With Hobby Boss' recent release of a 1/200 PHM-1 Pegasus model and the past release of a 1/700 kit by Dragon & Pit Road, I figure it is time to have a CASF for these fast little attack ships.
Mini in-box review of the 1/200th Hobbyboss kit with some notes from Mike Dobrzelecki that was posted to the SteelNavy message Board.
Generally I like the kit, but it is not without issues, probably because of the kit's designers not knowing enough about the differences between the 1st boat (Pegasus) and the other 5 boats. That, plus the boats changed a bit over the years. Not being able to tie the details of fit, changes to fit and the dates associated with those changes has often posed problems for the unwary. After discussing the kit with PHM veterans, there was an initial belief that the radar dome was not correct for the Pegasus, and that the 35ft tall whip antenna was on the wrong side. They also thought the radar was a ISAR rig, but it was not. One PHM vet thought that the kit most resembled the Hercules, but after further discussion, the consensus was as follows:
The kit is a mash-mash of details - some Pegasus some later boats.
The kit somewhat matches the late 80s-early 90s fit for PHMs.
Kit has the production model hull (PHM-2 through 6), not the Pegasus hull -no rounded deck edges and the galley stove exhaust is omitted. So, if you want to model the Pegasus, you'll have to modify the hull, also do not forget the the glass portholes under her bottom on either side of the turbine enclosure.
The AN/SPS-63 antenna was on the main mast by the time the production hulls were commissioned. Pegasus 63 antenna was moved to the main mast during a yard period in �83 or �84. You have to remember that Pegasus served as a development boat, with different systems evaluated before (and after) the other boats were built.
Regarding the whip antenna, it was apparently moved from the starboard side to the port side sometime in the mid-to-late 80s. Their understanding was that the reason they needed to relocate the antenna to the opposite side was to allow for ingress and egress into the bridge from the 01 level without having to pass through the Rad Haz area.
One PHM vet said they had to put rad has warning paint about six or eight feet from the 35-foot antenna in a quarter Arc from the aft bulkhead of the bridge around to the railing right next to the machine gun mount on the starboard side. How they came up with that determination the vet had no idea. The vet also elaborated that they had to put down rad has paint from the port side to the starboard side right about where the mast came out of the deck and on the aft ladder from the weather deck up to the 01 level near the Ura 38 coupler. So essentially the whole aft section of the 01 level from the mast aft was considered a rad has area. Several jokes about microwaving your gonads led the conversation astray for a while after that.
As far as other details are concerned, minor changes were made such as adding the boat davits. Some of the stuff was purchased locally like electric wenches. Hercules had the extra ISAR dome -the Pegasus hull, superstructure are different. Cost cutting they went with flat edges, and exhaust for the galley. The deck hatches forward are slightly different.
Internal differences had been significant, Pegasus had smaller reduction gearbox, spare was from the canceled Hercules hull. Two heads, ships office, smaller mess deck, CIC was completely different arrangement, Bunk rooms had been a bit different also. HYCANS for Peg, HYCATS for the rest, so you had a bit different bridge console - but thise are mostly internal.
Cable management issues with Pegasus finally got cleaned up in 91-92. Pegasus apparently suffered a lot of deck cracking for of the portside CIC hatch which was addressed later.
One area I can see where a little bit of work might be desired is the forward foil "well" in the bow. While the foil leg and doors are provided, there is no bulkhead structure to the interior and this may be visible when assembled (I haven't done any work to see if this is a concern yet). A photo I scanned in at the US National Archives of PHM-3's launch should help with construction for builders wishing to block this off:
nice, there's also a kit from Orange hobby which is a real beauty, and a kit from White ensign models soon to be rereleased by Atlantic models... Both in 1/350
I have both of these and they look pretty good on first glance. Way down the list for starting production.. Only references I have found so far are the photos in Navsource.
Walt
What about colors? Vertical surfaces Haze Gray, Horizontals deck gray. Boot in black. My question is the radar dome, is it gray or white? And the foils, natural metal with black blades? Some photos show what looks like a lighter color hull below the waterline.
I just received the Hobby Boss kit (oh, why not 1/72 scale?) and want to get started.
Dan
Field Artillery, King of Battle
Please check out the Secret Society of Model Builders on facebook.
I haven't seen any evidence that the radar was anything other than Haze gray, but I don't have photos of every ship over the entire span of service.
Hull colors varied, but I don't know under what circumstances. I have photos of Taurus launching and it's natural aluminum below the boot topping, but later in 1989 it's clearly a light gray.
can the light gray be from the oxidation of the aluminium? With aircraft they have the same phenomenon... dull aluminium undersides become all shades of grey... Painting these blades makes me think that the paint won't last long
It looks too even to my eye to be oxidation, but I've honestly never seen bare aluminum that spends the majority of its time under water to know for sure what it would even look like.
DanCinSD wrote:What about colors? Vertical surfaces Haze Gray, Horizontals deck gray. Boot in black. My question is the radar dome, is it gray or white? And the foils, natural metal with black blades? Some photos show what looks like a lighter color hull below the waterline.
I just received the Hobby Boss kit (oh, why not 1/72 scale?) and want to get started.
Domes are not typically painted, that would affect the signal.
They are usually coloured when made. This is typically why you find variations in Color. Fading and reflectance and differences in tint batches will cause variations.
They should be haze grey or something close to that.
Darren (Admiral Hawk)
In the not so tropical climate of the Great White North.
Regarding colors:
Radar dome and 35ft whip were originally white, but painted gray when they realized white was very easy to spot on the horizon. The black anodized coating on the foils was something they tried in the mid 80�s, but it didn�t last
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Admhawk wrote:
DanCinSD wrote:What about colors? Vertical surfaces Haze Gray, Horizontals deck gray. Boot in black. My question is the radar dome, is it gray or white? And the foils, natural metal with black blades? Some photos show what looks like a lighter color hull below the waterline.
I just received the Hobby Boss kit (oh, why not 1/72 scale?) and want to get started.
Domes are not typically painted, that would affect the signal.
They are usually coloured when made. This is typically why you find variations in Color. Fading and reflectance and differences in tint batches will cause variations.
They should be haze grey or something close to that.
