This kit was released way back in 1991, and I eagerly bought one as soon as possible. I dove right in and cleaned up all of the parts, and subassembled as much as I could. It was all ready for paint, and then I lost my nerve. I boxed it up, and put it back onto the shelf where it languished for 30+ years. After several false starts, fast forward to last month when I finally restarted, and now finished, this shelf queen. Built mostly OOB, I did add a few scratchbuilt details. Two of the crewmen are stock, except for Hornet heads. The aft .50 cal. gunner was Frankensteined, and the standing fellow amidships was from a Dragon set. They both had Hornet heads added as well.
I plan on placing the boat into the ‘water’, more on that later. I don’t know if I set some kind of record for rescuing a kit from the Shelf of Doom, but I had to come close. Thanks for looking.
Looking good, I like the figures especially. Don’t feel guilty I have the same kit staring down from the shelf above my PC I started detailing and then something else came along and it sits there all dusty and forlorn.
Thanks, my figure painting skills weren’t as good back when I started this kit. Maybe that’s why I waited so long to restart it. Ya never know, you might just rescue yours as well.
Thank you. They weren’t great, but they were servicable. I didn’t like the kit supplied fellow who was crouched down between the shields loading a 40mm ‘thumper’, so I replaced him with one from a Dragon set. The pose of the aft fifty gunner looked off balance, so he had his lower body & legs replaced, and his left arm repositioned. I usually rely on Hornet to replace the heads when using plastic figures. They have much better detail and offer a wide range of expressions.
