Building Italeri's PT 109: The Last Night

[TRM]

Thanks Pete! The two biggest parts...gonna take most of my time!!

[fightnjoe]

impressive t. someday i might pull out the arizona i have. although thinking it might be better just to stay where it is.


joe

[TRM]

Thank you Joe!!! Ahh, the Arizona!! ;D My favorite! I popped out the Revell a few years back and loved it!! Been looking at the 1/200...beauty!!

[bullardino]

Off to a good start, T

That thing will turn out great

[TRM]

Thanks Luigi...I certainly hope so!!! ;D

[TRM]

Thanks Brian! Glad to have you along!!

Thanks Dicky!! LOL...Pin vice was a LHS buy. Was only about 4 of the Yankee funds. Has 8 assorted bits inside...say the word, I will grab one and set it to you!

[406 Silverado]

Just say the word T. We can't climb on them and they aren't complete, but still enough on them. Will have to see if I still have pics of them. I know I took pics of the rust on the other ships....wonder why I dd that..LOLOL

[modelfreak72]

It's been awhile since I've been to Battleship Cove. I thought I saw on the net that they had purchased a ELCO PT from some where in Florida recently? Or is that and old story?

[TRM]

Unaware of the story Pete...but would be cool if it was!!

Garth we might just have to plan this out then!! Nothing better than a full set of walk-arounds on these!!! Maybe they will let me take the Mammy for a cruise Never gets old looking that big girl!!

Boss, I think we could set something up then!! Try and get an MSC day pass

[modelfreak72]

I got all giddy when I saw the story because I don't think there are any 80' ELCO's with trop tubes left.

If they let you take Mammy out you better let me play with the guns! ;D Let me know if this will be a group outing or a hey lets meet and play.

Well I just realized that my manners are not the best at the moment.

Welcome to the club Garth!

[modelfreak72]

Hey Garth! Yes sir I live in Griswold.

Sure! ;D I'd be interested in doing some thing like that, although I have the lindberg 1/32 kit. Which could give a good comparison between kits.

[TRM]

I'm in...looking like I have the 109 then Of course nothing is together yet

[TRM]

Jan 15, 2013 18:37:38 GMT -5 @tgarthconnelly said:

So, other than for the Toddinator - who's doing it as the 109, are any of you other guys doing the kit as another boat in the 103 through 196 series?

Just sent out a note to a definite builder and see if he chimes in over her!! I know there are a couple more either going on or waiting till I butcher this kit

We will have to wait and see!

[TRM]

Adam! One of the members here...LOL talking to him now. Might have to send you an e-mail about this though

[adampolo13-Email Not Valid]

Hey guys, here I am. It's only 11PM East Coast time. So, where do you need me. I know Todd has the 109 covered...

[TRM]

Hey Adam...trust it was a good build meet at the BayCon? TBH, all up to you!! "New Management" or Gun Ship! I was informed by Garth that the Gunship I was looking at was actually a Higgins Boat, but there were reports of 3 Elco 80's that were converted...sadly no pictures....kind of opens the the door nicely for the "what it that most likely was"! ;D

[TRM]

That is a great deal of information on something that may or may not have been made!! Thanks for the info Garth! From a modeling standpoint something like the 560-563 could be coveted. There is not kits made of it and as far as I can tell no one has scratched any out. Looks like this could be a winner....no to find 6 twin .50 cals and two 40mm Bofors and some plate armor!!! ;D ;D

[adampolo13-Email Not Valid]

Hey man, the BayCon night is always a good time. The more the merrier. Open invitation for when you get the time. In terms of the PT boat an 80 FT PTGB sounds like a very cool way to go. Let me know what I can do to help.

Hmmmm, looks like I gotta find some Bofors.

Hey garth, I've been doing a bit of research and I was wondering, if the War had gone on you think it's possible the Germans could have captured one and put an 88 on the bow? I'm thinking about a "what if" type boat with some kind of schnellboot paint scheme on it.

[TRM]

Adam - I with you bud...build what you feel.

Garth - Thanks immensely for the help in tracking down info. BTW, all kosher to post the link for Chris's book. By the time I am done on this thread there will be a ton of information that I will place into the MSC Library in case anyone is looking to build any PT!!!

OK...a bit of an update!! For the past couple day I have been...well let's call it faring the hull. I managed to finish the sanding on the deck...all smooth now. So, moving forward I wanted to set the deck in place. The deck actually has 7 screws. The two in the rear just above the transom had caps that need to be installed.



This is a picture taken from the "corrections page" Anyone who seen my review may remember seeing this page. Some parts on Sprue(s) E were incorrectly marked. These two caps are just two.

Since I sanded off the raised detail around the deck...and these two caps are to be installed into that raised detail, I needed to thin the caps out. I used a needle file and finished off with sandpaper on the bottom side of the plug.



You can see this still is above the deck after gluing. Again with the file...taking my time I was able to bring most of it down then finishing it off with increasingly finer grade of sandpaper til it was smooth.



Next came another step that requires the use of the corrections page. The Spray Rail pieces that run fore to aft were incorrectly labeled as well. These are slightly different in thickness and will require a little sanding to smooth out. The front miter on the rails was not lining up to well, but after some prodding and a touch of Tamiya white it went together. You can see the installed rail boards in the last picture in this post.

This brings me to running the hull demarcation line. I found more often than not, if you take the time to set the ship/boat in the correct angle it will be sitting in the water, here I placed it on the supplied display stand, then you can easily mark the line with a couple of cheap tools.



I happen to have one of the magnifying glass/alligator clip second hand thing (that I don't use for anything but this any more) and attach a pencil to one side of the arm. You can easily make one from a block of wood with a hole drilled for the pencil at the correct height. I have a rotor laser too....used it...it works but it's just as easy to do this. Keen eyed individuals will see I am using a pen....because round one (thinking I should try something different when this works) failed.



The instructions call for a 25mm space between the keel and the demarcation line. The easiest place to start your line is on the transom. Then simply transfer the line around. This is what you set the height of you magical-pencil-holding waterline marking tool to.



Simply slide the tool with your hand along the bench and the line is transfer to the boat. Since these PT's sit nose up and the water is level the line stays straight. The PT is just a little different from other ship that I have done. The curve to the bow comes out almost flat to the Spray rail. From the side the line will look straight but from underneath, it's not.



I placed the tape here for a visual as this will need to be primed first and then taped off to paint the Copperoyd ...redish-brown color of the hull.

That its that for the moment other than a couple of add-on fixtures to the hull which you can just about make out in the pictures above and I have begun cleaning the mufflers and the linkage up. To ease the painting, the mufflers will not go on until the hull is painted.

Hope to have some more soon...thanks for tuning in!!

[fightnjoe]

that is a slick trick t. very slick.



joe

[TRM]

Thanks Joe!

[TRM]

Thanks Garth! All is good with the self promotion my friend!!! Thanks BTW....I know it's only the 109 but appreciate the kind words!! ;D ;D ;D ;D

[Deleted]

nice work indeed

[TRM]

Jan 18, 2013 11:23:51 GMT -5 @snipersmudge said:

nice work indeed

Thanks a bunch!!

[dupes]

Whoah, NICE! One of the fellas in my club has one of these waiting in the wings (with a pile of aftermarket, which means it'll never actually get built) so I got to paw through it one day. This thing is HUUUUUUGE!

Can't wait to see what you do with it. Think it'll be done by Valleycon?

[deafpanzer]

Great tip using those arm clips... I was thinking about getting rid of it but now you have changed my mind. PT looking real good... believe me you have my eyes glued to this.

[TRM]

Thanks Dupes!! I saw the bling for this!! Nice! Doing my best to stick OOB...might pick up some barrels...but undecided!! I think that I may be doen with this by then....time will tell!!

Thanks Andy! LOL..yeah, I never throw things out, always something I will use it for sooner of later!

[TRM]

Hi ya Dicky!! Thanks!!! Not my foot I am worried about!!

[Mence]

Lovely stuff T, it's only when you see those pics you realise how damn bit it is!

[TRM]

Hi Ya Mence!! Thanks!! Tell me about it...trying to move it around to get to the other side and bottom.. Once the bottom is completely done she can sit in the cradle until she is done!!!