| KIT #: | 05602 |
| PRICE: | £99.99 |
| DECALS: | options |
| REVIEWER: | Richard Reynolds |
| NOTES: |
322 parts on 6 parts trees;
one photo-etched fret |
| HISTORY |
The
Italeri’s PT-596 represents a late production design representing the switch
to the gunboat role which took place in the latter stages of the war. As the
war progressed and more equipment was added the
The
The equipment systems and armament carried by the
The crew of the late boats reached three officers and 14 enlisted men, five
more than in the early boats. Altogether, 296
| THE KIT |
The box is well packaged and
presented with the parts trees contained in pairs in polyurethane bags with
a cardboard divider separating them from the hull. There are six parts trees
containing 322 parts and a one piece hull. Included is a fret of
photo-etched parts, two turned aluminium barrels for the main armament, wire
and two lengths of thread for rigging details, one bag of screws, an
instruction booklet and one photographic reference manual.
| CONSTRUCTION |
| COLORS & MARKINGS |
The first steps were to clean the parts using a warm soapy solution to
remove any mould release. A careful examination of the instructions is
required to determine which holes will be needed to be drilled out on the
surface of the main deck in order to correctly locate the sub-assemblies
later in the build. Any excess styrene from the drilling process was removed
using a medium sanding stick. The entire kit was then primed using
motor-primer from a rattle can.
I elected not to use the acetate deck windows when installing the
photo-etched frames. Masking these items can prove tricky, therefore once
the project is near completion I fill the frames with small amounts of
micro-krystal clear.
I airbrushed the interior humbrol flat black in order that any of the grey
styrene should not be visible through the PE window frames. Then I added the
deck railings around the bow. At this stage I reviewed the camouflage scheme
as I would be painting the deck independently of the hull and deck housing
and fittings. I used White Ensign Models’ Colourcoats: Deck Green 20G (us
16) for the deck; Pale Green #2 Green (
Having prepared the deck and applied the first coat of Deck Green 20G, the
effect looked a little odd. The colour didn’t look quite right to me but
after extensive research, credit to White Ensign (should I ever doubt
them?!) the effect is quite correct. I gave the deck several thin coats
which produced the rich effect that I was looking for and put it to one side
to concentrate on the hull and the sub-assemblies.
Next I focused on the deck house. I would recommend dry-fitting this item
first to ensure a good fit to the deck. The deck house goes together nicely
as does the engine room deck cover and the mid-ship deck house. All
assemblies were airbrushed with
Medium Green #3, Flat Black and finally Deck
Green 20G. Once dry, I mounted the acetate windows and fitted the
sub-assemblies to the deck.
The pilot station was the next area to receive attention; the benches were
painted in White Ensign Mahogany and then over-painted with burnt umber oil.
The deck house was further weathered using an oil wash and post-shaded using
an airbrush.
At this stage, I focussed my attention on the hull. As it had already been
prepped and sprayed with grey primer from a rattle can, I loaded my airbrush
with USN Anti-Fouling Red and gave the lower hull three coats. Once dry, the
hull was masked and the three-tone camouflage of green, medium green and
flat black were applied.
Next I constructed the Bofors gun starting with the frame and then the 40mm
Bofors gun itself. The anti-aircraft machine gun
mounts went together smoothly, which is typical of this excellent kit. I
continued the weapons fit with the torpedo racks and torpedoes, thread is
provided to secure the items, after market items can be used however this
kit was a construction project for a window display for Spot-On Models and
Hobbies of Swindon, UK. The rocket launchers went together easily enough, be
aware though that it is possible to mount them on the wrong side of the
hull, so please refer to the instructions!
The final stage of the weapons fit included the completion and fitting of
the 37mm M4 deck gun and the 20mm Oerlikon cannon, which presented no
problems at all.
Finally, the deck was screwed to the hull, the deck railings, life rings,
Photo Etched antennas and PE shields atop the forward deck house were added.
Once the decals were added and the Stars and Stripes flying the
| CONCLUSIONS |
I have built Italeri’s Vosper and
November 2012
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