USS San Pablo 1920 by Ras Ambrioso - Scale 1/64 - River Gunboat

[Ras Ambrioso]

My next project has been on my “to do list “since I saw the movie The San Pebbles in 1966. The San Pablo represents one of the many gunboats that were used by the western nations to patrol the waters of the Yangtze River in China during the period of the Chinese wars between war lords, nationalists and communist’s factions. The movie involves a sailor in charge of the steam engine that powers the ship. 

 

The USS San Pablo was a 150-foot steel-hulled gunboat, built by Vaughn & Yung Engineering Ltd. of Hong Kong.

There is a lot of information on the web about this ship and about the real US Navy ships that were used in this service such as the USS Panay that was bombed by the Japanese in 1939. Following are some links to sites on this subject.

 

https://industrialhistoryhk.org/sand-pebbles/

 

https://www.thesandpebbles.com/naval_history/real_sandpebbles1.htm

 

ttps://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2000/february/real-sand-pebbles

 

As I said before, I had this project in mind for a long time but could not obtain proper plans. Finally ,last year, I found a link to a French magazine that included the plans for this gunboat. The plans were at 1/45 scale that made the boat 40” long so I had the plans reduced to 1/64 scale with a length of a little more than 28 inches.

I decided to build as plank on frame method used MDF boards for the spine and frames but the material I found was 1/4” thick and the resulting ship skeleton looks very heavy, but it will provide plenty of surface for the planking. Following is the progress to date.

 Developing the frames pieces

Starting the framework.

The first long plank.

 Then, the development of the conical shape and using a wood mold to bend the wood pieces that will form the aft bulkwark will come next

 

 

[ddp]

BOGP's PG45 USS Panay 1928 (Yangtze River Gunboat, reclassified PR‑5 '28)  

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/mz81mayc5eoa6svhws8cy/ACbuzDy6E6HS2hT_gcp98o8/PG45 USS Panay 1928 (Yangtze River Gunboat%2C reclassified PR‑5 '28)?dl=0&rlkey=wolm1da4b6wtrvw7yi1tbszyc&subfolder_nav_tracking=1

[Valeriy V]

Hi Ras! I'm glad to see you back in business!  
These gunboats are very original in their style and I'm looking forward to watching your progress!

[yvesvidal]

15 hours ago, Ras Ambrioso said:

So funny that you would find information in the Modeles Reduits de Bateaux magazine (MRB). My father and I later, have been reading and collecting this magazine since the early 1960's. Fantastic source of information and very exciting model that you are starting to build, Ras.

 

Yves

[FriedClams]

Great looking new project, Ras.  Lots of interesting details and structures to model. This will be interesting!  Best of luck.

 

Gary

[Ras Ambrioso]

Thanks to all for your likes and comments. This is indeed a challenging model with many details that include rivets. Now I am still dealing with the hull construction.

[yvesvidal]

Ras, I hope I am not hijacking your thread with this post, but there is a modeler in Spain who has been building the San Pablo in the 1/35th scale:

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/326240588162?itmmeta=01JMJ20BHNV76DFB5CNMDBBQCS&hash=item4bf5745182:g:ZyUAAOSwZupggtEC

 

 

It is a very impressive model and I thought that some of his pictures may help you. That Spanish gentleman is definitely the "Rey of the the Styrene sheets". I love his models.

 

Yves