28mm Torpedo Gunboat Completed

     It seems that either I am getting better at this stuff or the smaller models go a lot faster (probably a combination of both). Here is the completed Torpedo Gunboat. She is a sleek little boat compared to her larger, more powerful brethren, but make no mistake, she packs a lethal punch.  With one fixed bow tube and three more on flexible mounts this vessel has a deadly sting.

     The build was straightforward except for the turtleback deck forward. In retrospect I should have built a frame out of wood like a balsa airplane model, as it was I went through a lot of card trying to cut some to fit a conical section onto the front of the model. I made smaller guns to represent the 4" QF guns commonly found on such vessels, and I built the Vickers style torpedo tubes out of a used .22cal pistol cartridge and a paper tube and a wood turning. The smokestacks are rolls of card and the companionway is a block of balsa wrapped in card.

the family photo, it seems each new boat has less yellow in it

3/4 front view, the fixed above-water launch tube can be seen in the bow

the other side, it is a sleek vessel

3/4 rear, a nasty angle to approach if you are a foe, 

three 4"QF guns and three more torpedo tubes

3/4 above, for having almost no superstructure the deck certainly is a crowed place

bow on

side view

stern from the water

and then above, another look at the crowed deck

side view above

the crews must have loved the open bridge on a low, fast ship such as this

     I am going to take a break from the boats for a little while now, there is a ton of plastic crying out for assembly and paint and I still have buildings that need work as well. Heck, I might just cut back to one a month from here on in.