1/350 US Coast Guard Reliance class Cutter TLAR Models #723

[Rhino]

If you found the right Pidgeon, umm, COLLECTOR, that lunatic might offer you most of SE Asia for Her.

 

[Rhino]

Artwork for Brandon's boat, pending his approval. 2 kits will be "setting sail" for Elijay, GA this very day, for his perusal.
I'm not sure I can use the words "Caravelle Interceptor" legally. This may well become "Brandon's V-8 powered, speedy boat" if someone cries about the verbiage.
Unless Mr. Lowe wants a Squadron exclusive, which is possible, these 1/350 speedsters will retail on tlarmodels.com for $22.75 + $4.00 for shipping.

TLAR Models now returns you to your regularly scheduled Reliance Class cutter build.....................

 

[Rhino]

Do Over!!!
The clunky .030 plastic bulwarks for the after deck are too short after correcting the flight deck and foredeck heights. They would have been 10.5 inches thick, which isn't so bad, but there's no room for bulwark stiffeners or other details as they go aft. Parts of these thick, nekkid assemblies would have been visible from astern.

THIS SIMPLY WILL NOT DO.

Laying out new printed scale drawings on .015 evergreen sheet will leave enough thickness left over for bracing frames and other details inside the aft bulwark. Some painstaking plastic-smithing will be required to get the height just so, but it will pay off in a REALLY neat model!!
Don't worry about the toothy-looking bits. They won't be there after the plastic surgery is finished. I will blank the aft deck-edge openings so they can be gently carved out after molding.

Don had a sub-miniature Waldron punch set on his desk. I "inherited" it along with the .015 plastic sheet, a ton of brass tubing and a box of hypodermic needles to make cannon/gun barrels, pitot tubes and AOA sensors.

Some good, quality time was spent punching and sanding the openings in the new plastic parts. These cannot be installed until I finish the foredeck capstans, chain guides, anchors and scuppers.

For the Record, NONE of this silliness will occur on the 1/700 Reliance class ship. She's a much less complex Master than her bigger Seester.

Resin casting ensued this day as well. More Bunny parts, freebies for my buddies, torpedo launchers for the 1/350 77-foot PT and Brandon's 1/350 boats. The "test shots" headed for Elijay, GA in the mail today.

I'm not sure how many friggin' 1/25 squirrels Ron Schultz wants, but I know how many I can cast!

Thanks again for looking in!

 

[Rhino]

Up on the big cutter's Foc'sle a decision was made. The early Reliance class have covered chain guides from the chain locker and into the scuppers to the anchors. Later 210's had open-topped channels to guide the anchor chain around the capstans. I mulled this over for a couple of hours before choosing the the earlier fittings. Yes, they are drilled to accommodate your scale p/e anchor chains. The anchor capstans will be the last thing I fit before going to mold.

Gun Platform:

Double punch discs of .040. Attach to the underside of the platform. Attach the legs on my silicone gluing pad so mothing sticks where it shouldn't.

Punch a hole in the 1/144 p/e grating sheet I bought from Richard at White Ensign Models. Punch a disc of .010 and sand it a wee tad.
Fix the grating over the disc on the gun platform and trim it to fit.

Is the grating exactly accurate? No. No it is not. Is the gun mount disc exactly centered? No. No it is not.
It does look convincing! Throughout Her career, this class of Coast Guard cutter has had the same forward gun platform.
The next decision is whether it is a separate part, or should it be fixed to the main hull assembly?

Thanks again for looking in!

 

[moon puppy]

I would think separate part, give upgrade options.

 

[Rhino]

A separate part is the consensus. It would be easier to tool this part in a smaller mold.
Either the Mk.38 25mm chain gun or Mk.10 3".50 caliber cannon could be mounted on the same platform, depending on which vintage Reliance class cutter you wanted to depict. I like the having the punch of the 3" on tap, myself.
Ready Ammo lockers next, and the plastic of the foredeck will be wrapped up!

 

[Rhino]

Fitting the starboard side bulwark and flight deck supports.

Major subassembly test fit. She's starting to look quite Cutter-ish.

Do over! I'm 1 for 2 on after bulwark fitting. Batting 500 would make me a superstar on a Baseball team, but here in the exacting TLAR workshop, I'm just a Mutt. It keeps a guy humble. I trimmed the first one the wrong way.

Second bulwark went much better! Not much of the framework inside the bulwark will be visible once the after flight deck structure is fitted, but it's ALL in there. .015 X .030 for beams to support the flight deck. .010 X .020 for everything else. The after structure fits like a glove!

There is an element of intimacy that comes along with researching and Mastering a vessel. A Man comes to know Her quite well. Having the sub-assemblies fit in the way they are expected to brings a warm satisfaction. This part is FUN!
After having talked myself into making an attempt at such a complex kit, the hard part was figuring out how to make all the Cutter parts.
Putting on the brass details should be a blast!
After that, figuring out how to mold Her is the next hurdle.

And now for something completely different......

Return with us now to the thrilling days of yesteryear! A fiery Schwinn with the speed of light, a Rupp mini-bike and hearty "Hi-Ho, Training wheels!"

Thanks again for looking in!

 

[Rhino]

USCGC Reliance off Pamana City in 1993. She had just been modernized. Plumbing systems must not be included in the modernization program. Notice the fiberglass shithouse on her fantail? (Last stand on zombie Island photo credit). Since no detail no matter how inane, goes overlooked on this project, all y'all know what must be done, right?!

The stern railing is installed now too. I won't drill the stern for the cat-eye shaped openings. Blanking these for moldin would be a lot of trouble. P/E parts on the exterior will stand in for actual openings. The fairlead for the towing bitt will have an opening to pass lines through.
A little more work and the plastic on the main hull will be finished.

Porta-john, ready ammo lockers and forward gun platform. I decided the gun platform needed framework and room to put the railings on the finished product.

More parts! Early 210' boat davits/hoists have a beefy crane-like quality to them. Big-O hydraulic cylinders extend and retract the hoisting frames. I do not believe they are articulated. This one will be cast in a separate mold 4 times to go into the regular kit moldings so they are all exactly the same. Just like the torpedo launchers for the 1/350 77-foot Elco PT.

Later cutters had a crane for hoisting OTH boats. I made a cool extending crane, but it is WRONG! I will mold and cast it anyway. Perhaps it will work on an upcoming 1/350 Cutter Model.

Helm installed on the 25' Motor Surf Boat. I put steering wheels on the OTH boats as well. These are 1/350 DKM depth charge caps. They make convincing steering wheels, do they not? The MSB is in the same mold with the boat lifting frames for the early Reliance class WMEC.
The best 2 MSB's will go in the regular kit mold.

I finished off a very successful 1/350 WMEC Mastering day with my Sweetie, by a nice, quiet hard-wood fire and bowls of steaming, savory Trainwreck chili, complete with little Italian sausage meatballs.
Come on Ice Cream!!

As always, thank you for looking in again and again and again!

 

[moon puppy]

You do see there's two outhouses, no waiting I guess?

Trainwreck Chilli huh? Crockpot season is upon us.

 

[Impisi]

Whatever Trainwreck Chilli is, it sounds mjammy

 

[jknaus]

Just amazing as usual. Mmmmmm Chili
James

 

[Rhino]

Trainwreck Chili:
1 1/2 lbs. of ground beef. Fareway's Butcher's choice is my fave.
1 lb. of premium stew meat. Cut into bite-size chunks.
1 lb. of Italian sausage
A wee bit of bonnie bunny (rabbit meat)
Mrs. Grimes Chili beans. A total of of 48 ounces.
1 can Black beans. (for black farts.)
1 can of red kidney beans (for kidney health)
1 can of Bush's maple baked beans.
Chili powder
Turmeric powder
3/4 onion chopped
2 cans of stewed tomaters.
1 dinky can of tomato paste.
A generous squirting of Heinz Ketchup.
Honey.

Brown the hamburger with the chopped onion. Never mind draining it, the fat adds flavor.
Add rabbit meat and Montreal Steak seasoning. Brown the bonnie bunny.
add stewed tomaters, paste, and all the beans and sprinkle chili powder and turmeric. Heat to a slow, rolling burble.
Stir in the stew meat without browning it. Yummy, tender chunks of cow result!
Now, go to the fridge. Find any amount of leftover anything and dump it in. Pulled pork, Chicken parmesan or even Braunsweiger.
Now! While the chili simmers, roll the Italian sausage into little balls and drop them into the simmering chili with a copious squirt of honey.
Stir and simmer another hour. BEWARE the little meatballs! They will hurt you!

Serve hot, with lots of shredded cheese, Fritos, Cheezits, Oyster crackers or Saltines. I stir a little sour cream into mine and drink a cold glass of milk with supper. I have to be mindful of the after-effects (which can be nuclear and seismic) since I has a Sweetie.
If you live by yourself, or don't care about how noisy or stinky your "emissions" are, Fart 'em if you got 'em! Have some fun!

I advise a generous bowl of ice cream after Trainwreck chili supper. If I have to explain why...............
Nevermind.

 

[Rhino]

Now, back to the Big Cutter.

The 1/350 25-foot USCG Motor Surf Boat casting is excellent! All the undercuts, line reel and seats cast as I had hoped. The mold even picked up the steering wheel. 4 loops of lifeline will adorn the both sides of the hull for final kit casting.

I was working on a USS Wasp conversion for the Tamiya 1/700 USS Enterprise kit. The those clever Aoshima Folk in Japan made an actual 1/700 kit for all of us to enjoy. I only bought 4 of them!

The Wasp bridge will go on the TLAR 1/700 Side-wheel Riverboat as a pilothouse option. The rest of the USS Wasp conversion will most likely go ignored.

Given the success of other TLAR projects, don't be too surprised if the 1/350-1/700 USCG Reliance class cutter is the last one. Sales just plainly do not support more projects. It wears a guy out to go to all this effort with few rewards.

I have a 1/72 scale SE-5A I want to build. The Anigrand Moonbat deserves some attention. My 1/48 Hawk RC3-2 Racer is close to being finished.
1946 DKM Graf Zeppelin just passed Her 12th unfinished birthday. Maybe I'm just doing it wrong.
Anyway, Make chili! Have fun!
Be a Happy Guy!

 

[moon puppy]

I hope you keep the store open. Would love to see you back on the bench.

 

[Rhino]

Bridge side windows get cut out 1 at a time. The process is tedious, but it pays off in the castings.

2 25' MSB's got lifelines today. They currently reside in the mold box. Safe from harm!
I had higher revenue expectations from the website. That being said, our economy is as slow as I've ever seen it. $200.00 at the grocery store. $100.00 at the gas station. God save anyone that pays a mortgage! Times are tough and little is being done to ease the American consumer's suffering.

Thanks for looking in!

 

[Rhino]

Thanks guys!

Boats Mold ready for RTV. 2 old-school 25' Motor Surf boats, Mk. II and Mk. III 26' over the horizon cutter boats, radar and light bars, 4 lifting frames for boat retrieval and deployment, and a set of ready ammo lockers and porta-pottie, so I can double up the fiberglass shithouse in the main hull mold.

There was a rumor the Mk. 34 3" gun turret, like the one on the US Navy Asheville class Patrol Gunboat, was fitted to a 210.
A late Reliance round gun platform for the Mk.38 25mm cannon is in the works.

Nothing so grand is planned for 1/700 210 waterline model. Limits of scale.

I converted old-school ventilators to a set of SAT/COM antennas. Waste not, want not!
These will accompany other finished parts in the Bridge/Mast mold. The small Bridge is done. Work continues on the expanded bridge structure. Driven radar pedestals for the dual masthead nav radars are building.

Ever forward. So many small parts to make for a detailed, authentic 1/350 kit.

 

[moon puppy]

That's crazy man!

 

[Rhino]

That's crazy man!

Thanks Bob! It's just measuring, shapes and shaping. Anyone that wants to can do it.

 

[Rhino]

As I hunt for additional small details to add to the Master, I watch the videos made by Coastguardsmen on patrol. I found the part number on the rescue boat davit crane, so womping one up is much simpler. This also reminds me how many talented, brave young people populate the vessels of which I am so fond.



Don't ask why a USCG WMEC might be armed with a US Navy Mk.34 3" gun turret. JUST DON'T!

 

[Rhino]

"1/700 Head" went out the window on the rescue boat crane. This 'un heyer is jus' plain ol' too big.
It started with a 1/700 smokestack from the Universal Hull kit and got out of hand from there. oops.

This looks a little more like a 1/350 Allied D5700CT. This one started with a casting stub from one of Ronnie Schultz' Cadillac taillights.
Hydraulic winch motor on one side and winch drum on the other.

"Crane, crane..............Take me on out of this town...................."
Framing the smaller crane for molding is done. I will probably mold the big one as well. Waste not, want not.
Nothing else new until sales improve. It's not like I lack for projects to finish.
Thanks for looking in again!