USCG FRC Emlen Tunnell by highlanderburial - Dumas - 1:48 scale

[highlanderburial]

Greetings all. I had to do some running around for work but have gotten back to building. The small boat is almost done save the paint and making an instrument panel. I also installer EZ Line for the lower hand rails.

[highlanderburial]

I spent some time modeling the guns and coming up with a better solution for the stern rail. I built a new 25 mm chain cannon and printed it out along with some hatch wheels and 50 call machine guns.

[Dutch builder]

I love the work you did on the gun. Beautifully detailed.  Great job.

Frank

[highlanderburial]

Sorry for the late post. I was.trying to figure out how to make the stern tow rail look better. I ended up using some plastruct 3/16 tubing with a coat hanger where to keep the tube intact.

Edited December 24, 2021 by highlanderburial

[highlanderburial]

Work is progressing at a very slow pace. I have spent many hours designing detail parts on CAD for the 3d printer. My latest triumph was to change out the kit ladder for the light weight triangle rung ladder. If you go back and look at the mast pics of the real ship I posted you will see what I mean.

Edited January 26, 2022 by highlanderburial
Typo

[highlanderburial]

More touch up work on the decks and figuring out the deep well rails. I designed and printed deck grating for the rear of the second level. The design needs work but I will get it right. I was very happy how the back of the stern rail posts came out.

Edited February 16, 2022 by highlanderburial
Grammar

[highlanderburial]

Slowly moving forward but approaching the finish line. Stern rails mostly complete.

[highlanderburial]

Some serious progress finally. .50 mounts are on and most of the hand rails are on. Tonight I finally figured out how to get the textured non skid decking. I used thinly cut artist tape and marked off the "channels". I then painted the deck with fine pumice textured acrylic gel. It went on pretty thick so I dappled it down. After it dried I used a very water thinned base coat of acrylic flat paint to get rid of the gloss. I also started final completion of the rear mast sat nav assembly. 

[TomShipModel]

Well done!  I've seen this model up close in person.  Out standing.

[highlanderburial]

I finally got around to building the flag and signal arms on the mast. I also added a pair of GPS gain antennas as well.  Lastly I got the 2 "fighting" chairs built on the 01 deck near the .50's.

[GrandpaPhil]

Incredible work!

[highlanderburial]

I realized that the signal arms for the national ensign was separate and  slightly higher. I also fixed the import ensign pole.

[highlanderburial]

Closing in one the end. I finished the flag blocks and made some flags on my ink jet. I used something called "Pencil and Charcoal Fixative" which I got from an art store. This prevented the colors from running when white glue was added. This whole part was tedious but I am happy with how it looks. I also added 2 ball fenders to the stern ready for mooring.

[highlanderburial]

I am at the point where the model still has flaws and is missing some details of the original, but I am also out of time to deliver it to it's final display area. I think this is the point at which most model builders will push to far and ruin the overall effect of a very good model well appreciated over a perfect model with herculean detail work that will never truly be admired for the effort. 

Long story short this cutter is done. I finalized the draft mark decals, the bow thruster and class decals. I added the emergency mooring line on the bow, tie off lines on the rails and touched up the mast paint. 

 

Thanks to everyone who followed me and liked my build posts on this one. The Dumas kit has major issues but overall it can provide a VERY solid base to build a great model of this very cool class of ships. The model will be displayed in the lobby area of USCG Sector Delaware Bay underneath a commissioning poster for the full-scale USCGC Emlen Tunnell. It was a real honor to work on this for them and I hope it gets displayed there for many years. 

[yvesvidal]

Very nice model. You really added a lot of details and it is now a very faithful copy of the real ship.

 

Yves

[mtaylor]

Congratulations on a very well done and great looking model.  I hope we'll see some photos of her in her new home.  

[BobG]

She's a beautiful model and I've really enjoyed following along on your build. As a Coast Guard veteran myself, I'm always excited to see a model of a Coast Guard cutter or even a Coast Guard small boat being built here on MSW. We don't see them very often.

 

Congratulations on completing this fine model. I'm sure she will be greatly appreciated by all who view her in her new home.

[Azzoun]

Nice finish  is it coming to show and tell?