With my Fletcher very nearly finished and the PE set for the Trumpeter 1/200 Arizona a few weeks away yet I have decided to build a relatively new addition to my stash. After following Alan McNeilly's stunning build with full interior scratch built here at Modelshipwrights,( http://modelshipwrights.kitmaker.net/forums/169007&ord=&page=1 ), I decided to have a go myself.
I will be modelling MAS 558, mainly because MTB's don't get much more "flashy" than this one, with red/white aircraft recognition stripes on the forward part of the main deck and a dazzle comouflage on the hull.





It will also be good company for the Italeri 1/35 S-100 I built a couple of years ago, ( http://cs.finescale.com/FSMCS/forums/t/112607.aspx?PageIndex=1 )
I will not even try to scratch build an interior for 558: I am a dreadful ham-fisted scratch builder. This will be a genuine OOB build.
I started off by drilling all the holes needed for the deck fittings and after that gave the deck a coat of Vallejo grey ground to give the colour coats something to adhere to.
The stripes at the bow of 558 take a bit of measuring and tweaking to get them looking right but once masked off I sprayed them using Vallejo "Off White" and Lifecolor " "Rosso Mattone". After letting the stripes dry a sprayed a coat of Vallejo matt varnish on top to protect the paints.




When this was dry I masked off the striped section of deck so that I could spray Lifecolor "Grigio Scuro", a dark gray color, on the remaining section of deck. When this had dried I sprayed a coat of Vallejo matt varnish on top of this too.
Cheers,
Julian

Hi Julian,

Excellent choice for a finish, I chickened out of this one too many straight lines .

I'll look forwad to developments. Currently fighting a bad dose of the flu which has taken the wind right out of my sails, so this should brighten things up.

Al

Hi Alan, sorry to hear you are under the weather at the moment, there seems to be a lot of flu going round. This is a real flashy "Italian job" . Probably spent more time touching up the paintwork than going on patrol
I spent a lot of time masking 558, spraying a quick coat of light grey and then very carefully unmasking her again. Turned out okay with little need for touch ups so I did another dusting of Vallejo matt varnish:







So far, so good. I will leave this to dry while I do some last odds and sods on the Fletcher.
Cheers,
Julian

interesting - will follow this!

Good beginning

Hi Jan, it's a Tamiya masking tape orgy Actually the model is very good, a lot better than the "Biber" The box art alone is very impressive with waves rolling by and storm clouds on the horizon, bet the crew want go into port for a plate of "pasta".
Cheers,
Julian

Hi Julian,

Nice work. There is no doubt that spray painting makes this task much easier and cleaner. Hand painting as I do you tend to get seepage at the masked joint which is a real pain. I'm not sure I would have the patience for all that tape .

Just an observation on the air recognition stripes. In the picture these look like they run acoss the boat from the edge of the wheel house to the bow, or is that just an illusion?

Al

Hi Alan, no it's not an illusion. I think that the recognition stripes on all MAS boats started from an imaginary line along the aft side of the 4 hatch skylight in front of the wheelhouse, ( check the photo in the manual on page 3. This would appear to be a MAS without splinter camo on the hull as the wheelhouse is plain light grey). I could of course say that I chose to do it this way, er, ahem, but I didn't notice until I had masked and sprayed the stripes
So, er, this will be 558 minus approximately 1 meter of aircraft recognition stripes
cheers,
Julian

Hi Julian,

Yes, the Instructions are correct for MAS 563 but not for 558. Still time for a re-think Looks sharp though.

Al

I think I will leave it as it is for the moment Of course I could go mad and strip this paint job with methylated spirits and start again
Julian

Sounds like a good idea or the paint police will be calling

Al

Not so much the paint police Alan, more getting the fresh paint to match with the parts already painted. Mind you, I have done that before on the Fletcher so I might do an "all or nothing" attempt. I have pulled my Elco PT boat out of the stash. Might be fun to have all three of Italeri's offerings lined up.
Cheers Mate,
Julian

Hi Julian,

My ELCO wll have to wait a bit longer, I have a few other projects I need to get on with. I'd like to do an early version, PT 103 maybe, but I'm not sure I have the skills to scratch the parts yet.

Go for it.

Al

Don't have the skills? You scratched the entire interior of a MAS, ( including the officer' s thunderbox).
Julian

Update April 29th:

As Alan McNeilly very helpfully pointed out the aircraft recognition markings started further aft on the 558 in reality than as I painted them. Thanks Alan, ( ), .
I have adjusted this so that it is correct now:


I have added the photo etch parts and the screws to the hull and have added the usual Vallejo grey ground coat. The wheelhouse has been fitted with the air intakes and wind deflector.
Looking at the build with the aircraft recognition markings covering about a third of the ship it would seem that the crew were more afraid of not being recognized by their own Axis allies than being easily spotted by British or US aircraft.
Maybe the Capitano was a relative of Alberto Bertorelli of 'Allo 'Allo fame.

Cheers,
Julian

Hello Julian, Really nice job on the stripes. Did you have to completely repaint them, or just lengthen the originals? I am looking forward to following along on your build. I had pre-ordered my kit way back in December, and it was finally shipped last week. It should be arriving any day now. Between your build and Alan's, I am really getting a lot of inspiration and can't wait to begin working on mine. Al

Hi Al, started out as a simple lengthening of the original stripes but it didn't work out exactly the way I wanted so had to do a rework on several stripes. No difference visible now though so I have sprayed the hull light gray and have started masking for the splinter camo. I have to agree with you and Alan: it is an unusual and inspiring subject to build.
Cheers,
Julian

Hi Julian,

Nice work, looking sharp. Looking forward to the hull camo, should be pretty stunning.

Alan

Thanks Alan, won't keep you in suspense then. Today the morning was spent slapping about 12 euros worth of Tamiya tape on 558 prior to spraying the dark grey camo on:




I should mention that before I even sprayed the light grey coat on 558 I brushed the metal bow protection plate with Vallejo burnt umber, and I also brushed part of the trim strake, (is that the correct name?), with Vallejo old wood colour. I then dipped a small piece of sponge in masking fluid and lightly dappled the protection plate and strakes. After all the sparying was finished I used and old and rather stiff brush to scrub off the masking liquid. I have a ready made used look to the bow of 558 now. Needs toning down but I'll be doing the oil dot dance on the hull to give it a used look before I spray the underwater hull with Lifecolor railway weathered black:



Last of all a couple of snaps to show the difference in size between the MAS type MTB and an 80 foot Elco MTB in the same scale:


I now need to do some touching up to the camo on 558 before I spray a coat of Vallejo matt varnish to protect things from the oil dotting. More to come
Julian

Hi Julian,

Cool

The size of the ELCO boat is freightening, possibly one reason it's still in the box lol, lol

Al

It is rather intimidating
Julian

I ilke you paint job a lot, this is gong to look terrific.

Al

Julian, you built the Schnellboote, how could the Elco be intimidating? I knew the MAS was smaller than the Elco, but I didn't realize how much smaller it really is. It could fit inside the hull of the Elco with plenty of room to spare. Al

Thanks Alan, It's looking good so far
Hi Al, now that would be the ultimate "Mistel" : an Elco with a MAS supported on struts above it
Julian

awesome

Julian, I seem to remember one of the old, pre-dreadnought, capital ships carrying a steam powered torpedo boat, or two, on board. Not sure which ship,or which navy, though. Al