Greetings all,

I have weakend, I have failed, I have bought the boat :-) :-) :-) I'm surprised I lasted these last 4 or 5 days.

Time to start gatering up some reference material. I'd like to build it during the period early 44 whilst there was a sqn (RON) based in Southern England.

AL Ross has a blog (I think that's waht they are called) running at the moment and I have asked for details of armament, paint scheme and anything else that might help there also.

If you have any useful pics, sites or information that would also be much appreciated.

A slight slip occured when I was ordering the boat and for some reason the quanty 2 appeared in the box :-) :-) :-) :-) . Fortunately for my bank account I caught this just in time, but I did hesitate before I corrected the error :-) :-) :-) :-)

Cheers

Al

I promise i will have a look, but hey, if you really want to spend money, why not waiting a few months more so that Eduard and all the other PE "Leeches" to come out with incredibly expensive sets? :-)
is there not a Squadron and an Osprey on Elco kind of boats for starters?

Ah, Mr.McNeilly,
GREAT CHOICE!

As our mate Jean-Bernard has just stated, you may want to hang tight for a short while, we do have a PT Campaign starting here at MSW in a very short while (click on my banner for more info if needed), and there is alot on the horizon as far as A/M goodies for this subject. . .entirely up to you, mate, but I guarantee you a good bit of fun and camaraderie if you do!~

Either way, this kit is amazing, and will surely build up into a fantastic showpiece!

Hi Guys,

I'm not in any hurry, it will be Easter or the summer before I get going and I imagine some crew might appear before too long.

With all the Pier 51 and Nan Red stuff I've got going there is no hurry.

A simple case of 'must have' :-) :-) :-) , every time I logged into Netmerchants to check out the latest releases there it was looking at me. There is only so much a man can bare :-) :-) :-)

It does look like a great kit though, more rope :-) :-) :-)

Cheers

Al

Just so you guys won't feel I'm holding out on you... , here's the response I sent to Alan:

There were two ELCO squadrons assigned to the Channel - RON 34, RON 35. Boats were:

RON 34 - 498-509
RON 35 - 510-521

RON 34 operated in the Channel from June-October 1944, after which most of the surviving boats were transferred to the USSR. 505 was transferred to the training squadron (RON 4) at Melville, RI, while 509 was lost 8/9/44.

RON 35 operated in the Channel from June-November 1944, after which the boats were transferred to the USSR.

Standard armament for both squadrons was:

1 - 20mm MK14 port side, forward
2 - twin .50 cal M2 in turrets
1 - 40mm MK3 aft
2 - 22.4" MK13 torpedoes in MK1 roll-off racks
2 - 300# MK6 depth charges in place of the aft pair of roll-off racks
1 - SO radar (dome style as opposed to the SO3 type on the Italeri kit)

However, I have some contemporary newsreel footage that shows 509, 515, 517, 519, & 520 with a 37mm in place of the 20mm.

Photos show them in at least two different schemes - the standard Measure 13 (Haze Gray vertical surfaces, Deck Blue horizontal surfaces) and an unknown (to me) overall dark scheme with various pieces of deck furniture painted what is probably Haze Gray.

Photos of a few of the boats in question appear in Chun, ACFV2, and the Squadron book, all of which are cited more fully at:

www.coastalforcesplans.com

There are also photos of the RON 35 boats at:
http://members.cox.net/squadron35/" TARGET="_blank"> http://members.cox.net/squadron35/

Al

Cheers Al,

Your a star.

Al