Hello Alan, glad I was able to help. So many times, when I build a kit, I am left wondering what's the purpose of some fitting, or piece of equipment. Those two air-bottle shaped objects next to the port side the pilothouse of the Vosper for example. I remember a time when instructions sheets used identify a part or assembly by name. Al

i read in one of the books that these 2 are fire exthinguishers (i hope i write it right)

cheers, Tom

ps the placing of the speaker i'll anwser when i get home.

Hi Al ,
There are 2 possibilities 1,the 1 i'll do,is on the little self i made above the charttable.On an other drawing i've seen there is a round one under the stairs.I'm not sure which one is correct for this type of Vosper but i like my first option the most,so a little artistic freedom here (mayby).

Tom

[quote]i read in one of the books that these 2 are fire exthinguishers (i hope i write it right)

cheers, Tom

Thanks for the info Tom. Since they have no hoses or nozzles present, I wonder if they might be part of an internal fire extinguishing system? Al

I like the idea of mounting it above the shelf also. That location would make more sense to me. Al

slowly the backwall is taking shape.The chart lamp is there The tube from the telegrafe also in place,just the buzer and the electric log and that's it for me.And a chart for on the table (english Channel )
The 3 small squares next to the door are the exthinguisher activators,i have 3 handles read for them,but i'll wait till the end because theey are very tiny.



Tom

You'll go blind yet!

Ziet er goed uit Tom, mooi werk.
groet,
Julian

while wanting for some inspiration on the last parts for the wheelhouse i did some work on the Vickers turret.




I have the ammo-bins ,turret bottom and the firing handle made.
Just some cleaning up to do and put some of hydraulic-hoses in and that one is also read afa i'm concerned.
Just wonderd what the colour would be on the inside of the turret?
Light grey white or any other suggestions?

Tom

Very impressive work Tom, especially the turret. You're a hard act to follow. Al

Here are a few notes I've combined from various sources re this design of Vosper, might be helpful when picking an option for your completed models.

Built from the box the Italeri kit represents a Vosper built 72' 6" boat in the range 73 to 98.

*NB: Boat 73, the first of the batch appears to have been built with an earlier style of 'bridge' bullet-deflector, the front was more rounded than subsequent boats. Later images of 73 seem to show that the square deflector was retro-fitted at some point.

MTB74 was modified with relocated 18" torpedo tubes and changes to superstructure and camouflage scheme to support the St. Nazaire raid in 1942, it was sunk during the operation.

MTBs 73, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 82, 84 and 95 were sent to Malta in 1942 as the 8th MTB Flotilla but were incorporated into the 7th Flotilla on arrival.
- source Reynolds & Cooper - Mediterranean MTBs At War.

Boats in the range 222 to 245 were built by Vospers and a number of sub-contractors but all appear to have been identical in outward appearance.
- source Lambert & Brown - Allied Torpedo Boats.

246 to 257 were built by White under contract and were again nominally identical to the Italeri kit.
- source Lambert & Brown - Allied Torpedo Boats.

258 to 316 - US built, typical identification features being no scuttles (portholes), lack of 'Vosper' trim fittings around the engine exhausts and increasingly heavier weapons, single Oerlikon on the forecastle and a twin Oerlikon in place of the twin Vickers Mk.V turret.
- source Lambert & Brown - Allied Torpedo Boats.

Boats in the range 347 to 362 were all but identical to the earlier Vospers except for a triple rudder arrangement, one for each prop, again heavier weapons were fitted to this series particularly the twin .50 Vickers Mk.V turret was replaced by a twin 20mm Oerlikon mount.
- source Lambert & Brown - Allied Torpedo Boats.

363 to 378 - US built by the Annapolis Yacht Yard, see above.
- source Lambert & Brown - Allied Torpedo Boats.

396 to 411 - US built by Jacob in Bay City, see above.
- source Lambert & Brown - Allied Torpedo Boats.

Of course this only applies to the the boats 'as built', in the field each boat would have been modified, repaired and upgraded, pictures exist of MTBs 77, 84 and 250 fitted with a captured Italian 20mm Breda cannon on the forecastle.

Some boats carried grenade launchers or pintle mounted Lewis .303 or Vickers GO guns on top of the torpedo tubes.

Ballistic padding was often wrapped around the wheelhouse and bridge and of course on later boats the wheelhouse was stripped of controls and the windows permenantly blacked-out so it became a charthouse.

Of course all the radar and IFF fits were constantly being modified and updated as the war prgressed.

Alas I've discovered that the boat I really wanted to do, MTB86, was fitted with a single 20mm Oerlikon forward, not a Breda, which is a shame as I really like the camouflage scheme on that one.

HTH

Hi HTH,

Thanks for teh round up, very handy.

Hi Tom,

Excellent work on the turret and interior, looking grand.

Al

Actually 'HTH' stands for 'Hope This Helps' Alan, lol, I'm Les Piper.

I put the notes together whileI was looking for an interesting subject, I can never build anything just OOB! It's a curse!

As I was reading up on these boats it struck me that with a few mods, some scratchbuilding and some aftermarket resin guns you could make pretty much any of the boats built to this design.

The third rudder for later boats is pretty simple as its the same as the existing parts and easily scratchbuilt, plating over the portholes and filling them flush would give you a US built hull (and take care of the lack of interior!), the only things we're lacking are a twin Oerlikon mount, the grenade-launchers some carried and some alternate etched/resin radar arrays and there would be the opportunity for some real variety, this type of boat was in service for a long time.

Sorry Les, I was looking at the end of the post not the top and I was a bit tired,

Lots of possibilities..

Al

FYI: there is a minor omission in step #26 of the instructions, the two halves of the ventilator shown should be parts D1 & D2. Al

Hi ,

Here are my latest pieces i made for the boat.
The 2 ammolockers for the oerlikon are done,as is most of the gun it's self.
And i made the fittings for the 2 twin vickers .303 mg on the tubes


Now i have to finnish the backwall of the wheelhouse and some small part on the .5" turret and then i'll go painitng.
Does somebody have an idea about the colour on the inside of the turret?
And i still would like to make it one of the dutch boats but i'm not sure of there colour scheme.
Can't find any decent info in my country about them.

Tom

Hello Tom, Very nice work, particularly the Vickers' gun mounts. You just keep on raising the bar. The Vickers' guns look very good, where did you get them? I don't know what color the inside of the turret is. But I would think it would most likely be grey. Interiors are usually painted white to reflect and improve the lighting. You wouldn't have that need with an open topped turret. On military vehicles, the interior surface of an open topped turret visible from above would not be white. Al

There is a photo of 204 on the RNN site that shows her in Standard Admiralty Light (white, G45, B15). See page 6 of this thread for an illustration.

Al

This is coming along really nicely!
F

Thanks Al,
The Vickers are from the Italeri comando car ,kit no 320,it has 5 of them and a bunch of magazines.i got it for 10 euro's the rest is for the spares bin.The idea for the mount came from a photo on IWM site. So light grey it's gona be.
Al thanks,
You have any idea if they kept the same scheme all the way through till the end of the war?
Tom

Without a dated photo, can't be sure. However, my OCT 1945 copy of the Admiralty camo manual still specifies the same colors as the 1943 manual - white, G45, B15.

Al

Thanks AL,

That wll do for me.
I got alot of taping ahead of me.

Tom

Does anyone know where the magazines for the .303 MGs would be stored?
Tom

I've just been swanning around the internet. Try here:

http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/search

Type 'Torpedo Boat' into the search area and enjoy.

Especially numbers

D1253 .50 Vickers turret

D12509 General deck view ( note abundance of cordage visible)

A25146 A later war picture showing canvas dodgers around the forward 20mm Oerlikon mount


Tom

Hi Tom,

Really nice work, enjoying your build a lot.

Cheers

Al