1/350 patrouilleur rapide (fast patrol boat) in Indochina FINISHED

[frank2056]

Shortly after WWII, France attempted to regain control of its colonies in Indochina. France was unable to obtain Allied military equipment on favorable terms, but it did have access to German, and to some extent, Japanese equipment.
Before Communist China appeared in 1949 and became a ready supplier of Soviet weapons, the Viet Minh were using fast, armed junks and other ships to ferry in weapons and supplies and to harass French civilian and cargo vessels. The French were poorly equipped with slow, poorly armed police boats that were no match to the well armed Viet Minh ships.
In 1946-47, the French decided to modify several German S-Boot to serve as fast patrol boats in Indochina. The torpedoes and torpedo tubes were removed, since they would be of limited use against the junks. The hull indentations were faired over and the bow strengthened. Extra fuel capacity was provided as well. The main armament was increased to two 40mm Bofors and several small machine guns. Floating mines were sometimes carried (instead of depth charges), but most boats dispensed with the extra weight. Later in the war, the boats were sent up estuaries to provide ground support fire.

In December, "Uncle" Jeffry Fontaine sent me a Bronco 1/350 scale S-Boot kit. It comes with an extensive PE sheet and it's very well engineered. A test fitting of the parts showed that they would go together with few, if any, gaps. I decided to try an experiment and pre-paint the parts before assembly. Since the kit comes with both a lower hull and a waterline plate, I was able to paint the lower hull without having to mask the upper hull.

I removed the torpedo doors from the hull sides and filled in the indentations. Here are the main parts, painted:



Tacked together with Blue-tack:



Deck with further painting, some PE and the lower hull:



Putting the PE on BEFORE the deck was attached to the hull was not a good idea.

Here's a side view with the lower hull not quite snapped into place:


I ran a black marker along the lower hull joint line. Enough of it shows to appear as a passable boot line.

I still have to do some touch up painting, add the rest of the PE (and fix what's on now) and add the weaponry and home made decals.

Frank

[frank2056]

Most of the assembly and PE work is done. I still need to add a few bits (including the lower hull), decals and touch-up work.

I decided to add two 40mm Bofors and a twin 20mm gun in the bow. The boat also has a central mast for the search radar and other gear. I also added some binoculars and a searchlight to the open bridge. The figures are from Prieser (I'll use L'Arsenal figures later).



The splinter shield PE was completely flat on the sea facing side, so I ran my tweezers over the flat side, against the soft cutting mat. The Bronco PE is so soft that it took on a more realistic "ghosting" of the railing behind the splinter shield.




Thanks for looking!

Frank

[Weaver]

I like that a lot! 

Hard to believe it's 1/350th: if you'd told me it was 1/144th I'd have bought it....

[frank2056]

I like that a lot! 

Hard to believe it's 1/350th: if you'd told me it was 1/144th I'd have bought it....

Thanks! I think pre-painting helped a great deal; it seems to be a good building method for well fitting kits that don't require a lot of PSR.

[Captain Canada]

Very nice. The little dudes are from l'arsenal ? They look awesome as well. Great job on such a tiny boat.

[ChernayaAkula]

Nice job! The backstory is pretty cool, too! 

Given the size, you could build a small fleet of these! 

[frank2056]

Thanks guys. No, those are the Preiser 89350 sailors. Hand painted by misty tropical maidens in the Seychelles, which explains their ridiculously silly price. Weiner Modellblau in Austria used to sell the unpainted Presier figures at a very reasonable price.

The L'Arsenal figures are good (great, when you consider their price) but aren't quite as realistic and well proportioned as the Periser dudes.

[GTX]

Has somewhat of a Devil's Guard ring to it.

Regards,

Greg

[chrisonord]

I like this Frank, very nice build, I am trying to get myself into small scale ships, and this build is very inspiring.
Chris.

[frank2056]

Thanks Chris! It's a small boat, but I've learned quite a bit from building it and trying new techniques. I recommend the Bronco S-Boot over the Trumpeter; it fits better and having a waterlined hull is useful.

Here's the lower hull in place, it's just missing the brass props. I also started painting some L'Arsenal figures. I won't put all 15 on the boat - just two or three - but since they were all on the same sprue, it was easier to paint them all in a group. They look dark because they have a sepia ink wash on them:



This picture shows the relief I rubbed into the splinter shield. I'm ridiculously pleased at how that came out (vs. completely flat brass)



All I have left to do is add the props, some rigging, some small detail bits (like a life raft and the lifesavers) and make the decals.

Frank

[Doc Yo]

 Neat little build, Frank. Closing the torpedo tubes really does change the appearance of the boat.

[frank2056]

Thanks, Craig!

I called the boat "La Fontaine" (The Fountain) because I got it from Jeff. Closeups really bring out all the errors! I'll have to squeeze the lower hull a bit to close the gap:



Here's a side view. I need to come up with a better base, but for now a Testors Aztec airbrush head container and some Museum Wax will have to do. Patrouilleur 1102 is also the year/month I finished the model.
The flag was printed on regular paper, glued and the edges colored. I put in the twist before the glue set:



The L'Arsenal figures were harder to prep than I remembered. The little fin that holds them to the main pour stub was hard to trim off, and a couple of the figures lost arms, heads and legs...which were luckily easy to find and reconnect.



I also finally found a use for cat hair. My "modeling assistant", Espresso, was happy to donate some of her hair in exchange for a good brushing. I used one hair as an antenna wire:



OK, I added two life rafts and two lifesavers, so now it's finished:



I'll rob a base from another kit, but for now she's done.
Thanks for looking!



Frank

[rickshaw]

Nice.  I agree with Chris, bit hard to believe its 1/350!   

You replaced broken arms and legs on the figures?     I think I'd have a hard time seeing the figures, let alone arms and legs!!!!!

[Captain Canada]

Gorgeous. Great job an that, for sure.

Had it patrolling in the bathtub yet ?

[frank2056]

Thanks guys. I think the lower hull would fill with water and sink the boat if I put it in the bathtub. Or it would capsize.
Several of the L'Arsenal figures were "wounded" during their voyage from France to California. The bag has an ample supply of loose legs, arms and heads.