Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 3, 1941

[Rhino]

I don't like it. The 4-tone camouflage scheme looks like a train-wreck. That being said, I suppose it should.
"The disguising of military personnel, equipment, and installations by painting or covering them to make them blend in with their surroundings."
The Oxford definition.
In this scale, I have found dropping such a vessel on the carpet does a fine job of "camouflaging" her!
Guns, radar mast and torpedoes, coming right up!
Thanks again for looking in!

 

[Duke Maddog]

I'd say you did a perfect job, especially considering how small this is! Way to go Chris!

 

[moon puppy]

For god sakes don't drop it, Davy Jones would surely claim it!

 

[Rhino]

Thanks Guys! Fortunately, the "depth" of carpet is not too great.

There be cannons here, Boy! 37 & 20mm guns mounted!
I made a radar antenna from c/a glue and a plastic disc. It came out about the same size as a scale VW Bug. DO OVER!
I find after I did all the molds for PT Wep's, I have a school of Mk. 13's. I can pick the best ones to arm the 78-Footer.
It occurred to me that the radar antenna is about the same size as a 21" Torpedo. Chop one up, put it on the new mast............
Problem solved!

 

[Rhino]

One order of 78-foot Higgins PT guns and torpedoes hot off the presses!

Modifications to Loose Cannon's already excellent model included:
37mm and 20mm platforms, cannons and ready ammo boxes up forward. New torpedoes, ventilators and my 40mm cannon with brass barrel astern. (The 40mm barrel is too long, but it looks menacing!) Charthouse windows too. See how nice the Hasegawa twin P/E 13mm guns fit in the modified mounts? I drilled a spare torpedo warhead for the radar on the mast.

She still needs a light flat coat to be complete. The flat coat should dull the gold torpedo warheads down to a mellower brassy shade.
The TLAR PT Boat Set is almost 2/3rd's complete! The Elco 80-foot late Pacific war PT rounds out the set!

My thanks to Hugh Letterly for allowing me the rights to his original model to sell this modified PT for profit!
The PT Boat base set may see the return of a previous TLAR favorite as well. The YR/YS barge.
No new developments on the pontoon drydock so far. Still puzzling that bit.

Thanks again for looking in!

 

[Rhino]

A start on the132 ton pontoon drydock. It's too big for now. That will change!

 

[moon puppy]

 

[Rhino]

The only known dimension on this project is the length of the Elco PT boat. I'm sure the deck of the dock would allow water to drain as the dock was pumped. The Morobe river picture doesn't say "Floating drydock"
That being said, how wrong can I go? I want the drydock to be "just so". Like the PT boats so far.

 

[moon puppy]

Don't you think they would have built the dock to accommodate the PT boat? Looking at what they are doing for the Texas with that sectional floating dry dock I'd say it's a long standing thing.

 

[Rhino]

What references I find suggest 2 Australian engineering units built the pontoon drydock. it might not even be this one.
Whether they had PT boats in mind or not is unknown.
Such a thing would be handy for landing craft repair and maintenance. Small tugs and a myriad of other small craft could be serviced as well.
Ideas............Ideas.......

Floating drydocks come in different sizes and still very are much in use today. Some are mulberry style on piers that raise and lower mechanically not so unlike a nautical car hoist. They don't truly float.

I hope I'm not letting the cat out of the bag. This is Carl Musselman's 1/350 USS Los Alamos sectional floating drydock model, made from his own kit. National convention attendees may view "Captain Carl's" handiwork in Omaha in a little less than a month!

 

[Duke Maddog]

That rocks Chris! My memory may be faulty, but I remember way back when I was seven or eight; I saw a plastic kit (probably from Aurora) of a floating drydock. It was at a base exchange and I saw it when I went with my mom to shop. While she went around to get stuff, I went to the model aisle and there it was. I always wanted one but I never saw one again after that.

 

[Rhino]

There isn't any really good reason to add details to the bottom of the pontoon drydock. Unless the proper pontoon-sized plastic rod is on hand and someone has a ton of unstructured time and the desire to cut 30 scale foot tubes in half to make the waterline profile.

Sanding the underside down to where the waterline would be with the dock fully raised proved successful. Since only the outside pontoon profiles will be visible (?!) there wasn't any reason to make all 8 of them. This is one of those "Just so" details I seem to always have to include.
The round-downs asked for stiffeners too.

Bearing in mind that Skywave's 80 foot Elco PT is a waterline, the dock had to be tall enough to submerge fully without having the tops of the side tanks being awash and still accommodate the vessel. There should be room for keel blocks and braces with the lower hull attached to the boat being serviced. The ends of the outboard pontoons are just barely visible! See!? It wasn't all for nothing!!

I considered attaching a PT lower hull inside the dock, but what if you guys want to work on LVT's, DUKW's, LCVP's or LCA's or a shrimp boat?
I wonder if a PACV will fit in here? A separate lower PT hull will be included in the drydock mold.

If you deem almost building a 1/700 pontoon floating drydock Master from almost no references "productive", then this afternoon was very productive! I imagine there would have been lockers in the side tanks at the deck level, ladders on the both ends for access to the mooring chocks and the winches (yes, wee little ones!) and the valve scuttles on the tops of the side tanks. Horizontal P/E, towing/anchor bitts and wee little winches coming up!

I'm unsure about where the exhaust for the pump that raises and lowers the dock will go Maybe there's compressor/generator on a barge or another boat. It seems these facilities are surrounded by other boats much of the time.
Adding p/e rails to the outside edges to the walkways of the completed casting would seem appropriate.

Thanks again for looking in!

 

[moon puppy]

But then again, you'll know they are there.

 

[Rhino]

Someone has been blowing up my thumbnail pix to full size. Who could it be, I wunda?


I changed my mind about the ladder locations. I don't want my PT repair guys falling off a ladder into the sea. Wee winches and drilled locations for bollards done. Ready for molding!

The YR/YS barge from the 2015 82' Point class USCG cutter set gets a make-over. Widened and lengthened, the icemaking machine now has a hatch. A stray RAN Carley float will house the vegetable garden, fed by the condensate drain from the icemaker. The hand-winch hoist gets a P/E base, scavenged from a Japanese DD 25mm gun mount. The US Navy Radar Chief in World War II has more "resources" than the CPO during Vietnam.

See here the contents of the 4th set in the PT Base series. The Chief and his crew of radarmen will need small craft to "run errands". I cain't use the Zodiac or RHI boats in the Coast Guard set, so an "abandoned" Royal Australian Navy 27-foot steam launch has been "salvaged" to carry larger "medicinal supply" loads.

God alone knows where, Chief Douglas "found" a '39 Chris Craft 19' Barrel Back Runabout.
"These SO-3 and SCR-517 sets need a small fast target to track to be properly tuned for combat, Lieutenant, Sir."
Nevermind the unlikely return a mahogany Chris Craft might make on either radar screen.
"I see. Carry on, Chief." (It's a wonder no Beechcraft JRB's or PBJ-D's have disappeared from the airfield for "Tuning radar sets" or "medicinal errands")

You don't tell your experienced non-commissioned people how to do their jobs. You tell them what you want done. Never question the methods. Enjoy the benefits of Sailors that can "improvise" without interference from "The Brass".

Your guess is as good as mine about what the Chief that runs the torpedo shop is up too. As long as the Mk.13's run straight and explode in a loud, proficient US Navy fashion, No Officer messes with him either!

Docks and piers are coming up. I doubt they will be as much fun as this set was.
OH! The Elco 80-foot lower hull gets included in this set too! It should do nicely for all 3 US Navy PT's in the set.

Thanks again for looking in!

 

[moon puppy]

Someone has been blowing up my thumbnail pix to full size. Who could it be, I wunda?

Gotta be a short list because there's not many with that right. And it ain't me.

I don't mind clicking through to blow up.

Looks great Chris!

 

[Rhino]

David Waples, the President of the Mile High Ship Model club sends an interesting picture from his collection.
This shows the Morobe river 'dock most certainly is a floating drydock, rather than a stationary jack-up dock. It appears to be the pontoon dock with 8 separate tanks along the sides. A generator to the left and a big pump on the right side. I doubt there would be more than one floating drydock pictured servicing PT boats.
This model MUST be "just so" or I'll never be happy with it. I won't sell you guys models of things I know are incorrect.
You all know what that means in MY "Nut Department"!

DO-OVER!
With this new reference picture, womping up the correct pontoon floating drydock should be a snap! Perhaps the cradle too.
I'll master the wooden walkways on top of the tanks as separate parts.
Now, where did I put that 1/700 generator?

 

[moon puppy]

And is it sitting next to a wreck? nice find, you were doing pretty dang good on your on Chris.

 

[iambrb]

Wow that’s sooper-kewl

 

[Duke Maddog]

Awesome! That is something I never knew about. How interesting it would be if some company released a plastic kit of that in 1/72 or 1/35th scale to go with all the MTB's out there.

 

[Rhino]

So begins the necessary "Do-Over". I built the deck to allow water to drain and made tabs for the 8 tanks along the sides of the drydock. Lots of parts and details to add.