82' POINT class WPB kit

[alross2]

In January, I'll be starting on a 1/64 scale kit of the 82' POINT class WPB.  This will be part of the Great American Workboats series.  It will have a solid hull just under 16" long and the usual laser, britannia, and probably some resin, maybe some photoetch.  It's still in the formative stages and I haven't decided whether it will be the initial design or a specific boat.  I may also include fittings suitable for a Viet Nam era boat in country.

[Roger Pellett]

Very nice, Al.  Another handsome Coast Guard vessel that we never see modeled are the 1920’s era 75ft “Six Bitter” patrol boats.  Maybe someday?

 

Roger

[alross2]

3 hours ago, Roger Pellett said:

Very nice, Al.  Another handsome Coast Guard vessel that we never see modeled are the 1920’s era 75ft “Six Bitter” patrol boats.  Maybe someday?

 

Roger

It only took me 25 years to get this one approved...😁

 

Edited December 19, 2022 by alross2

[Roger Pellett]

Al,  celebrate your small victories!

 

Roger

[alross2]

OK, I started a bit early. This is the roughed-out blank for the master hull. This will be carved to final shape and have lugs added to the bow and stern to fit the carving machine.

[alross2]

Started conceptualizing the pilot house.  At this scale and all that glass, it will have an interior, The lower structure will be laser-cut lifts.

[BobG]

I'm so excited to see you develop this Coast Guard 82 footer. I'm very familiar with these great Point class cutters from my years in the Coast Guard from 1966-70. I served in the USCG onboard the USCGC Storis out of Kodiak, Alaska, and then as a coxswain/ engineman on the 40 foot utility boats at the Captain-of-the-Port Los Angeles/Long Beach Station.

 

Coast Guard models are few and far between and are underrepresented in the modeling hobby. So thank you so much for developing this model. I'll be following along with great interest.

 

I'd be over the moon if you ever decided to make a model of the Cutter Storis also known as the Galloping Ghost of the Alaskan Coast. She was the Queen of the Fleet as the oldest serving cutter in CG history with 64 years and 5 months of service up to the time of her decommissioning in 2007. Her history included service in WWII and many years of search and rescue operations in the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea. She was also one of 3 cutters that made the first circumnavigation of North America by completing the Arctic Northwest Passage in 1957. 

 

 

Edited January 6, 2023 by BobG

[Rcboater Bill]

I’m always glad to see another USCG subject as a new kit!    But at the same time, I am also a little disappointed that we’ll have yet another USCG subject in a one-off scale that is different from the common scales you find modern boat and aircraft models in.  

 

Personally, I would be much more likely to buy the kit if it was in 1/72 scale, so I could display it with my collection of other USCG helicopters and other similarly-sized boats. (PT boats, landing craft, RNLI lifeboats, Swift boats, Vospers, etc.) 

 

This is only my opinion,  and you folks certainly know your potential market better than I do.    No matter what the scale, I hope you sell a zillion of them, which leads to the release of more USCG subjects.  

 

“More USCG subjects as model kits” is always better than “ less”! 

Edited January 3, 2023 by Rcboater Bill

[alross2]

I've decided to go with the original design (82301) and include the major items fitted to later versions.  On 82301, the towing bitt was on the king post/stack and there was a towing bow at the aft pipe rail.  On later boats, the towing bow was removed and a tripod towing bitt was mounted on the deck in the same area covered by the towing bow.   Radars were different, later boats had the inflatable life raft cannisters and different lockers, and the mast varied somewhat from boat to boat.  I may do the Viet Nam fit, but that will probably be a separate fittings kit which will include the 81mm/50 mount, the ready service lockers, additional .50s, the grate around the 81mm mount, and a few other items.  Here is 82301 in pre-"racing stripe" days.  However, the "racing stripes" will be included in the kit, along with names for all of the boats and enough numbers to do any of them.