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General Ship Modeling
Discuss modeling techniques, experiences, and ship modeling in general.
Revell PT-109 questions.
DaveMan
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Joined: October 08, 2002
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Posted: Monday, November 25, 2002 - 03:33 AM UTC
I got the Revell PT-109 as a gift this year, and now I need to do a quick (But nice) shelf build, as the giver is visiting for Christmas. I haven't done a ship/boat model since 8th grade, so I am at a bit of a loss. The kit looks fairly simplified, and a bit rough, but I shoud be able to fit it together fairly easily. I think I can find enough references on this one on the net. Are there any gross inaccuracies, or ugly spots that I need to fix, or will this one work pretty well right out of the box? What can I do to make the deck look a bit more realistic, without getting into a major scratchbuild?

One last question, Is there any record of a PT rescuing a pilot? Since it's 1/72 scale, a diorama would be quite possible, with a pilot, plane and PT boat. I could get the boat finished enough to show that I appreciated the gift, and then finish the plane and diorama later.

Thanks,
Dave
AJLaFleche
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Posted: Monday, November 25, 2002 - 04:26 AM UTC

Quoted Text

The kit looks fairly simplified, and a bit rough, but I shoud be able to fit it together fairly easily. I think I can find enough references on this one on the net. Are there any gross inaccuracies, or ugly spots that I need to fix, or will this one work pretty well right out of the box? What can I do to make the deck look a bit more realistic, without getting into a major scratchbuild?




I built this one in the summer of 1963 (the movie tie in box). As I remember, you'd probably want to replace the .50 cals with resin or metal. The 20mm was pretty good. If you're doing Kennedy's boat, you'll want to find a 37 mm anti-tank gun for the foredeck. Hasegawa had one with their 1/72 jeep, though I don't know if this is available right now.
kkeefe
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Posted: Monday, November 25, 2002 - 05:03 AM UTC

Quoted Text



I built this one in the summer of 1963 .



Me too AJ! I have another one on the shelf to be built again too.

DaveMan,

I'm not sure if there is any record of PTs picking up downed flyers, but I would tend to think that it is a possibility. One good source of reference is Squadron's PT Boats in Action.

Anyone else operating in "Holiday Mode' today in the US? All I feel like doing is hanging out in ArmoramA.com!

Thanks,
Kevin Keefe
Mortars in Miniature
Sabot
Joined: December 18, 2001
KitMaker: 12,596 posts
Model Shipwrights: 67 posts
Posted: Monday, November 25, 2002 - 05:13 AM UTC

Quoted Text

One last question, Is there any record of a PT rescuing a pilot? Since it's 1/72 scale, a diorama would be quite possible, with a pilot, plane and PT boat. I could get the boat finished enough to show that I appreciated the gift, and then finish the plane and diorama later.



Just a point of note here, but PTs were sort of coastal patrol vessels and pilots normally went down in the deep blue. That being said, I wouldn't be surprised if they did pick up pilots who were downed.
AJLaFleche
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Posted: Monday, November 25, 2002 - 05:14 AM UTC
[quote
Anyone else operating in "Holiday Mode' today in the US? All I feel like doing is hanging out in ArmoramA.com!

Thanks,
Kevin Keefe
Mortars in Miniature [/quote]

Holiday mode? (:-) Island time? Whatever. It IS quite hard to focus on work today, especially when you can't get through to the peolpe you need to talk to on the phone.
DaveMan
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Joined: October 08, 2002
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Posted: Monday, November 25, 2002 - 12:33 PM UTC
Thanks guys,
I will probably do a fairly quick Out of the box build, with parts on hand for now, as I have a time crunch, but I will use rubber cement to fasten the .50 cals, so I can replace them later with better ones. (Thanks for the heads up) I will probably bail out on the idea of a diorama, and got for Kennedy's boat, instead. My Father is a huge Kennedy fan, and has a collection of books about him. This would make a nice display ofr his cabinet.

One last question. What exactly is the color topsides? The bottom seems to be listed as light grey or white everywhere I look, and the top color (Top 2/3 of hull, and deck and superstructure) has been referred to as everything from dark forest green, to field green, to pale blue green, to Olive drab. It looks to me (From pictures) like the thing was olive drab mixed with white, or light grey on top. and slightly dirty white, or very light grey on the bottom.

Thanks again,
Dave
Sabot
Joined: December 18, 2001
KitMaker: 12,596 posts
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Posted: Monday, November 25, 2002 - 12:42 PM UTC
I think the movie had the boat in a dark green. Either the movie was in color, or if black & white, the dark shade made the boat look it was dark green.

I have the PT Boat in Action book, not with me though, so I don't recall what the proper color is.

AJLaFleche
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Posted: Tuesday, November 26, 2002 - 02:10 AM UTC

Quoted Text

I think the movie had the boat in a dark green. Either the movie was in color,



The movie was definitely in color. A quick trip to the video store might produce a copy as reference material.
BlueBear
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Posted: Saturday, December 21, 2002 - 12:37 PM UTC
I have this kit in my things-to-do locker too. A couple things that are really obvious are the moulded solid windscreen on the bridge that needs replaced with clear panes, the previously mentioned lack of the field mounted 37mm at gun with its wheels removed lashed down on 2"x6" boards nailed down on the foredeck, and the simplified mooring cleats along the edges of the deck. These last are going to be a pain in the north end of a south bound mule to get straightened out---they really should have been moulded as seperate parts.
If you have a local hobby shop that has detail brass parts for wooden shipbuilders, they might have something more to scale and shape to replace Revell's straight iron bars with.
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