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 Author  Topic: PT Boat & Figures Diorama Idea
PeterTareBuilder

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Post a Reply To This Topic    Reply With Quotes     Edit Message     View Profile of PeterTareBuilder  Posted on: Oct 6, 2008 - 3:55pm
Hi there.

As I was going through my assorted 1/35 scale military figureslooking for arms with short sleves I came across some figures from the Tamiya Churchill tank set. One of these figures is a Normandy farmer who can be posed handing a bottle of wine up to a crewman who is reaching down for it. I also have some children from a toy farm set that are also very close to 1/35 scale. Hmmm. I suddenly had an idea for a diorama using a PT boat (Lindberg's or Italeri's) that I think might be interesting to viewers at a show and might be of interest to some of you here.

How about the aged farmer as an ex-PT boater showing his grand kids the boat?

The Italeri PT-596 would be ideal for this as it is very close to one that is on display. A case representing the hut or whatever it is the boat is displayed under would protect the model as well as direct the viewers' attention.

The more I think about this idea the more I think that is what I will do with the Italeri kit I have but have not started yet.

Cheers from PeterTareBuilder

"Give me a faster PT boat for I'd like to get out of harm's way!"

Total Posts: 494 | Joined: Jun 24, 2008 - 5:59pm | IP Logged

  FRANK

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Post a Reply To This Topic    Reply With Quotes     Edit Message     View Profile of FRANK  Posted on: Oct 7, 2008 - 11:38am
Hiya Pete-


The neat thing about dioramas is to have several different views in one setting that brings the whole idea into the viewers line of sight.

The one thing that I relish are the little things in my massive diorama that I make the viewer actually "look" for; a dead engine being hauled out of a jeep in the motor pool, incoming wounded, the base chaplain giving last rights to a fallen shipmate, a crewman checking an empty torpedo tube and so on. And don't forget DEPTH! It's what gives the diorama it's life!

I think you're getting the idea, Pete. Hope you have the inspiration AND the time it takes to build your diorama. PLEASE, once it's finished, share with all of us here. But don't rush things! Enjoy yourself to the utmost! The devil is in the details!

Frank Ryczek
Friend/Modeler RON-10 PT-169 " ZEBRA SNAFU "

HIGH TIDES ALWAYS!

YOUR FRIEND THROUGH SCALE SHIP MODELING AND PT BOAT HISTORY!

Total Posts: 349 | Joined: Oct 7, 2007 - 2:09pm | IP Logged

PeterTareBuilder

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Post a Reply To This Topic    Reply With Quotes     Edit Message     View Profile of PeterTareBuilder  Posted on: Oct 7, 2008 - 3:53pm
Hi there Frank.

That idea I posted was geared at a small diorama or more accurately perhaps 'A Display Of The Boat'.

I live in a 15' square bachelor apartment. Large dioramas are not a practical item here. I used to do a lot of 1/35 scale dioramas and also dioramas with 25mm war gaming figures and accessories. Unfortunately those took up too much of my living quarters too.

Shadow boxes are great for displaying and protecting a model. You can also create the exact lighting you want the scene to have.

I would love to be able to do up a diorama of a large scene but space is at such a premium here I will not be able to do it.

I must say that I do admire your Tulagi diorama. That contains many works of art.

Cheers from Peter

"Give me a faster PT boat for I'd like to get out of harm's way!"

Total Posts: 494 | Joined: Jun 24, 2008 - 5:59pm | IP Logged

  FRANK

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Post a Reply To This Topic    Reply With Quotes     Edit Message     View Profile of FRANK  Posted on: Oct 7, 2008 - 4:58pm
Hello again Pete-

Thanks for the kind words on my Tulagi base diorama! Yeah buddy, I can see where my 8 x 16 foot diorama would be a very tight squeeze and a very big shoe horn to fit into your bachlor pad.

You seem to have a lot of good ideas going for you Pete. I see that you are always posing questions in regards to modeling on the message board and that's what we are here for!

I always try to go for the off the wall stuff that no body in their right mind would model, or would they?

I waited three years for a photo of the sick bay on Tulagi. After posting a question on the board to anyone who had a photo or knowledge of the sick bay, I received a strange post mailing from a veteran who served as a PT boat mechanic on Tulagi.

My post of three years ago of someone having a photo of the Tulagi sick bay brought back a flood of memories, for the most part very horrible memories. Jack memtioned that Tulagi was not the pearl of the Orient. It was a hell hole!!!

I read the letter with tears in my eyes because there in front of me was a very fuzzy picture of the sick bay on Tulagi along with a note of apology from Jack for taking so long to respond to the post.

I call the operator in California and got Jack's number and I called him the same night. It was as if we were next door neighbors rather than perfect strangers.

Over the next few months Jack and I communicated back and forth with details about the sick bay on Tulagi.

I studied the xerox copy and with a draftsman ruler converted it to 1/32 scale. I chose mahogony as my choice of medium for the main frame but when I got to the thatched roof I stopped. Did I want to model the entire interior or not? I went for all out! Opted for a removable thatched roof made the same exact way as the original sick bay- Bamboo (chop sticks and skewers and straw (sea straw matting).

Jack told me he spent a month in the sick bay from 3rd degree burns on the right side of his body when he went to service a hot running PT. He some how slipped and landed almost face down on top of the red hot manifold. The last day of his stay in the sick bay he snapped the shot of the sick bay.

I laid out the floor plan as Jack said there were 16 beds in the sick bay as well as a surgical area. He said the foward 2/3rds was the sick bay and the aft 1/3rd was the surgical unit.

After very careful measurements I was up against the wall and could not get placement for the 16 beds, no way! I called Jack and told him the situation! Jack laughed! He said, "You never thought of BUNK BEDS?"
Now every thing came to light!

With my wife's help with the surgical area, and with her nursing experience, I was able to replicate the surgical impliments and all. I had a left over etched brass fitting set from a 1/350 scale Titanic model. I used this very thin brass shapes from the railings and other intricate fittings to fashion the surgical tools.

All in all the finished section took a little over a year to totally complete. This section is 2 x4 feet in area!

When I called Jack at his home to tell him I was sending the pictures of the finished sick bay to him his wife answered. Jack passed away 2 months earlier! This was a little more than a year ago.

I didn't mean to get carried away with this Pete! I just wanted you know that scale models are history with a story attached to them.

Thanks for letting me share this!

Frank Ryczek, Jr.
Modeler/ Friend RON-10 PT-169 " ZEBRA SNAFU "

HIGH TIDES ALWAYS!

YOUR FRIEND THROUGH SCALE SHIP MODELING AND PT BOAT HISTORY!

Total Posts: 349 | Joined: Oct 7, 2007 - 2:09pm | IP Logged

Frank J Andruss Sr

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Post a Reply To This Topic    Reply With Quotes     Edit Message     View Profile of Frank J Andruss Sr   Send Email To Frank J Andruss Sr Posted on: Oct 8, 2008 - 4:25am
Pete

I think the best scale to use for room sake is the 1/72 scale PT 109 Kit. As i stated earlier, my Diorama was done to show the FEMU BARGE set-up. As I have so many items to haul to one of my Exhibits, I needed something that would not take up so mych room. Frank is correct, you can show many things in a diorama that catches the eye. In the FEMU Diorama, you see 2 boats, one docked, one coming in. Crewmembers on the boats are doing daily tasks, with one Torpedo being loaded from the Crane.

Carpenters are busy finishing a portion of the dock, while others are stacking supplies on the barge. You would be surpeised at some of the detail, Everytime I look at the darn thing, I swear I see something that I did not see before. Frank's Diorama is very impressive, because he has a larger scale, which is easier to work with. You need lots of room for that Beauty. Good luck on whatever you decide, but keep us posted on your progress................


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PeterTareBuilder

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Post a Reply To This Topic    Reply With Quotes     Edit Message     View Profile of PeterTareBuilder  Posted on: Oct 8, 2008 - 10:06am
Hi there Frank and Frank.

I am making major modifications to the 1/32 scale Lindbrg PT crew figures that a) came with my latest kit, b) some one in the US sent me, and c) Lindberg sent me when I emailed asking if I could buy a set.

I have lengthened and filled in the channels on the life jackets. I am usin the Revell 1/32 scale UDT figures as a guide for the lifejackets as ell as some photos from the web. I have also cut the arms off all the figures where the arms were molded on. I want t o have at least one of the crews wearing shorts and I have a number of 1/35 scale lower torsos with shorts that will work well with the lindberg figures. These figures are going to be at action stations and lok as if they are engaging an enemy.

The figures will make the boats look better on the water as well as when they sit in the display stands here at home.

The old PT boater sowing the grandkids the boat is an idea I am thinking about for the 1/35 scale Italeri kit of PT-596 that I have but have not started building yet. I am considering doing an interior for the chartroom and the dayroom of that model. This may be a display only model but I have not decided that yet.

I do not drive. My radio controlled 1/32 scale Lindberg PT boats go to the pond in a hardboard box I made that fitd lengthwise on the back of my bicycle.

BTW, I do have an unbuilt Revell 1/72 scale PT-109 kit and a unbuilt 1/72 scale Airfix Vosper MTB kit.

Today I am going to work a bit more on the gun tubs for the 20 years old Lindberg PT boat I am refurbishing. The modified Tamiya and Italeri Infantry .50 caliber mgs look much better than the kit guns did. I found that an empty spool from a celo-tape dispener was ideal for the magazines in the gun tubs. I have eight sections cut out 9four per gun tub) and wil finish sanding them to length,adding the ends and attaching them to the gun rings today. Then it is on to the depression rails.

I got up to the radio control store north of me yesterday and was abvle to exchange the 4.2 volt to 6 volt motor that I had not burned out olus the connectors they had sold me. I am staying with the Tamiya style connectors because that is what the batteries I have and wil be getting have. I bought three Graupner 400 7.2 volt motors for my new Lindberg 1/32 scale PT boat I was working on. It was on hold until I got the motors for it. Frank sent me a third rudder for it. I plan to use the two wing motors for the main running time and then switch to the center motor only if the wing motors lose power. This boat will have a four channel radio so the ceter motor and battery can have their own controls. I am getting two 5500 MAh batteries for it and a smaller battery for the center motor. The center motor is just to get the boat back to shore if I lose th power to the two wing motors when running the boat at high speed.

I have been considering adding the needed 1/2 to 3/4 inch to the hull and the deck of this boat to bring it to the scale length of an 80' Elco boat. I do not know yet if I will do that. It would make the boat look better and I have moved the cabin assembly aft by that amount to improve the look of the foredeck.

Cheers from PeterTareBuilder

"Give me a faster PT boat for I'd like to get out of harm's way!"

Total Posts: 494 | Joined: Jun 24, 2008 - 5:59pm | IP Logged

  FRANK

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Post a Reply To This Topic    Reply With Quotes     Edit Message     View Profile of FRANK  Posted on: Oct 8, 2008 - 10:37am
Hey Pete-

Your 1/32 Lindberg re-do sounds really neat! I think all of us modelers as well as our non modelers and seasoned PT veterans would love to see her running on the pond.

If you can , please post some images of your build here for everyone to see!

Thanks!

Frank Ryczek
Modeler/Friend RON-10 PT- 169 " ZEBRA SNAFU "

HIGH TIDES ALWAYS!

YOUR FRIEND THROUGH SCALE SHIP MODELING AND PT BOAT HISTORY!

Total Posts: 349 | Joined: Oct 7, 2007 - 2:09pm | IP Logged


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