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JFK.s 2nd command

After the loss of PT109, JFK took command of PT59 at Tulagi Island in September 1943 after returning from some R&R.

Now US torpedoes were not reliable or effective against the Japanese shipping being met at this time so PT59 had her 4 torpedo tubes removed and replace with a heavy gun compliment of a single 40mm Bofors gun fore and aft adding to the 2 twin .50 cal. turrets amidships and then had 3x 50 cal. m/c guns added to either side of the boat so this is how I built the NeOmega Elco PT boat kit. The 40mm guns came from L”arsenal which I had bought on the off-chance I would be using them for just such a build as I was making now. (Forward thinking does work sometimes)

Now how to display the model! Thought about alongside a jetty in a lagoon, at sea at speed but settled on at sea at night in stealth mode.

The first thing I made after freeing the superstructure and test fitting it to the deck was the type SO radar which was fitted to the boat and which I scratch built. Sanded off some of the hull bottom so it would fix to the model base. Lower hull given a coat of Halford's red primer. Started adding all the deck fittings and once fitted the hull was then painted using the “Livecolour” green paint I had left over from building HMS Tally-Ho (Waste not want not). Hull was then given a bit of weathering before then fixing it to the base and a start made on the sea with my usual toilet roll & PVA glue. Now I wanted to try to replicate the boat proceeding slowly as it might do while sneaking up on some unsuspecting barge/junk but as going faster the wake would fluoresce which I wanted to show slightly. Now as the boat was being built as if it was at night the sea would be pretty dark, so it was finished in a dark blue/black. Now how to depict the impression of night. I added some cling film to the display cover I was using and sprayed the cling film with some Tamiya Smoke and to a piece of clear plasi-card to see if this would give the impression of night to the model. (Not happy so will have to think of something else.) Sent for a A5 sample of tinted film to see if this would work. It does work but I will not be covering the whole display case as it will hide the boat in stealth mode too well, so I have only covered one side, and this will allow viewers to see the effect I was after.

Added the guns, crew and deck clutter. The last photo is what I was trying to model ie:- in the dark

Model complete. As you can see, I'm an awkward so & so, never finishing the model as supplied but can't resist the temptation to add my own mods.

And so, the fun continues.