjects. We'll have to see what lessons Merit learned with this project. I do wish they had done something different than copy the Italeri offerings right down to the boat number. I would have liked to have seen a generic 103 Class and 565 Series that included parts and markings to make different boats as mentioned earlier. That would have been far more interesting to me as a modeler.

For me I don't see anything that makes me want to give up my Italeri kits. I'm well invested in them and I have a personal connection there so I'm not seeing this build in my future. That said I do hope that this offering generates more interest in the subject and does well.

Dave

Dave,

Did you read what Mr.Chin said? These kits are generic examples of the two series.

Garth

I did but they did advertise them in their catalog as PT-596 and 109. Would still like to see the parts to make different boats but I have to admit that's a tall order.

Garth, while you have their ear you should talk to them about a 1/48 110' Sub Chaser. Now THAT would be awesome!

Dave

wonderful news Garth, I can't wait for the early boast to come out and I hope they do a Higgins fairly soon.
Later

Generic ain't going to sell. You can't fit "Basic PT-103 fit that will do one of 20* different boat numbers that you get to research and decide upon!" on a box side or probably even cover. Despite "PT-109 fatigue" by people more regularly connected to PT boats, it is the most well known, most widely appealing boat, that is the safest bet to maximize a return on investment cost. You're always going to see that from any company as one of the first new releases of the class when a new kit / scale comes out.



* I have no idea what the true number is out of the box and this is just a WAG for effect.

A 110' PC boat would be great. So would an LCT/LSM, but that may still be too big in 1/48.

I think average modelers will go for a well known subject. Advanced modelers will take it knowing what can be done. Either way I hope Merit does well with this. The scale adds a lot of possibilities with aircraft and even the select vehicle kits in the scale, plus currently available aftermarket items. I would really like to get one (or more) of these.

There is a nice new book out on the 109, detailing the exploits of the two commanders preceding JFK.

If they do just a 109 kit are they going to include a 1/48 37mm gun ?

Cheers

It would be the logical to do....or else the AM people would have to kick in or dig up an old Bandai 37mm.

Cheers,
Joe

Dave,

If our relationship grows, I might throw that idea out to them.

Gene Kirkland has a wonderful piece about PT-109, mostly prior to JFK. You can find it on the PTKing web site that he maintains. What is the book you're referring to?

Dave

Dave,

There is a new book out, I forget its name - but it tells the history of the 109 pre-Kennedy - I'm slightly surprised that you, an 109 expert - doesn't know of it .... it is about the three skippers and crews before Kennedy. I saw it on Amazon last week.

Garth

Russ,
Thanks for the lead on the new book. I found the book at Amazon and also visited the author's web site. The book is called "Into the Dark Water: The Story of Three Officers and PT-109: by John Domagalski. The book is about all three commanders of PT-109 who were Bryant Larson, Rollin Westholm, and finally John F Kennedy.

I went ahead and ordered the book. It's in pre-order status right now.

Dave

PS. For the record I've never claimed to be an "expert" on PT-109

Dave,

An offer to you; when you get and read the book, why don't you do a review of it and I'll post it on my website. If you're interested; contact me offsite - you have my email address.

Good day.

Garth

Ahoy Garth

Great cudos being involved with Merit on this project.

Please keep us informed.

Great to hear from you my friend.

Cheers


Sean

A quick glance in At Close Quarters shows that, with the exception of PT 623 & 624, all of the boats in the 565-624 series were placed in service in commissioned squadrons. RON38 (PT565-576) and RON39 (PT575-588) also operated out of the Philippines during the last few months of the war.

Al Ross

Squadron 40 was shipped to the Pacific, did not see action.
Squadron 41 was in Miami at war's end - not shipped.
Squadron 42 placed in service - not shipped.

PTs 623 and 624 was not completed. However, I have seen Elco factory photos of uncompleted hulls at war's end, thus leading me to conclude they were not completed and therefore cancelled.

Hi Shaun,

Thank you. But, other than for doing and posting this review, I was not, in any way, shape or form, involved with this project.

I think the kit is great, it's a "good" scale and I truly believe that you modelers will be happy with it.

Garth

Additionally,

Squadron 38 (PTs 565-576), sent to the Pacific, but - other than for strafing Japanese shore installations in Borneo in August of 1945, did not see action.

Squadron 39 (PTs 575-588) was sent to the Pacific but did not see action.

Squadron 40 (PTS 589-600) was sent to the Pacific but did not see action.

However, I need to question source (AT CLOSE QUARTERS) here because of the numbering of the boats in RONs 38 and 39 - they have RON 38 with boats 565-576 and RON 39 with boats 575-588.

Does anyone see an overlap here?

Hey Dave?

Just as a FYI:

My offer (as seen below) is legit ... and, also Dave? My '109 expert' comment regarding you was not - as you perceived it as - a swipe at you ...

You have made comments and statements regarding that boat that does indicate that you have more knowledge of it than the average person, so yeah, by definition - you are an expert.

I meant no slight to you, Dave.

And, Dave? One thing that you need to understand about me? Unlike others? I don't engage in pre-emptive swipes at people.

So, if you'd like to write a review of that book - I'd be more than happy to have it posted on my website for you.

Garth