Calling all USN Landing Ship Medium (LSM/LSMR) & Inshore Fire Support Ship (IFS) fans

[jepot]

Jepot, When did you get that? I REALLY NEED some of those LSMs. Also, I'm pretty sure LSMs didn't carry 3 inch guns. More like twin Bofors 40mm on the bow.

Hello Sir!

sorry for the very late reply- work has gotten (again!) in the way of my hobby- well the kit as i had said was loceated in my stash of ship kits- dont recall where i did get it- all i know is i have another hull with it... and yes no 3"50's for our ships, single 40mm guns - the gun i beleive was supposed to be a single 40mm gun but seems also like a 3"50- ill check in my stash for a more decent single 40mm to rectify the perceived 'error"...

[Russ2146]

From Navsource:

"Original plans for the LSM called for six twenty millimeter anti-aircraft guns as their main defense. Two (all mounted in gun tubs) were near the bow (one port; one starboard); two others were amidships; and the final two were mounted near the stern, and the earliest LSMs were actually built to these plans. Early in the ships' history, a decision was made to remove the two twenties near the bow and replace them with a single 40 mm. gun Many early ships were ordered to be refitted thus, although some never made the change and retained only their six 20s throughout the War. Ships built after the change was announced were fitted with single-barrel 40s before commissioning, while most of those built late in the War were given twin 40 mm. guns on their bows. Ironically, most of those with the best armament never got to use it before the War ended, while many of those on the fighting front had to make the best of what little they had."
http://www.navsource.org/archives/10/14/14idx.htm

Also, you may wish to take a look at http://www.hnsa.org/doc/plans/lsm354.pdf
Note that the plan calls for a twin 40mm at the bow and 20mm's aft on the sides.

[jcmackay]

Jepot, I am always glad to see someone take an interest in LSMs; they played a big role in the war effort but get very little attention. It looks like the gun that came with your LSM kit is 'supposed' to be a single 40mm, but it's a pretty crude approximation of one. So, you'd be better off replacing it if you can find something better. As Russ pointed out, NavSource has a lot of great information on LSMs. If you're building a model that represents a particular ship during the war, I'd recommend you check to see if there is a photo of it on NavSource. As Russ pointed out in his quote from NavSource, there were many changes made to LSMs during the war. About the only way to determine the armament a particular ship had would be to find a photo of the ship during the war. Twin- and quad- 40mms were in short supply during the war, with priority given to equipping larger ships. Very few, if any, LSMs got to the combat zone with twin 40mms before the war ended. John

[jcmackay]

Hi all, a little while ago, I asked for help in finding info on engineering vehicles for an LSM project. I thought you might want to see what those vehicles are destined for. Here's a couple shots of the 1/48th scale LSM I've been working on, which is of the LSM-59. The 59 participated in the invasion of Iwo Jima and was sunk at Okinawa while part of an operation to use the USS Barry (APD-29) as a remote-controlled decoy for kamikazes.

The model is scratchbuilt and about 50 inches long. I decided to build it as a waterline model so I can display it on a base unloading vehicles. I should be able to begin applying the camouflage soon and then, I'll tackle the remaining topside details.

[jepot]

Jepot, I am always glad to see someone take an interest in LSMs; they played a big role in the war effort but get very little attention. It looks like the gun that came with your LSM kit is 'supposed' to be a single 40mm, but it's a pretty crude approximation of one. So, you'd be better off replacing it if you can find something better. As Russ pointed out, NavSource has a lot of great information on LSMs. If you're building a model that represents a particular ship during the war, I'd recommend you check to see if there is a photo of it on NavSource. As Russ pointed out in his quote from NavSource, there were many changes made to LSMs during the war. About the only way to determine the armament a particular ship had would be to find a photo of the ship during the war. Twin- and quad- 40mms were in short supply during the war, with priority given to equipping larger ships. Very few, if any, LSMs got to the combat zone with twin 40mms before the war ended. John

sir, hank you very much for the heads up- yes im trying make my kit represent a particular LSm that served the Philippine Navy sometime in the 60s-70s; and she was armed fore with a single 40mm- i have to post a pic of the ship im saying and find as you have said, a better scale rep of a single 40mm to replace the rather off sized weapon.

again thanks for your inputs sir!

[jepot]

ok sirs here is the corrected 40mm single gun...

[jcmackay]

Hi jepot,
I should've thought of this before - I'm posting an illustration of a single 40mm installation of the type that would have been on the bow of the ship you're modeling.
This should help you out.

[jepot]

Hi jepot,
I should've thought of this before - I'm posting an illustration of a single 40mm installation of the type that would have been on the bow of the ship you're modeling.
This should help you out.

40mm.jpg

thanks for the post- yep these are the types of single 40mm guns i commonly see in Philippine Navy ships with a circular elevated base mount ( kinda hard to build in 1/700, right?)...

[jcmackay]

Hi all,

I don't have a lot of experience making figures for models, but I decided to put some on the model of the LSM-59 I'm building.
Below is a photo of what is going to be the Stern Anchor Winch Phone Talker. He started out as a Monogram pilot figure like the one on the right in the photo and was heavily modified, including hacking off limbs, sculpting a life jacket out of Green Putty, building a sound-powered phone headset, and building a Phone Talker's helmet. I'm trying to finish up the area around the stern anchor winch before I paint the hull camouflage so that I don't have to mess around inside the tank well after the hull has its final paint job.

In the next couple of days, I'm going to try my hand at shading the phone talker figure.

John

[jcmackay]

A new shot of the LSM-59 model on its base. I'm building the model to show the ship landing vehicles during the invasion of Iwo Jima, so I scoured the pages of this site to get pointers on how to build a base. I opted to go with the acrylic gel medium technique for the water. During the past couple of days, I've been painting away at the base, not getting exactly what I wanted until today. I am getting much closer to the appearance I wanted, so I took a couple of progress photos. This has been one of the scariest parts of building the model; I don't have any experience with building seascapes, but I think it is turning out alright.

[docmackay]

I have been told that a model like an LSM or LSMR is not a "real" model unless it includes crewmen figures. I would like to hear modelers' comments.

[jepot]

ok sirs here is the corrected 40mm single gun...

man look at how long it took me to this stage!



almost done....

[panther]

Hello and seasons greetings to you all, hope Santa was good to you.
I haven't posted for sometime but following the closure of White Ensign in ther UK, my go to place for info and ship related accessories (I live in the UK) I have to ask if anyone can direct me to some off the shelf colours for this model.
The Revell mixes are as follows
C = 50-50 granite grey and sea green for the cargo deck
D = 80% Dark Green 20% Matt Black for camo
F = 50% Greyish Green 30% Green 20% White items on upper deck and inside walls of cargo hold
I hate mixing paints and much prefer out of a tin.
Any advice would be really welcome as I am slowly converting from braille scale armour to ships.
This kit for me meets both criteria and once fully stowed should look really good, just a pity Revell don't supply enough vehicles to fully stow it.
Thank you and all the best for the New Year
The kits on my bench at the moment are
Revell 1/144 US Navy Landing Ship Medium (Early)
Revell 1/72 Flower Class Corvette

[jcmackay]

Hi everyone,

Good news for LSM fans - Revell of Germany have confirmed that they will be issuing the late version of their 1/144th scale LSM in Spring 2016!

Their current kit is of the early version, with twin tubs on the bow for 20mm guns. The new kit will represent the later version with the single bow gun tub for the 40mm installation. So far, the only information I have on markings is that at least one of the ships represented will be an LSM of the Bundeswehr, with appropriate changes in vehicles.

Late war LSMs had a single bow 40mm, but although references are vague, it appears from photos that the Bundeswehr ships had dual 40mm guns on the bow. Regardless of whether the new kit comes with a single or dual 40mm on the bow, there are many ships that can be modeled in addition to the 4 ships employed by the Bundeswehr (ex-LSMs 491, 539, 553, and 558). Ex-US Navy LSMs were used by many allied nations after WWII, including the Philippines, Thailand, Korea, Taiwan, and Greece.

No word yet as to the possibility of Revell issuing an LSM(R). However, if you've just gotta have an LSMR in 1/144th right now, you can do what I did and convert one of the Revell's current LSMs:

This will be a model of the LSM(R)-198, which was equipped with 85 launchers for spin-stabilized rockets. As you can see, I've waterlined the kit. Much work remains, including finishing the camouflage, building the launchers, and finishing the fantail 5 inch 38 gun house.

John

[Andi@Germany]

Hi everyone,

I plan to do an Australian LSM like the one in the link above.

Any idea for the camo / paint for this four LSM in Australian service ?



Link --> http://grambo.us/atav/bayliss.htm

There are some other images on the site that doesn't allow 'hotlinks' .

cheers Andi

[jcmackay]

Hi Andi,

For those not familiar with LSMs in Australian service, the ship you've chosen was one of the LSMs operated by the 32 Small Ship Squadron, Royal Australian Engineers. They didn't sport a camouflage scheme, but were painted overall green. The photo you attached shows its age, because the green appears purplish. Here's a photo of one of the other Australian LSMs that depicts the color better:

Years ago, I corresponded with a gentleman, Mr. Ian Johnston, who had served aboard the Australian LSM, Clive Steele. He had built a model of his ship in 1/48th scale and I've attached some photos below:

An in-progress shot of the model. The camera flash makes the green on the model appear not so dark.

The model on display at the Royal Australian Engineer Corps Museum in Sydney.

As for the actual name of the paint color, I cannot help there. Maybe one of the MW readers can tell us if Australia has their own official paints or uses Royal Navy colors. There is a lot of information on the internet about the 32 Small Ship Squadron and many photos to be had, which should help you.

Which kit are you building, btw?

John

[jcmackay]

Hi everyone,

I just received the new Revell Germany1/144th scale (Eidesche Class) German LSM. I'll do a more lengthy review later, but for starts, here's my initial comments.

Revell has substituted different sprues with the parts that are unique to the German LSMs. For that reason, you can't simply build this kit up as a WW2 USN ship. You also won't be able to build it into a replica of one of the ships used by allied navies, either. This kit reflects the significant modifications made to the German LSMs in two major areas: the armament and the conn superstructure. The kit includes the single bow 40mm tub with dual 40mm gun, but the German LSMs deleted the 20mm guns and tubs. I have leftover parts from my conversion of the early LSM kit, which I would be able to use in building a USN version, but if you are not in the same situation, the amount of work to modify the kit's armament would be foreboding. The conn superstructure was enlarged on German LSMs also. Although this can be reworked to reflect the USN variant, it would entail massive reconstruction of the aft decks of the superstructure. The bottom line is that if you want to build a later variant of a WW2 LSM, you might be better off waiting to see if Revell is forthcoming with that kit.

Markings are provided for LSMs L750, 751, 752, and 753. The decals appear to be very good. There is no option for camouflage, of course, since the German ships were overall gray. As with the early LSM kit, there is no PE and the kit has individual lifeline stanchions with a supply of thread for lifelines.

John

[jcmackay]

Hi everyone,

My brother Ron is the Historian for the USS LSM/LSMR Association and recently, he came across information of post-WW2 LSMs of which I was completely unaware. It turns out that Israel was among the many nations that operated surplus LSMs. Following the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel sought to expand its sealift capacity and determined that the best way to do this was by acquiring surplus landing ships. My brother wrote, "About 1972-73 Israel acquired three surplused LSMs purportedly through a Caribbean trading company, which some conjecture was a �buffer� or cover operation in Trinidad and possibly Guatemala. Purchasing contracts were arranged covertly and crews to sail the medium landing ships were not told their final destination. To this day, even the LSMs� original U.S. Navy hull numbers remain unknown. Once in Israel, the LSMs were designated Gashm class landing craft and commissioned INS (Israeli Navy Ship) Shva (P-61), INS Ophir (P-62), and INS Tarshish (P-63). Often called Shikmas, �Landers,� or simply LCTs, Israeli sailors on the other hand dubbed the
medium landing ships abu-nafkha (????-???), meaning Pufferfish, named after the small tropical poisonous fish which inflates to expose sharp outer spines when endangered."

This is just a tiny bit of the information that Ron has accumulated on these ships. In the near future, he will be publishing an article on the subject in the newsletter of the LSM/LSMR Association. In the meantime, I'm posting below some of the photos he's shared with me.

Photograph courtesy Mike Eldar and the Israeli LCT Organization Collection

Photograph courtesy Mike Eldar and the Israeli LCT Organization Collection

Photograph courtesy Mike Eldar and the Israeli LCT Organization Collection

Photograph courtesy Mike Eldar and the Israeli LCT Organization Collection

Photograph courtesy Mike Eldar and the Israeli LCT Organization Collection

This would make for a cool diorama, IMHO. Photograph courtesy Mike Eldar and the Israeli LCT Organization Collection

John

[ModelMonkey]

For those interested in improving Lindberg's classic USS Carronade IFS-1 or converting the kit to an LSM(R)*, accurate, detailed, 3D-printed 5"/38 mounts are now available precisely scaled for the Lindberg kit.

USS Carronade 5" mount: https://www.shapeways.com/product/F4ZVD ... nade-ifs-1
LSM(R) 5" mount: https://www.shapeways.com/product/39NXP ... or-lsm-r-s

The mount includes a separate barrel and base ring stand.


*A modeler on this site is converting his Lindberg kit to an LSM(R) and it is looking beautiful.

[Gallant]

Hi to you all. I am a Canadian modeller and have recently completed a diorama of three LSM's and wanted to donate it for for free to the LSM/LSMR Association. Initially they were interested but have now decided that they do not have anywhere to display it. The size is 24" x 30". Are there any members who may have contacts in the US navy who might be interested in having this diorama. I live near Toronto and would be willing to drive to Niagara Falls or Buffalo to deliver it. Can anyone help?
Thanks, Mike Gallant