Well SWMBO presented me with this after a few hints. £20 off retail price on line. So I didn't feel bad accepting it. Now the plan was to finish PT-490 first but I wanted to reference a few parts from the 109 kit to scratch for 490 and you know what happens when the weak open boxes don't you?

Well thanks to builds here, help on the PT boat forum and Jeff's excellent website and build on PT103.com I couldn't just build it could I?

Off to snap and process pics, be back later with them and some info about what I've achieved/destroyed in the process so far.

All mein Fokkers unt Albatrossen are gathering the dust... mein Gott!

Keith

I did the now well known mods to the hull and deck to achieve the flare on the stern and the dip on the bow. This time I kept it a bit more subtle than my 490 build though. Also took the strip off around the deck edge too as a matter of course. As I'm building a quite early model I have modded her to more akin to the picks of RON5 on the Stanton. I'm not sure yet which but it certainly won't be the 109.
Mods so far have included moving the torpedo tume mountings, opening vents up, rehashing the control rod shrouding and revising the dayroom to give it that lean and modifying the rear turret tub to give it less of a tilt forwards and also to make its relationship to other dayroom components more like plans & images I've seen here and there.






Also mounted the side steps to the bridge assembly, including raising the port side one & opening them up underneath






Mods to a few of the components. The gun cradle took rather an extreme hit LOL the other parts just adding a little extra too. A bit more thought by Italeri could have made this an outstanding kit but I'm not knocking them for what they have given me to work on. This kit is a big improvement on the 596 for certain.
Mods to the Oerlikon and mounting include rejigging the gun cradle and the mount.

TY for looking, any comments or ideas would be appreciated..K

Gorgeous work Keith, only thing that could be improved is the Oerlikon barrel, the recoil spring comes out better in brass. Apart from that it's amazing

Thank you Julian, I do have the RB barrel assembly to fit. :-)

Just haven't done it yet. Still cutting parts up into littler bits as is my way.


Keith

Hey Keith, looking real nice so far. I got the P.T. bug from my friend Al (taffy 3) when he sent pics of his built up kit. Alway liked the brown water stuff from the V.N. war and these iI just couldn't pass up. Besides, the LHS gave me a good deal on the 109 and the Vosper. So now I live and breath P.T. boats. Researching them has been very pleasent with everything I have learned. The group build channel adversaries and the campaign has realy been an insperation. I only hope that Italeri come out with a Higgins boat soon. But anyway, your build is coming along nicely and I look forward to whatching your boat come together. All the mods you are doing will make it an eceptional boat when you're done.

Cheers Bob, I got drawn in by Julian, saw some of the builds and went for the 596 build as a quick OOB build out of my normal WW1 Aviation comfort zone. OOB soon turned to something else after looking at others excellent builds of the 109 kit and when SWMBO offered how could I resist? As usual I've twice as many parts as the kit came in and th part count is rising. LOL

Some Master 50 cal barrels on the way and a set of DAK tank crew in shorts that might be moddable to PT crew. Theyre in some nice doin stuff poses. A set of Eduard prepainted ammo belts too just to see how they look.

Currently working on the 50 cal gun mounts and ammo containers, I'm thinking of resin casting from 2 I have modding up right now as opposed to making eight it would be a first attempt at resin moulding, If the rain stops here I might get chance to show some progress. IF! maybe we should be building Arks in England?

The WW 1 comfort zone was very impressive Keith, no way I can equal that.

Hey Kieth, more parts now. Oh yeah, I know what you mean. There is no way I can build anything without adding or trying to correct something. A real P.I.T.A. but you must admit, they look better and a bit of personalizing adds so much to what we do. Real nice job on your flying things. I have all the available 1/35th-1/32nd heicopters from the V.N. war and a few navy W.W.2 plane to do one day and hope they come out somewhere as nice as yours. Yup, I am a groung hog and thats where my building goes. After my friend Al,(taffy 3) did the 1st P.T. I got the itch. Then he did the Italian one and that was it. Ended up with the 109 and will build that latter as an early 103 class with all the field mods. Got the Vosper as the L.H.S. gave me a great deal on it. Following the channel adversaries blog here got me going and joined the campaign on P.T. boats but I don't know if I'll finish on time. Waited over 6 months for Italeri to send parts and am still waiting for 2 of them. Oh well. Will do the best I can. Really am enjoying your mods and build. bob d.

Kornbeef -

I just stumbled across your posts on PT 490 based on a Google search. I belong to PT Boaters as a second generation member. My father was the Quartermaster on PT 490, including the day MacArthur was on board. Let me know if you are looking for any specific details on anything - I may be able to assist you. Her name was LITTLE BUTCH and I have the name from the side of the boat.

Thanks - and I will enjoy looking at the finished boat.