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» Forum Category: PT Boats of WWII
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» Forum Name: PT Boats - General
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» Topic: WWII PT Boat Deck Planking
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Greetings to everyone. I am new to the forum and this is my first post.

My interest in PT boats goes back more than 50 years. I think I have built 3 or 4 Revell kits and have been working on the Dumas for a long time. My question concerns planking on the decks of WWII put boats.

I see that there are hundreds of posts, and this may have already been discussed, but it would take many hours to try and find an answer to my question.

Were PT boat decks planked on not? Especially the 80 ft Elco type.

The Revell kit has planking detail, and I had been using the 1:72 kit as a reference for building the Dumas version.

When I visited Battleship Cove, I was moderately surprised to see that the deck of the PT boat was flat and unplanked. I see that some members of the forum have models that are planked, others do not. I am at a point where I can build it either way, and most historic photos show views that appear to show unplanked surfaces.

Also, the Revell kit features a fore deck that is not only planked but has a noticeably convex profile. Does anyone know if this feature is accurate for the early 80 footers, including the 109? Historic photos seem to indicate otherwise (I.e., a flat unplanked deck,[:-question-:]



Posted By: Mark Corriston | Posted on: Aug 19, 2016 - 6:28am
Total Posts: 5 | Joined: Aug 18, 2016 - 5:18pm



Mark;
Welcome! To answer your question :Only 80" Elco's 103-196, 314-367, and 372-383 had planked decks, later boats had plywood decks.
Check out some of the answers here:
http://www.ptboatforum.com/cgi-bin/MB2/netboardr.cgi?fid=102&cid=101&tid=1380&pg=136&sc=20&x=0
Take care,
TED

P.S. for additional info check out www.pt103.com



Posted By: TED WALTHER | Posted on: Aug 19, 2016 - 11:20am
Total Posts: 3058 | Joined: Oct 16, 2006 - 7:42am



Thank you Ted, not only for the answer, but also for the quickness of it.

The Dumas kit has a flat plywood deck and as many know doesn't look real nice. I had originally planked it and created a convex curvature to the fore deck. But I used balsa and I think it could be done better. So. I have taken that off and plan to do it again with a better quality of wood.

Again thanks.

One other question. Were the planks as narrow as they appear on the plastic kit?



Posted By: Mark Corriston | Posted on: Aug 19, 2016 - 11:27am
Total Posts: 5 | Joined: Aug 18, 2016 - 5:18pm



Welcome Mark!

Deck camber on an Elco 80' boat is 4.5" in 21'(21' is about the max beam of the hull) which should be a radius of 1766.25". That should be a 58.875" radius for a 1/30th scale boat. Unless my math is screwy, check that it is about .15" high in the center of an 8.4" (scaled max beam) arc segment.




Posted By: Jeff D | Posted on: Aug 19, 2016 - 3:38pm
Total Posts: 2200 | Joined: Dec 21, 2006 - 1:30am



Mark;
The size of the deck planks were 6 inches wide 3/8 " thick upper and 5/16" lower.

"The deck is of double-planked mahogany, 3/8-inch upper and 5/16-inch lower, with marine glue and airplane fabric between the plank layers. The planks are laid fore and aft, each lower plank acting as a batten for the upper planks and fastened throughout, with brass screws."
REF: Pg 369, Motor Torpedo Boat Manuel; February 1943
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ref/PT-Manual/MTBM-5.html#C1

Take care,
TED

P.S. Even though its a few years old, another good website for your type of build is John Drain's http://www.pt-boat.com/ He constructed his model very close to the original construction process.



Posted By: TED WALTHER | Posted on: Aug 19, 2016 - 3:55pm
Total Posts: 3058 | Joined: Oct 16, 2006 - 7:42am



Hi Mark and Welcome to the Forum!,
I was thinking you should decide which PT number you are going to model, and find out if that particular series of PT Boat had either plank or plywood decks. I believe PT109 did have planked decks. Pretty much all of the Higgins boats were planked as well. There are plenty of experts on this Forum that could answer your question as to whether or not any exact PT Number had it or not. Some PT Boats never had planks and were built with plywood decks at the factory. But then there is also the wrinkle that says on some of the boats they painted a primitive "non skid" paint (mixed with sand) on the decks and that would subdue or mask the visibility of the planks beneath. Also newer boats would be finished and painted so well it obscured the plank pattern visible until a few months of wear and tear exposed the planking on the deck below the paint layer. All of these factors affect how the boat appears in your model. Just my 2c! Good luck on your model build!
Jerry

Jerry Gilmartin
PT658 Crewman
Portland OR

Posted By: Jerry Gilmartin | Posted on: Aug 20, 2016 - 3:34pm
Total Posts: 1469 | Joined: Oct 8, 2006 - 11:16pm



Jerry,

I think I will finish the model as the 109. It is good to know that there have been fitings, furnishings and hardware for the 109 upgrade. I bought this kit in 1976. With the resources I now have, after all these years, I intend to finish it.

Thanks for the encouragement.







Posted By: Mark Corriston | Posted on: Aug 21, 2016 - 11:31am
Total Posts: 5 | Joined: Aug 18, 2016 - 5:18pm



Here's a photo showing Elco deck planking. There's no visible caulking or felting the planks like you would see on a capital ship. It's very tight and often hard to see. It's exaggerated here due to damage but helps you see what's going on.
Dave

 photo PT154damaged6_zpspt5ipsp7.jpg

David Waples

Posted By: David Waples | Posted on: Aug 22, 2016 - 5:45am
Total Posts: 1679 | Joined: Jan 2, 2007 - 9:55pm



Dave;
Excellent example of an early 80' Elco,(this, your photo is PT 154 RON 9). It is very hard to see or even pick up the detail of the planking in real photos of planked 80' Elco's. In fact very few photos show it, not only was the planking tight, I think it has to do with lighting and angle of the photos too.
Here are two photos of PT 142 RON 8 and PT 149 RON 8 and you can barely see the planking only on PT 149.

PT142RON81943nomast.jpgPT 142 RON 8 July 1943.

jQS7s.jpg
PT 149 RON 8 July 1943.

Take care,
TED



Posted By: TED WALTHER | Posted on: Aug 22, 2016 - 9:04am
Total Posts: 3058 | Joined: Oct 16, 2006 - 7:42am



I understood that only 80" Elco's 103-196, 314-367, and 372-383 had planked decks, later boats had plywood decks, a picture of 157 shows a plywood deck.
I was unable to post the picture for some reason.


Posted By: Bucket | Posted on: Apr 8, 2018 - 8:52am
Total Posts: | Joined: Unregistered



According to Elco drawings PTs 486, 498-545, and 565-624 had a 9/16" plywood deck. PTs 103-108, 109-196, 314-367, 372-383, 487-497, 546-563, and 731-760 were double planked. What makes you think the 156 deck was plywood? You can e-mail me the photo for posting if you wish, I'll post it here.

You can tell the plywood decked boats by the doublers in some locations like under the mooring bitts.




Posted By: Jeff D | Posted on: Apr 8, 2018 - 2:43pm
Total Posts: 2200 | Joined: Dec 21, 2006 - 1:30am