Thanks Alan, nearly there now
May 14th update:
Depth charges, smoke canister and Breda added. The Italian flag I stuck to heavy grade kitchen aluminium foil, (one of the benefits of having a chef in the family ). That made it possible to give a more realistic wave. The wheelhouse interior is very nearly finished too:










The stern light I trimmed down and replaced by a rhinestone, gives a better effect than silver paint. I also added an Archer brass placard to the smoke canister.
Cheers,
julian

BUGGAR!

I wish that I had the space and money for this kit!

Garth

Hi Garth, I wish I had the space for this model
Mrs. Gremlin56 is giving this build rather bleak looks at the moment and mentioning regularly that it is "another" big boat...........................
Regards,
Julian

May 15th: started adding protector frame and railings. Also started adding the foreward hatch covers:



Julian

Hi Julian,

Terrific, I like your red handles, nice touch. You're adding some nice colours for contrast. Are these just personal touches or based on some info.

Looking excellent either way.

Al

G'morning Alan,
the red control wheels and the red ground depth charges are not based on anything exept my imagination. does draw the attention to this sort of detail that otherwise tends to sink into the background though.

Julian

Hi Julian,

Yes, quite possible though I would have thought. Looking a treat. Will you be doing a new mast?

Al

I have to for the 558 I have some very nice brass tubing and rods that I will be using.

May 15th update 2:
railings fitted and foreward hatchcovers painted and fitted. The wheelhouse has been attached to the rest of the model. Work started on a scratch build mainmast as the 558 had a different mast configuration to the Italeri model. Some Evergreen poly tubing and Albion Alloys brass tubes to make the prototype, turned out a bit too high so I have sawn a piece of the poly tube off to lower it . In the photos it is still too high:







Cheers,
Julian

Hi Julian, you certainly are making progress. It really looks terrific. I like the look of the larger section of deck used for the air identification stripes on the '558'. Though the gaudiness of the stripes makes the use of a camoflage pattern seem kind of useless. Al

Hi Al, the Italians must have been seriously scared of their own airmen to take these measures, but that is talking daytime. At night the stripes would be less eye pokingly visible
Julian

Update May 19th:
I have been trying to scratchbuild a convincing mast for the 558. Italeri has a different antenna configuration in mind so I had to let loose my less than convincing scratch build skills I have also managed to mess up my Blackberry camera settings so things look pleasantly aprés Pinot Noir hazy
A word of warning to those still building the Mas: if you are going to rig antenna lines consider replacing the masts with brass wire. Normally you can put enough tension on poly masts to tension the lines. that doesn't work here: the poly seems to have the strength of chewing gum Still working on this problem:





Julian

Hello Julian, I guess 'friendly fire' must have been a problem for both sides. American PT boats also sported rather large air identification markings. So did Allied aircraft during the Normandy invasion.

Hi Julian,

Nice work.

Al

Hi Julian as always fantastic build and very coulourfull, One question though the Port and Starboard lights on the wheelhouse are they not supposed to match the lights on the mast ???
Cheers Keith

Hi Keith, the lights in the mast are my interpretation of signal lights and have nothing to do with the navigation lights. Seeing as you jumped in on this one a question to you: would it be better to replace the green light with a clear/white rinestone?
Julian

Hi Julian; Looking through some Ref photos and those included in the booklet with the kit these boats did not have two lights ( or at least from what ref material I have ) on the mast but one single clear White light in the centre of the cross beams of the mast. Think it was used as a spot light for night time use in harbours or for recovery use while out at sea. I,am no expert in this field I,am just gathering as much information as I can for my own build when I get the chance to start, but maybe Mr Ross could help with this question as he did for Mr Mc neilly with the interior on his.
As always inspired by your builds Keith

Pity there Keith, I am always partial to some bling bling . Fair enough, I'll remove the offending items
Julian

Update May 28th:
I am calling the 558 finished. An enjoyable build that shows what Italeri is capable of. The 558 looks nice next my S-100. I have decided not to dive straight into the Italeri PT boat but to head in a different direction
Okay, final beauty shots:






Cheers,
Julian

Hi Julian,

Class piece of work. I like the rigging. All round the boat looks terrific and a nice mate for your E Boat. Really enjoyed the build and the paint job is excellent.

Nice one , well done you.

Al

Hello Julian, I wish I had new adjectives to use. I should have payed closer attention in skool I guess. She is a real beauty and looks great next to the S-boote. You now need an Allied boat to counter those nasty Axis craft. Al

In looking through MAS E MEZZI and at the Baglietto plans for this series, I didn't see any lights on the yard. There were two lights besides the flood/searchlight - one on a plaftorm on the front of the mast at the same level as the yard and one on the mast top.

Al

She has come up a treat Julian. You should be very happy with the Finsh.....Cheers Mark

Alan, Al, Al and Mark, thanks guys, very kind of you all. The "extra" lights on the yards are removed, I got a bit carried away there. I did buy some brass .50 cal barrels and a 20mm barrel from Model-art for the Italeri PT boat but that build will have to wait a while until I finish my BB-39.
cheers,
Julian

impressive work..nice reference for my project. thanks for sharing.