I watched a documentary about the Sinking of the Nantucket lightship after being struck and cut in two by the White Star RMS Olympic on it's voyage to New York. I had never heard about these vessels and I became curious to learn more about them. I purchased this kit from HobbyLinc and I will be adding LED lighting for the beacons on board.

The model presented is around the 1950's before she was updated from steam propulsion to diesel propulsion. She shows a taller stack and she also has the engine room's skylight/vent A-frame structure on the deck. The placement of the secondary mushroom location is wrong, as well as she is missing a second rub rail that runs along he hull. I will try to correct some of the issues but some I will be satisfied to leave as is. So here are some starting pictures and I will post more as I go:

Fright,

Nice start and interesting build. I can follow the build here instead of at FSM.

Mark

Hi Robert,

This is an unusual old classic kit (Pyro originally?) - I look forward to seeing what you do with it! Are you going to install lights? (she's a lightship after all...!)

Tim - I plan on placing lights in the beacons on both masts. If I can improve my electrical skills, I'd like to illuminate the port and starboard lights and possibly interior of superstructures.

A gentleman, who goes by the name of RCBoater, gave me a couple of sites to check out: 1) a 360 degree 5mm LED light by superbrightleds.com and 2) a HO controller that simulate a lighthouse beacon sold by bakatronics.com. I already have received my lights and waiting for the controller to arrive.

This kit represents the lightship pre-1960 before her retrofit to diesel. At this time, the USCG had standardized colors used for lightships. I will be using Testors guard red for upper hull; flat black for boot stripe at waterline; Testors gray for all decks; all superstructures will be painted white; White Ensign USCG Spar for funnel, masts, vents and any upright fixtures.

Mark - thanks for taking a look and your interest in my progress. I think this is going to be a nice little build before I tackle my 2nd wooden kit. The lightships have some amazing history and some harrowing tales for the crews that served aboard these vessels! Sitting ducks bobbing around in the fog!!!

I'm looking forward to following this build!

When I was living in Virginia I had a chance to visit the Portsmouth lightship, which has been turned into a not-so-floating museum. If you get a chance, you should check it out.

Mark C. - thanks for taking a look and your post. I had never heard of these type of vessels but I found myself drawn towards putting one of these together. Each new model has helped teach me some valuable new skill(s, PLUS, I get a wonderful history lesson as well!

You're right about visiting along the Atlantic coastline. My wife grew up in the New England area and she would like to show me that area in the Fall. I'd love to visit some of these lightships as well as visit the USS Constitution in her restored glory!!!

Look me up when you get to the Rhode Island area, and I'll take you to the Naval War College Museum if you're interested.

Mark C. That is a very kind offer and I hope that my wife and I will get a chance to meet up with you in the future.

They were not just found on the East Coast. There’s one in Astoria Oregon, used as a floating museum, tied up next to the Astoria Maritime Museum (excellent museum, by the way, with a Fletcher class Destoyer Bridge inside!). There were several lightships used out here on the West Coast as well.
VR, Russ

Russ - thanks for visiting this post and taking a look. After your post I looked up online and read that there were 5 lightships along the West Coast. By the way, say hello to the Pacific Ocean for me - I'm originally from the San Fernando Valley in So. Cal. but I'm now landlocked in Atlanta Metro! lol
My wife and I are planning to move down along the Gulf by the end of next year.

Robert,
There are some great maritime museums out west, I actually live in the Seattle area where we have several nice museums within a few miles of my home, to include the Naval Undersea Warfare Museum in Bremerton. But being a graduate of the Naval War College, I'd take Mark's offer for a tour of the NWC museum for sure if you get the chance-- and while you are there, make sure you see the USS Constition a few miles up the road in Boston, and the USS United States in Baltimore Harbor-- you have to drive right by anyway right?! The NE has some great maritime sites. I'm primarily a Model Aircraft guy, but build in all genres, so I hit every museum I can find when I'm traveling. A hundred years ago (seems like it anyway) I built this old Lindbergh lightship-- it's a fun kit, and makes a nice display model. It looks like you are on your way to a real stunner with this one.
VR, Russ

I got a tour of CONSTITUTION from the Commanding Officer while she was still in drydock as part of my job. haven't been up there since she's been re-floated, but it would definitely be a must-do.

I also forgot to mention that just up the road from where I live in RI is Battleship Cove in Fall River MA. They have the battleship Massachusetts, a Soviet Patrol boat, and lots of other cool stuff. Massachusetts is in much better shape with many more spaces accessible than the Missouri out in Pearl Harbor. Probably more contemporary than your primary interests, but worth the stop nonetheless.

Mark C. & Russ Busy - Wow! I feel like I just got a tour guide on some amazing sites. Thanks to both of you for starting a 'must see' list for me. LOL My wife has always mentioned about how much history there is in this region. She lived in a house that was built in 1730 as a small child in North Salem, N.Y. Her father was from Boston and served aboard three submarines.

I noticed that on the starboard bow on the real ship, there is no opening that holds the auxiliary mushroom anchor. Lindberg molded a half-circle opening for this anchor. I set about filling in the opening by first tracking the opening onto a post-it note with a pencil. I then transferred the image onto a sheet of styrene and cut out the shape with my X-acto knife. I filed it smooth to fit the opening and then used liquid cement to bond the cut-out into the opening. I used a little gray putty to fill seams and let dry overnight. I sanded it smooth and sprayed hull with gray primer.

I also added the 2nd rub rail to the hull. I taped down a round Evergreen strip used a sanding block to flatten about 1/3 of the round. I used a ruler to mark off the distance along the hull and then used a strip of tape as a guide for gluing the strip in place. After glue dried, I then sanded off any residual glue and sprayed with gray primer.

Sharp!

The hull's looking good, Robert! Can you post some larger pictures, though? I'd like to enjoy your work!

Something entirely out of the beaten track, Robert!

Nice start!

I'm in and watching!

Cheers,
Jan

Alrighty !!! Sorry I haven't posted anything lately, but I really struggle trying to upload photos in here. Too much bouncing between two screens uploading and pasting. Just me.

Trying a new approach with posting so here are some pics (if they come out) of where I am at this stage. I worked on the superstructures; anchors; painted hull; received my LED lights from Evans Design which will eventually illuminate the cabins, port & starboard running lights and flashing beacons.

I made a 'chart table' to help add interest to the open hatch on the port side of wheelhouse. It really will not be that visible but it will help block some of the light from exiting the hatch.

Here's a picture of my structures placed on deck along with the boats. *** Nothing is glued.

I picked up this shadow box frame which I will create an ocean effect and it will help to hide the wiring for the lights. The AA battery pack and on/off switch will fit perfectly on the rear of frame.

Nice work Robert and a charming model ! I really like these vintage Lindberg kits. Apparently the kit was originally produced by Pyro in 1960. I still have a 1988 Lindberg catalogue which inspired me to buy quite a few of their boat kits.

Regards,

Arjan

Tim - I'm having some trouble with photo format. As you can see, some of my posts show large size photos, but lately they come out much smaller. Any suggestions as to what I am missing or doing incorrectly with my pictures? Thanks!!! Also, have a good weekend!!!

Arjan - I know a lot of people have made comments about the quality of Lindberg kits. They do need a lot of attention with flashing, mold marks, sanding etc. but I'm having so much fun with this kit, I just went out and purchased Lindberg's 1:60 scale Shrimp Boat. I plan on giving her the appearance of Forest Gump's "Jenny" shrimper. I'm currently trying to find two figures that will get close to looks and size.

I'm not sure if I should go with 1:58 or 1:64 size figures. If you have any suggestions, I'm all ears LOL Enjoy your weekend!

I'm not sure what's going on, but you can simplify things by switching picture hosts. There are quite a few of these. I use Imgur (https://imgur.com) out of San Francisco; their registration is free and it's easy to use.