1/72 RCN British Power Boat Co. Motor Torpedo Boat

[JohnS]

Here’s my scratch built 1/72 scale model of Royal Canadian Navy Type ‘G’ Motor Torpedo Boat 486, serving with the 29^th MTB Flotilla during World War II. 

 

History:

The Type ‘G’ MTB’s were built by the British Power Boat Co. at the BPB Hythe, Southampton boat yard.  Originally, eight Type ‘G’  MTB’s were assigned to the Royal Canadian Navy 29^th MTB Flotilla.  Three additional boats were later added to the flotilla to replace MTB’s either damaged or sunk.  The 29^th Flotilla had a short & distinguished history in the English Channel, including action during the D Day invasion.  The flotilla was formed in March, 1944 and disbanded shortly after five Canadian boats were sunk & 26 sailors were killed, by fire & explosion at Ostend, Belgium, on February 14, 1945.  MTB 486 survived the war & is the only known RCN MTB to survive into the 21st century (as the civilian houseboat 'Sungo').

 

Research:

Unfortunately, after researching a number of books and searching the Internet, I couldn't find enough details about any one 29th Flotilla MTB to accurately build a complete boat. So, I built this model using information & photos for a number of different 29th Flotilla boats, as well as RN Coastal Forces BPB MTB's.  Collectively, I was able to compile enough detailed information to complete this model. Since the model includes features from a number of different RCN BPB MTB's, I picked the Flotilla's senior officer's boat hull number (486) for this model to represent all the boats that I used for reference.  

 

Scratch Building:

I carved the model’s hull from a 4X4 inch cedar fence post.  The superstructure and deck details were made using plastic sheet, balsawood, stretched plastic sprue, paper card stock, wood cotton swab sticks, & additional bits & pieces from around the house.

 

Weapons include a 6-pounder forward gun, twin Oerlikon guns on the stern, and two 18” torpedo tubes, all assembled from Coastal Craft resin & PE model kits, plus twin .303 Vickers machine guns mounted on the torpedo tubes made using a Great Little Ships resin and PE kit.

 

I chose an early Royal Navy Coastal Forces paint scheme for the model with a light grey and white wave hull design, and a B15 dark grey-blue deck.

 

The complete build thread can be found at http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?/topic/295669-172-rcn-british-power-boat-co-motor-torpedo-boat/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And finally the model put to bed in its display case, with a photo of the RCN 29th Flotilla as a backdrop ...

 

[Hajo L.]

Excellent build!

 

 

HAJO

[JohnS]

Thanks Hajo!  It was a fun build.

[JohnS]

One last photo showing the MTB and crew.

 

[AlienFrogModeller]

WOW well done.

[NCMA]

Hello JohnS,

 

I thought you might like this colour photo of MTB 486 from WWII.  It's from a still I took from a short bit of CFB footage that Wikipedia took from my old website (now sadly closed down):

 

MTB 486

Aye,

 

Nicholas CM Armstrong, CD, RCN