The Ship Model Forum

David:

Thanks for posting your comments and photos! I've been dying of curiosity to see how your project was turning out and it looks great! Your efforts to rework the bow have really paid off, too, and your LCI is really turning out nicely. Very nice!
Let me tackle a couple of your recent questions:
I used the kit mast this time around. It appears to have the right dimensions and of course, is tapered. As for the portholes, all I did was drill them out. I think what you see is residual plastic that was distorted around the holes and left a fine ridge that stood out once the primer was applied. I'd thought about ordering some PE portholes, but I came away with the same conclusion as you and haven't come across any that I like yet.

With regard to your model, are those the Model Monkey watertight doors? Also, for the bridge, are the pelorus and compass 3D printed, too?

John

Yes, the watertight doors are from Model Monkey (Steve). He rescaled his 1/144 set to 1/160 along with his 20mm Ready Service Lockers. I used the doors on the stair/deckhouse units and on the main structure. I used a 3 panel door for the pilothouse, but decided to sand it smooth to match all of the pictures (I'll live with the others being different from the photos).

The compass and pelorus are both scratch built. Will probably replace the beads that I used for the compensating globes on the compass with drops of gel CA on some wires later on. I think that the beads that I used are too large.

Progressing with the main superstructure deck fittings now.

Do you have any references that show the locations of the fire hoses on a 351 class LCI?

Hi everyone,

Well, after a long break, I'm back to work on the LCI, after a sort. If you've looked at the MW gallery, you've seen that I recently completed a 1/72nd scale model of the USS Clarion River, which I built for a gentleman who was the former Engineering Officer during the Viet Nam war. That model took an enormous amount of my time, especially as it got closer to the date when I was due to deliver the model.

I've had a number of irons in the fire lately, which have also taken time away from this model. In the area of work on other models, I've recently completed a conversion of the Revell 1/144th scale LSM into a model of the Clarion River (LSMR-409). As you might recall, I know many former crewmembers of the Clarion River and many of them have asked for models of their ship. This recent conversion has already yielded additional requests for models, which is sure to keep me busy.

Also, I've been attending military reunions throughout the summer. And, to top off the distractions, I've been on the road all month for my employer. Fortunately, I've been able to do a little bit of work on details for the model while on the road. In today's update, I'll show you progress that I've made on the stern anchor winch. First, let me address a question from Dave Henning: I'm sorry for not answering sooner, and perhaps my answer is too late. I don't have any drawings with me that show the locations, but here are a couple photos I found:

From the variety of locations shown in various photos, there may not have been standard locations, but I'll look into that more and update you if I find other references.

Without further ado, let's take a look at the winch:


John

Glad to see you back with your build. Thanks for the info on the firehoses. I finally found the locations on the forward end of the superstructure from the photos of the 449 at Iwo Jima and might have found the same one for the stern end as well. Locations seem to vary widely-some were on the deckhouse/stairwell structures as well.
My build is coming along as well. All major mods completed-now painting in a measure 31 scheme using Vallejo acrylics. Not very happy with the results. Started with cut masking tape masks, which worked okay until I used a pre-thinned acrylic black that ran under the masks extensively. Then tried the silly putty technique, which didn't allow the complicated curves and corners for this measure in 1/160th scale. Did a lot of brush touch up and hoped that it would tie together with a coat of Future, but still not happy with the results. Will give it a coat of flat next and hopefully that will tie things together better.
Looking forward to more pics of your build and the other builds that you have in the works.

David

Hi everyone,

I’ve begun adding some of the final details before I paint the ship. I’m inclined to give it a camouflage scheme, like the one shown in the picture below of the 744 landing troops on Borneo.

A quick word of thanks to David for stopping in to share progress on his model. I have been dragging my feet on painting my model because I expect to have the same problems as you’ve had in applying the scheme, Dave. Good luck and post some photos when you finally get all the challenges conquered!

Today’s update is a bit brief: I have been working on a myriad of details such as the watertight doors and the stern winch. Let’s take a look:


John

Hi everyone,

As I’ve mentioned in the past, I’ve got a lot of irons in the fire right now, but I’m trying to make some progress on the LCI. I’ve painted the hull #5 Ocean Green as the first step in applying camouflage in Measure 31 5L. Here’s a look.

John

Good to see you are still at it John! My build of the LCI(G)-449 is progressing. Lifelines rigged, mast up (but not rigged yet). Built my first of 10 Mk. 7 rocket launchers over the last two evenings. Using Evergreen C channel stock and some photoetch N scale farm fence panels to build them. Hoping for some quiet build time over the next week. Not sure how many I will get done before I decide to make blocks of styrene covered up with tissue tarps instead!

Looking forward to seeing more of your builds.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
David

Hi everyone,

It has been a long time since I touched this model. Partly, it’s because I’ve been busy building models for other people. Another big part is that the model is at the stage that I dread the most: final painting. And not just any painting, either; this is camouflage painting, which is worse on a small model. Some of you may have been following my thread on the Revell LSM and you’ll know that I’m at the same point with that model, too. However, I’ve dragged my feet long enough on both models and I am getting back to work.

As I mentioned a while back, I’ve decided to paint the model in the Measure 31 5L camouflage. Here are a couple drawings of the scheme:

The drawings show that the camouflage was carried over onto the horizontal decks. I’m not painting the model in a fresh newly-out-of-construction scheme, so I am not going to reproduce that aspect of the camouflage scheme. I am assuming that a ship in the combat zone wouldn’t have wasted any time replicating the deck camouflage, especially if it were up to the sailors. So, instead, I’m painting the deck flat black, which was one of the constituents of the deck camouflage anyway.

Here’s a couple photos of the model after painting a couple of the deck areas:

After I get the decks painted, I’ll mask off the hull and begin applying the camouflage. That might take a while, since this is the part that takes the most time. When I get to that point, I’ll be back with more photos.

John

Wonderfully crisp build so far, and paint.

Looking good John! Yes, the camo scheme is truly a pain! I still have one LCI kit in the stash-might one day build one that was at Normandy-but my next project needs to be an out of the box build. Getting burned out on the 1/730 USS Midway.

Dave

Good to hear from you, Dave! Yes, I saw the headaches you had with painting your LCI(G) and have been dragging my feet since. As you know, I have a number of Lindberg LCI models in the works and I am going to try to make some progress on them all. One of them is a 'square conn' hull conversion and I've been toying with the idea of making it a British short square conn. The superstructure would be a little simpler and the camouflage scheme is intriguing. I don't think I started a thread on its build, though, so here's a photo of its current status:
I think I also have one or two unbuilt Lindberg LCIs and I've thought about chopping one up and making it an LCS. You know I like using my razor saw!

Thanks for the kind words!

John

Hi Dan,

Thanks for checking in and thank you especially for your kind words!

John

Hi everyone,

A short post to show the completed painting of the deck. Applying camouflage is next, followed by touch-up and then weathering.



John

Hi everyone,

A quick update. I sat down over the past couple days and worked on the camouflage on the starboard side. Take a look:
I’ll work on the port side next and then the conn. Then, after a bit of touchup, I’ll start the final assembly.


John